Welcome to Swordschool!

For students of Medieval and Renaissance Italian martial arts.

Where historical accuracy meets practical training.

Books, facsimiles, audiobooks, online courses and t-shirts from world-renowned instructor and pioneering researcher of medieval and renaissance martial arts Dr Guy Windsor.

What's new in store?

Il Fior di Battaglia by Fiore dei Liberi, with translation by Guy Windsor

Facsimile AND translation in one volume

Il Fior di Battaglia by Fiore dei Liberi

This book reproduces the Getty manuscript in its entirety, in full colour, and as close as possible to the size of the original.

The second half of this volume is a second reproduction of the manuscript with the original Italian text replaced by my English translation. This recreates the experience of reading the original Italian as closely as possible. The book also includes an introduction to Fiore and his life and times, the provenance of the manuscript, and suggestions for further study.

This way, you get the original, and the translation, in one volume… for the same price as the original facsimile-only edition.

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A companion volume to the Spada Press Facsimile of Il Fior di Battaglia by Guy Windsor

Don't miss the companion volume to the facsimile:

The Flower of Battle

If you buy the facsimile you will get a free ebook copy of the companion volume, which includes a complete transcription of the manuscript. Or you can order it as a paperback (with a discount if you get both facsimile and companion volume together).

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  • Do you like the theory?

    Want to know how to research, how to train, or how to write about historical martial arts?

    Theory and Practice 
  • Do you want step-by-step instructions?

    Choose to learn rapier or longsword from a workbook with video links. Make notes as you learn with these specially designed books.

    Workbooks 
  • Interested in the original treatises?

    See facsimiles of original sources, translations and Guy's interpretations.

    Treatises, translations, and academic interpretations 
  • Medieval Longsword

    Are you madly medieval? Check out the medieval combat collection!

    Longsword 
  • Renaissance Rapier

    Do you rave about the rapier? Learn Renaissance Italian martial arts, including the rapier fencing of Ridolfo Capoferro.

    Rapier 
  • Video Courses

    Do you learn best from video? Check out Swordschool's extensive selection of online courses.

    Online courses 

Hardbacks and Facsimiles

Fill your bookshelf with beautiful hardback editions of Guy's works and affordable facsimiles of Vadi and Fiore.

Paperbacks

Workbooks

Learn Armizare or Rapier in these practical ring-bound workbooks, available in left-handed and right-handed versions, to make note-taking easy.

Ebooks

All e-books are delivered instantly by email from BookFunnel for you to read on whichever device you like.

Bundles and Box Sets

T-Shirts

From medieval sword and buckler to the elegant smallsword, and most weapons in between: showcasing famous women in the historical martial arts. Walpurgis? Lady Agnes? La Maupin? absolutely. And now including La Chevalière d'Eon.

And The Sword Guy podcast and Sword People community shirts too!

Latest News: 23 May '25

Hi!

I have to confess my mojo has been at a pretty low ebb for the last couple of months. There’s no obvious reason why, but I haven’t written a word in any of my current book projects, and while I did manage to edit and publish the new Vadi course, that was about it for creative juices flowing.

I’m inclined to associate this with the very annoying cholesterol results I got back from a routine health check at the end of March, which lead me to drop alcohol altogether for a month. Clearly my habit of drinking a couple of glasses of wine while cooking dinner, and another couple with dinner, most nights of the week, for years, was channelling too much Fiore (he was Italian, after all) for my English constitution to tolerate. Just a few weeks off had the even more annoying result of significantly improving my cholesterol levels. So other than one birthday party at the beginning of May, where I found out that my ability to metabolise ethanol was utterly ruined by a month’s abstinence, and one afternoon where I split a bottle of Chardonnay with a friend, I’ve not been drinking at all.

According to my tracking devices (an Oura ring, and a Garmin smart watch, both of which I use when running tests but not in normal life), my sleep was improved (with average heart rate at 50 or lower all night, and lowest at 43-45, for 7.5 hours of actual sleep). And so I should be full of beans and leaping about the place. But my knees hurt, my back hurts, and I haven’t had the tiniest scrap of creative vision.

So on Monday night I had a glass of wine with dinner. According to the devices, that did lead to worse sleep. But the next day I was burbling about brimming with creative vigour, and have cracked the biggest issue I am currently facing professionally (more about that later).

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