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From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice: The Longsword Techniques of Fiore dei Liberi
In From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice, renowned historical swordsman Guy Windsor demystifies one of the greatest martial arts books of all time, Fiore dei Liberi's Il Fior di Battaglia (The Flower of Battle). In the late 14th century dei Liberi, an Italian knightly combat master, wrote Il Fior di Battaglia (The Flower of Battle). This magnificent, illustrated manuscript described how to fight on foot and on horseback, in armour and without, with sword, spear, pollax, dagger, or with no weapon at all. Windsor spent the last twenty years studying Fiore's work and creating a modern practice of historical swordsmanship from it. In this book, Windsor takes you through all of Fiore's longsword techniques on foot without armour. Each technique (or “play”) is shown with the drawing from the treatise, Windsor's transcription and translation of the text, his commentary on how it fits into the system and works in practice, and a link to a video of the technique in action. The book also contains a detailed introduction describing Fiore's life and times, and extensive discussion of the contexts in which Fiore's art belongs. From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice is essential reading for all martial artists and historians of the medieval and early Renaissance.
326 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 1, 2020
20 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Guy Windsor
54 books47 followersDr. Guy Windsor is a world-renowned instructor and a pioneering researcher of medieval and renaissance martial arts. He has been teaching the Art of Arms full-time since founding The School of European Swordsmanship in Helsinki, Finland, in 2001. His day job is finding and analysing historical swordsmanship treatises, figuring out the systems they represent, creating a syllabus from the treatises for his students to train with, and teaching the system to his students all over the world. Guy is the author of numerous classic books about the art of swordsmanship and has consulted on swordfighting game design and stage combat. He developed the card game, Audatia, based on Fiore dei Liberi's Art of Arms, his primary field of study. In 2018 Edinburgh University awarded him a PhD by Research Publications for his work recreating historical combat systems. When not studying medieval and renaissance swordsmanship or writing books Guy can be found in his shed woodworking or spending time with his family.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 18, 2023
A great read with lots of insight for someone very new to longsword (me).
The included videos with comparison to the original and translated text were very helpful in understanding the movement.
My only complaint is, having opted for the print version, the experience of typing out the URLs and swapping between my phone and the book was frustrating. This would of course be a non-issue for the e-book versions, however I was hoping for something similar to _the Duelist's Companion_, with annotated photographs in place, or in addition, to this.
The included videos with comparison to the original and translated text were very helpful in understanding the movement.
My only complaint is, having opted for the print version, the experience of typing out the URLs and swapping between my phone and the book was frustrating. This would of course be a non-issue for the e-book versions, however I was hoping for something similar to _the Duelist's Companion_, with annotated photographs in place, or in addition, to this.
November 10, 2021
A great addition to any HEMA library, lots of detail and explanation into why Guy thinks that the play should be the way it is and there are also practical demonstrations of this online, so it is worth reading and having a look over the demonstrations a few times. This is a book that I will be coming back to for reference.
May 3, 2020
The book From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice: The Longsword Techniques of Fiore Dei Liberi is, from my humble and inevitably limited experience, one of the most relevant books on historical swordsmanship that any practicioner, whether (aspiring) instructor or student can own. Particularly those focusing on Fiore. This was an ''all killer no filler'' from Guy, obviously an experienced swordsman but an excellent tutor as well.
The book starts with a welcoming summary of various translations, and insight into the life and historical context of Fiore. Those with a particular fancy for the historical part of historical swordsmanship will be quite pleased and given enough guidelines for further research.
The core of the book itself is the Fiore's early 15th c manuscript Fiore di Battaglia, everyone who picked up this book is probably well acquainted with. However, rather than just a translation (which is by no means a minor task, on the contrary) of the sword plays - this is a proper, in depth analysis. A systematic, meticulous disecting of Fiore's work.
No matter how slow you advance in this art, and how meticulous you are, unless you have vast experience behind you, interpreting medieval source and trying to 'bring it to life' in practice will cause problems. There will be gaps in your understanding of this as you stretch your capabilities . The book is there to help you fill out these holes and complete your project. Sometimes, it's a sentence, sometimes a paragraph and sometimes a whole page, but there will be many ''aha'' moments, even for those who aren't new to this. Fiore isn't as linear as we are used to in a 'step by step guideline' era, so hearing from someone who is intimately familiar with all this and who dealt with the same problems we are having, is invaluable. His interpretation of Posta di Bicorno is the illustrative example. Through Guy's work, this book in particular, I've learned to ''read'' Fiore in a different way, both the words and the pictures.
In this I applaud to Guy. He didn't invent the wheel with this book, he didn't make a breakthrough discovery, he simply (and I guess it wasn't simple at all) combined all the available knowledge on Fiore in a very digestible, practically useful and applicable form.
I was a bit disappointed when I realised I've reached the end of the book in what seems to have been just a couple of hours. And I really love when book makes me fell like that.
We needed this book.
The book starts with a welcoming summary of various translations, and insight into the life and historical context of Fiore. Those with a particular fancy for the historical part of historical swordsmanship will be quite pleased and given enough guidelines for further research.
The core of the book itself is the Fiore's early 15th c manuscript Fiore di Battaglia, everyone who picked up this book is probably well acquainted with. However, rather than just a translation (which is by no means a minor task, on the contrary) of the sword plays - this is a proper, in depth analysis. A systematic, meticulous disecting of Fiore's work.
No matter how slow you advance in this art, and how meticulous you are, unless you have vast experience behind you, interpreting medieval source and trying to 'bring it to life' in practice will cause problems. There will be gaps in your understanding of this as you stretch your capabilities . The book is there to help you fill out these holes and complete your project. Sometimes, it's a sentence, sometimes a paragraph and sometimes a whole page, but there will be many ''aha'' moments, even for those who aren't new to this. Fiore isn't as linear as we are used to in a 'step by step guideline' era, so hearing from someone who is intimately familiar with all this and who dealt with the same problems we are having, is invaluable. His interpretation of Posta di Bicorno is the illustrative example. Through Guy's work, this book in particular, I've learned to ''read'' Fiore in a different way, both the words and the pictures.
In this I applaud to Guy. He didn't invent the wheel with this book, he didn't make a breakthrough discovery, he simply (and I guess it wasn't simple at all) combined all the available knowledge on Fiore in a very digestible, practically useful and applicable form.
I was a bit disappointed when I realised I've reached the end of the book in what seems to have been just a couple of hours. And I really love when book makes me fell like that.
We needed this book.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews