The Armizare Vade Mecum

The Flower of Battle, arranged in verse!

Armizare was the name given by medieval Italian knights to their comprehensive martial art, a system that seamlessly integrated combat on foot and on horseback, in armour and without, with the sword, spear, pollax, dagger, and unarmed. 

The renowned master Fiore dei Liberi recorded his teachings in his treatise Il Fior di Battaglia, which survives in four distinct copies. These manuscripts have since become the foundation of a global movement to reconstruct this lost "art of arms."

What many students of Fiore’s art may not realise is that his work is written in the loose verse typical of medieval authors, a mnemonic device to aid memory. However, the sheer volume of Fiore’s text and the length of the passages make memorisation a daunting challenge. In contrast, the German masters of the same era used short, concise teaching rhymes.

To address this, Guy Windsor—an acclaimed author, researcher, and teacher of armizare—has crafted The Armizare Vade Mecum. Both concise and profound, sometimes darkly humorous, this reference guide provides the modern student with a practical tool for learning Fiore’s deadly art, while paying homage to the legendary master himself.