Flowers of Battle The Complete Martial Works of Fiore dei Liberi Vol III: Florius de Arte Luctandi

Fiore dei Liberi was a renowned master of medieval Italian martial art, known as "Flowers of Battle". He preserved his teachings in a series of illustrated manuscripts, including "Il Fior di Batalgia", which is one of the oldest and most extensive martial arts treatises from the medieval period. "Flowers of Battle" is a multi-volume series of books that presents full colour facsimiles of the Master's original manuscripts, professional translations, and extensive peer-reviewed essays. Volume III, "Florius de Arte Luctandi", presents a translation, transcription, and reproduction of the last Flower of Battle manuscript, which raises questions about its creation, translation, and differences between other manuscripts.

Format: Hardback
Length: 262 pages
Publication date: 20 June 2019
Publisher: FreeLance Academy Press

The warriors of medieval Italy honed a sophisticated and comprehensive martial art, encompassing the skilled use of swords, axes, and spears alongside wrestling, knife-fighting, and mounted combat. In the latter years of the 14th century, Fiore dei Liberi, a renowned master of this art, gained fame for his teachings, which attracted some of the most renowned and formidable fighting men of his era. Recognized as the father of Italian swordmanship by fencing historians, Master Fiore diligently preserved his teachings in a series of illustrated manuscripts, four of which have survived to the present day. These manuscripts serve as the foundation for a global endeavor to reconstruct this lost martial art. Il Fior di Batalgia, composed in early 1409, stands as one of the oldest, most extensive, and most clearly elucidated martial arts treatises from the medieval period.

Flowers of Battle is a multi-volume series of lavishly illustrated hardcover books, featuring full-color facsimiles of the Master's original manuscripts, professional, annotated translations, and extensive peer-reviewed essays. Volume III, Florius de Arte Luctandi, presents a translation, transcription, and reproduction of chronologically the last, most recently discovered, and visually most lush Flower of Battle manuscript. This posthumous work raises more questions than it answers: who commissioned the manuscript and for what purpose? Why was it translated into a complex, humanistic Latin, and from what prior source? Why are there clear nomenclature and instruction differences between this and the other three manuscripts, and do these variations reflect an evolution in the Master's thinking or errors in transmission? Mondschein and Mele address these and other intriguing questions in a lavishly illustrated introduction that seeks to provide insights into the origins and significance of this remarkable martial art treatise.

Weight: 1304g
Dimension: 226 x 288 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781937439194