Description
Book SynopsisThe `Getty Manuscript’ (Il Fior di Battaglia/The Flower of Battle) by the greatest fencing-master of the late 1300s, Fiore Furlan dei Liberi, instructs the reader in the intricacies of combat. Lively illustrations of charging horses and armoured knights accompany the text; through words and pictures, the manuscript teaches a variety of fighting techniques including single combat on foot with sword, dagger and axe, and mounted combat in all its variations.
Fiore’s magnum opus, The Flower of Battle, composed in 1409, is one of the oldest, most extensive and most clearly elucidated martial arts treatises from the medieval period. It is a record of a complete medieval martial tradition, and provides unique insights into the life and milieu of the professional fighting man at the birth of the Italian Renaissance.
Fiore preserved his teachings in a series of illustrated manuscripts, four of which have survived to the present day. The first volume in this new five-part series (see SERIES NOTE) presents a complete translation, transcription and reproduction of the largest and most complete of those four manuscripts. It includes chapters on the life of Fiore dei Liberi, his students and patrons, arms and armour in the Getty Manuscript, duelling and chivalric culture in Italy at the close of the 14th century, a detailed analysis of the manuscripts' use of pedagogy, number and metaphor and The Flower of Battle's relationship to other medieval combat manuscripts.
190 illustrations, 90 in colour.
SERIES NOTE:
This is the first volume in a new five-volume series from Freelance Academy Press. Flowers of Battle is a series of lavishly illustrated hardbacks, combining full-colour facsimiles of the original manuscripts with professional, annotated translations and extensive, peer-reviewed essays.
The Flowers of Battle Series Includes:
Vol. I: Historical Overview and the Getty Manuscript
Vol. II: Flos Duellatorum
Vol. III: Florius de Arte Luctandi
Vol. IV: The Pierpont-Morgan Manuscript and General Concordance
Vol. V: Leaves of Battle – Fiore dei Liberi’s Martial Heirs and Influence
Trade Review
Table of ContentsPublisher’s Preface Introduction Part One: Fiore dei Liberi and His World I. Italy at the Birth of the Renaissance II. The Master and His Students III. Understanding the Master Through His Student IV. Portrait of a Renaissance Despot V. The Transformation of Chivalry in Late Medieval Italy VI. The Duel of Honor in the Time of Fiore dei Liberi VII. The Tools of War Part Two: The Art of Arms—An Analysis of the Flower of Battle I. Pedagogy and the Flower of Battle II. An Overview of Getty Ms. Ludwig XV 13 III. Numbers and Symbols in the Flower of Battle Part Three: Getty Ms. Ludwig XV 13 Facsimile, Translation, and Transcription I. Translator’s Notes II. Facsimile, Transcription, and Translation Appendices A. The Gatari Chronicle of the Galeazzo-Boucicaut Duel B. Glossary C. Bibliography
