The Sword of the People. Roberto Laura
such as the great German painter Albrecht Dürer. Dürer was responsible, among other things, for a treatise on fencing. While his Oplodidaskalia immersive armorum trac tand orum meditation is basically just a copy of the Codex Wallerstein, the artistic development of the High Renaissance finally culminates with the Mannerism movement, where the sense of form of the High Renaissance was simply portrayed disproportionately11. This was followed by the Baroque, which was very magnificent under the influence of Absolutism.
David by Michelangelo, photograph from Romain Rolland’s “Michelangelo”, 1912
The main artistic difference between antiquity and the Middle Ages was the fact that the artists of the Renaissance oriented themselves away from the mosaic towards the fresco, but were also increasingly dedicated to altar paintings. Art found its way back to purity and the classic, stylish lines of Hellenic ideals of beauty.
Also architecture developed in the direction of former glory and proportions, and found this to be a new blossoming. Architectural lines became clearer. The sky-scraping proportions of the High Middle Ages were now perceived as irrational, even barbaric, or in the words of Giorgio Vasari, architect and court painter of the Medici, as “gothic”.
Largely simple geometric figures, such as circles or squares, were used. Pilasters and columns were reintroduced. One of the main goals was to unite several buildings into an overall aesthetic whole. Filippo Brunelleschi, one of the most important architects and sculptors of this era, is regarded as the discoverer of the mathematically constructible perspective.
This created the possibility of examining architectural designs in the context of the corresponding spatial perspective, which actually enabled the composition of building ensembles or even an entire piazza. And in addition to Lorenzo Ghiberti and Donatello, he was responsible for these new developments within the arts.
Especially the fencing art owes a lot of its inspiration to rational mathematical penetration, the idea of perspective, and the principle of spatial composition, as for example in Agrippa12.
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, 1307 – 1321, Venice.
The Renaissance was initiated by poets like Dante Alighieri13 and Petrarch. A description of the typical Renaissance man, the so-called gentiluomo14, the scholarly man of the court as a social model of this era, is provided by Baldassare Castiglione in his work Il libro del Cortegiano (1528). Many other great writers join the list, with the genius of William Shakespeare representing the literary zenith and historical end of this era. It was the time of great men for all seasons who were blessed with talent in different areas. A sculptor was also sometimes a painter, architect, alchemist, and mathematician. The ideal man of the Renaissance was the uomo universale, the universal man. He endeavored to question things critically, to structure them. He was independent, educated, well-versed in the muses as well as in the sciences, creative, and as far as possible, self-determined.
The flourishing of this era was brought about by, among other things, the influence of the Arabs, through the Reconquista15, and by the fall of Byzantium16, paving the way for Christian scholars to access libraries and works that had great impact after the collapse of Western Rome, and that had been kept in the Arab culture, as well as in the libraries of Byzantium. One of the pioneers of this development might have been the aforementioned poet Francesco Petrarca, whose focus, in the 14th century, was to the collection and study of ancient writings. He also promulgated a humanistic education, away from the theocentric mentality of the Middle Ages and away from scholastic-Aristotelian thinking17. Cicero and Plato, whose writings had all been translated into Latin, came to the fore.
In particular, the Renaissance turned against the excesses that gave authority absolute priority over facts. This was primarily the result of the spread of the practical sciences, which, through the Renaissance, had achieved a tremendous upturn, and indeed their final breakthrough. One of these practical sciences was the art of fencing, which was also flourishing. At that time, unlike today, the art’s representatives and illustrators included a crème of artists and scientists.
1.3.2 The City-States
The political structure of Italy at that time also contributed to this development, especially with regard to art and philosophy. Italy was not a unified country, but rather consisted of many city-states, so-called republics, as well as duchies, which were in constant competition with each other. This political autonomy may have enabled an individual development in terms of art, philosophy, science, and economics18. Ultimately, the peninsula’s position also supports an exchange with other cultures, mainly through trade routes to the sea, but also over the Alps. Many Renaissance scholars were followers of humanism. Famous representatives of this mentality, for example, were the analyst Niccolò Machiavelli and, in matters of morality, Erasmus of Rotterdam. And precisely this mental clarity, this endeavor to put things rationally and get “to the point”19, may have been partly responsible for the further development of fencing at this time of upheaval or restructuring of natural predispositions.
And so there was also a drastic change in the art of fencing at this time – the uomo universale was supposed to be able to defend himself according to all the rules of art – which may have had its beginnings in the Renaissance, but flourished in the Baroque period.
1.4 With Sword and Dagger
Since the Renaissance, the fencing art has been part of the artes liberales (the noble or free arts), whereas previously, in the Middle Ages, it had been considered part of the artes mechanicae (the practical arts), of the military sort, to be precise. Art, ars, was only considered liberale (decent, noble, or free) if it was worthy of a man who could call himself free. In the Renaissance, art was also regarded as a talent which, when it appeared, indicated creativity, and so led to inventions. In the context of this new perspective or approach, the first literary works characteristic of the Italian school were produced. They arose from the wellspring of Master Fiore dei Liberi20 and also Filippo Vadi21.
1.4.1 Fiore dei Liberi
At this point, I would like to take the opportunity to emphasize the work of the Fencing Master Fiore dei Liberi, the Flos Duellatorum, as it was the first work on fencing in the Italian language. There are probably three manuscripts comprising the work, but only two seem to exist. Apparently, the most extensive manuscript, the Pisani-Dossi-Codex, can no longer be found. The manuscripts were written in the Venetian dialect and in verse form. In the preface, the master also mentions that he was apprenticed to the Swabian Fencing Master Johannes during his travels in Germany. Even if it is not clear who this Johannes exactly was, the report at least shows how much the German and the Italian fencing school were connected. Fiore also mentions that he not only knows how to write, but also how to draw. And thus he draws attention to the fact that a precise view of the drawn plates was essential. He also generally indicates – perhaps unintentionally – how important it is to approach the subject of fencing with a keen mind and gaze.
The Flos Duellatorum provides a comprehensive look into how to handle the weapons of its time. The sword, one or two-handed, was not considered a focal point for Fiore22. And accordingly, the master equally gives instructions in his work on wrestling, which he calls abrazare23.
In addition to the unarmed defense against a dagger-armed attacker, there are also technical representations of dagger to dagger fights, which are technically the same as the aforementioned ring techniques of abrazare. In Fiore’s time, as a general rule, a man was never completely unarmed. As such, there was no great difference between wrestling and fighting with a dagger.
There