The Flos Duellatorum is the name given to one of the manuscript versions of Fiore dei Liberi's illuminated manuscript fight book, written in 1410 (dated to 1409 in the old reckoning). There are five other surviving recensions, under the title Fior di Battaglia. Both ''Flos Duellatorum'' and ''Fior di Battaglia'' translate into English roughly as "The Flower of Battle," from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

respectively.

Manuscripts

The manuscript dated to 1409 was considered lost, and is now known to be kept in a private collection. It is referred to as the Pisani-Dossi manuscript for the last collection it was a part of before its disappearance. The information contained within survives in the form of a 1902 facsimile by the Italian historian Francesco Novati. Because of this, the Flos Duellatorum is also known as the Novati Manuscript, or the Novati Edition. The other two surviving manuscripts are the Getty-Ludwig ("Getty's copy", Los Angeles, MS Ludwig XV13) and the Pierpont Morgan Library ("Morgan's copy", New York, MS M 0.0383) copies. Both of these bear the title Fior di Battaglia, and both are undated. The Morgan copy unlike the other two versions does not contain a dedication to Nicolò III d'Este, in whose service Fiore composed his treatise. Its prologue is similar to the Getty version. The Getty-Ludwig version is the most informative, being distinguished by several categorizations added by its copyist and, according to Robert Charron, an expert on the manuscript, by the degree of comprehension of the master's teaching displayed. Inventories of the Estense library in Ferrara indicate that there were at least five copies of Fiore's work. By 1508, the manuscripts cease to be mentioned in the inventories. Two versions of Fiore's manuscript re-surfaced in private collections in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

. The Morgan and Getty versions both were kept in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

during the 19th century, before being moved to their present locations in America in the 20th century.

The Novati consists of illustrated pictures of the plays accompanied by short, rhyming verses in

to describe them. The Pisani-Dossi version contains major sections on: *

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

Dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use de ...

play (including defenses against a dagger when armed with a dagger and without one) * Sword in one hand *

Spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

and staff (The weapons are treated identically in Fiore's system) * Sword in two hands *Sword in armour (Chiefly halfswording techniques) *

Poleaxe The poleaxe (also pollaxe, pole-axe, pole axe, poleax, polax) is a European polearm that was widely used by medieval infantry. Etymology Most etymological authorities consider the ''poll''- prefix historically unrelated to "pole", instead mea ...

*Mounted combat (including wrestling, swordplay, and the lance from horseback) *Sword vs. Dagger Fiore also mentions the use of: * Bastoncello (The baton) *Staff and dagger *Pairs of

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

s or

cudgel A club (also known as a cudgel, baton, bludgeon, truncheon, cosh, nightstick, or impact weapon) is a short staff or stick, usually made of wood, wielded as a weapon since prehistoric times. There are several examples of blunt-force trauma caused ...

s *The use of the chiavarina (spear) against a man on horseback

Sette spade

The best known image from the Flos Duellatorum is the ''sette spade'' (seven swords) diagram at the beginning of the longsword section (fol. 17A), reminiscent of the first image of the Codex Wallerstein. It is a figure of a man, divided by seven swords centered on the body, representing the ''poste'' or guard positions. This is surrounded by four animals, representing the main virtues of a fencer: *on top, the lynx, holding a compass represents '' prudentia'': *: *:"No other creature is able to look so clearly as me, the lynx / and by this I ever I ever reckon by compass and measure" *to the left, the

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...

holding an arrow represents '' celeritas'' *: *:"I am the tiger, I am very quick to run and turn / That the arrow in the sky cannot approach me." *to the right, the lion holding a heart represents '' audatia'' *: *:"None bears a more ardent heart than me, a lion / And I challenge anyone to battle." *on the bottom, the

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

, carrying a tower, represents ''

fortitudo Fortitudo means courage or fortitude. It may also refer to: * Fortitudo (planet), also known Xi Aquilae b * Fortitudo-Pro Roma S.G.S., a sports society in Rome, formerly named "Fortitudo" * Cosenza Calcio 1914, soccer team in Cosenza formerly named ...

'': *: *:"I am the elephant and I have a castle for a burden / And never do I kneel down nor do I lose my true place."

External links

Novati facsimile of the Pisani-Dossi MS
( PDF file, 42M)
" The Flower of Battle"
(Getty's copy)

(text and translation)

* ttp://www.thearma.org/essays/FDL_studyguide.v3.htm Fiore Dei Liberi: 14th century Master of Defenceby John Clements (ARMA) * http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/1443/unknown-fiore-furlan-dei-liberi-da-premariacco-il-fior-di-battaglia-italian-about-1410/ - Versione digitale del manoscritto al P. Getty Museum

Manuscripts

Contents

Sette spade

See also

External links

Further reading