The Medieval Combat Research bundle

Get deep into your research of medieval historical martial arts, with this bundle of four hardback books. Contains the facsimiles of Fiore and Vadi, plus two of Guy's books containing the historical context, translation, links to videos of the system in practice. Essential reading!

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.

The Art of Sword Fighting in Earnest: Philippo Vadi's De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi with an Introduction, Translation, Commentary, and Glossary

From the late fifteenth century comes a detailed manuscript on knightly combat, written by Philippo Vadi. Dedicated to one of the most famous Italian condottiere of the age, Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino, this book covers the theory of combat with the longsword, as well as dozens of techniques of the sword, the spear, the pollax, and the dagger.

The Art of Sword Fighting in Earnest includes a detailed introduction, setting Vadi and his combat style in their historical context, a complete translation of the manuscript, and a detailed commentary from the perspective of the practising martial artist. 

Il Fior di Battaglia, MS Ludwig XV 13 (Italian edition), by Fiore dei Liberi

The manuscript of Il Fior di Battaglia is in the Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms Ludwig XV 13. It is dated to about 1410, and was written by Fiore dei Liberi. This book is a complete representation of the Art of Arms (armizare), on foot, on horseback, in armour, out of armour, wrestling, dagger, sword, spear and pollax. Even wrestling on horseback! The book is written in Italian, and there is no translation, introduction or commentary included in this edition.

De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi (Italian edition) by Philippo Vadi

This is a full-colour facsimile edition of Philippo Vadi’s De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi, the art of swordsmanship. This book was written in the late 1400s for the Duke of Urbino, Guido Montefeltro, a famous condottiero. Please note: this book is written in Italian, and there is no translation or commentary included in this edition. This book replicates, as closely as possible with current print-on-demand technology, the experience of owning the original manuscript.