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

Name: Il Fior di Battaglia by Fiore dei Liberi, with translation by Guy Windsor (hardback)
Brand: swordschool
SKU: 9789527157275
Price: 44.99 GBP
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Il Fior di Battaglia by Fiore dei Liberi

Il Fior di Battaglia, the Flower of Battle, was written by the great Italian master at arms Fiore dei Liberi around the year 1400. It covers knightly combat on foot and on horseback, in armour and without, in great depth and detail. The sections of the manuscript include an introduction, then plays of wrestling, the dagger, the sword in one hand, the sword in two hands, the sword in armour, the pollax, the spear, the lance on horseback, the sword on horseback, and wrestling on horseback.

It is lavishly illustrated with over 250 drawings, each with gold leaf insignia. The treatise exists in four manuscript copies, of which MS Ludwig XV at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles is the most complete, with the most clear and useful explanatory text.

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

The Flower of Battle, translated by Guy Windsor

The second half of this volume is a second reproduction of the manuscript with the original Italian text replaced by Dr. Guy Windsor’s 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 is a must-read work for all students of medieval knightly combat and medieval history, and a glorious addition to any library.

In addition, you'll receive the Companion Volume in ebook form free with every purchase! Look out for the download link when you complete the checkout process.

Hardcover	204 pages
Dimensions	279h x 216w x 17d
ISBN	978-952-7157-27-5
Publication Date	20 November 2024
Publisher	Spada Press

Difficulty Level

Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced

Which Weapon?

Longsword
General HMA
Dagger

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Arrived within 2 weeks, looks to be a fantastic book thanks

An incredible book

The book is handsome and well made, and a great addition to my growing collection.

It's a fascinating translation, and the layout of the translated section is wonderful. The colored tabs marking off each section of the manuscript is a subtle touch that I really appreciate.

An excellent book on all levels. I highly recommend getting it.

Simply a blessing to the art

The best way for me to describe the work by Master Windsor would be to say that it is as tidy a piece of scholarship as the HEMA community has seen on Fiore. I'm astonished at the scope of this project and at the precision with which Guy and his team have executed it. It is truly a blessing for HEMA instructors to have in their library, and to use it as an aid in my instruction has been invaluable in the last few weeks. In point of fact, it has given me inspiration to resume work on my own piece of scholarship. Each time I teach from his facsimile I am instantly renewed with the spirit of swordsmanship that is required to complete such projects. I began my career in HEMA with instruction from Master Windsor, have been spurred to scholarly action by his library, and now cite this tremendous facsimile through my own current book. Without Guy, and now this text, my Academy and job would not exist, and I can definitively say that any instructor of European swordplay is doing themselves a disservice should they not attend to this work as a portion of their canonical teachings. I have to get back to writing about Vadi now. If it ever sees the light of day, perhaps I'll send the maestro a copy of my book as a thank you. Thanks for yet another masterpiece, Guy. We your students salute you.

The most beautiful book I want to dog ear and spine break.

I seems to me that Guy is a craftsman. If his client can afford quality, he’ll bring it. I know I can take this book to class, pass it around, flatten it to the page we’re working on and allow coffee and tea stains to show this book is worthy of a work bench. I’ve books I am tender with and they look like this one, but this is a working book, so it’s dog ears and dents for this one. Thanks for the quality…. Oh and of course, it is what’s inside that counts, and it does count. You can judge this book by its cover. Truly, fantastic book.