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Difference between revisions of "Nicoletto Giganti"

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== Treatise ==
 
== Treatise ==
  
Giganti, like many 17th century authors, had a tendency to write incredibly long, multi-page paragraphs which quickly become hard to follow. Jacob de Zeter's 1619 dual-language edition often breaks these up into more manageable chunks, and so his version is used as the template for these concordances. Neither scans nor transcription of Giganti's [[Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti)|second book]] are yet available, so it cannot yet be included in the tables below.
+
Giganti, like many 17th century authors, had a tendency to write incredibly long, multi-page paragraphs which quickly become hard to follow. Jacob de Zeter's 1619 dual-language edition often breaks these up into more manageable chunks, and so his version is used as the template for these concordances.
  
 
A [http://data.onb.ac.at/rep/109AF678 copy of the 1628 printing] that was extensively annotated by a contemporary reader now resides in the [[Österreichische Nationalbibliothek]]. Its annotations are beyond the scope of this concordance, but they have been [http://www.rapier.at/2018/07/20/a-transcription-of-annotations-in-the-onb-copy-211216-c-of-scola-overo-teatro-by-nicoletto-giganti/ transcribed] by [[Julian Schrattenecker]] and [[Florian Fortner]], and incorporated into [[Jeff Vansteenkiste]]'s translation in a [https://labirinto.ca/translations/ separate document].
 
A [http://data.onb.ac.at/rep/109AF678 copy of the 1628 printing] that was extensively annotated by a contemporary reader now resides in the [[Österreichische Nationalbibliothek]]. Its annotations are beyond the scope of this concordance, but they have been [http://www.rapier.at/2018/07/20/a-transcription-of-annotations-in-the-onb-copy-211216-c-of-scola-overo-teatro-by-nicoletto-giganti/ transcribed] by [[Julian Schrattenecker]] and [[Florian Fortner]], and incorporated into [[Jeff Vansteenkiste]]'s translation in a [https://labirinto.ca/translations/ separate document].
 +
 +
The only known copy of Giganti's ''Libro Secondo'' is in the Howard de Walden Library, currently hosted by the Wallace Collection, and their policies prevent anyone from publicly releasing the illustrations from the book. The best we can do at the moment is attempt to recreate the book's illustrations by combinind elements from other books from the same time period.
  
 
{{master begin
 
{{master begin
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|-  
 
|-  
|  
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| [[File:Nicoletto Giganti portrait.png|400x400px|center|Nicoletto Giganti]]
 
| <p>'''To the Lord Readers, Almoro Lombardo,''' Son of the Most Renowned Lord Marco.</p>
 
| <p>'''To the Lord Readers, Almoro Lombardo,''' Son of the Most Renowned Lord Marco.</p>
  
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|-  
 
|-  
|  
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| class="noline" |  
| <p>Some, as soon as they have acquired some beginning of this, are wont to put the sword at their side and, using a thousand insolences, detain, wound, or sometimes kill some miserable person, believing themselves to have acquired honour and fame. They do evil because, more than harming the nobility of this, which must not be employed without reason, they offend the just God and themselves.</p>
+
| class="noline" | <p>Some, as soon as they have acquired some beginning of this, are wont to put the sword at their side and, using a thousand insolences, detain, wound, or sometimes kill some miserable person, believing themselves to have acquired honour and fame. They do evil because, more than harming the nobility of this, which must not be employed without reason, they offend the just God and themselves.</p>
  
 
<p>In order not to become tedious I will not continue, but only exhort each person to study such a noble and real science, beseeching him to heed the underwritten observations of our noble expert and to practise them, because with a short period of time no small profit will be acquired, observing how much this befits his own honour, glory, and greatness.</p>
 
<p>In order not to become tedious I will not continue, but only exhort each person to study such a noble and real science, beseeching him to heed the underwritten observations of our noble expert and to practise them, because with a short period of time no small profit will be acquired, observing how much this befits his own honour, glory, and greatness.</p>
| {{section|Page:Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti) 1606.pdf/18|2|lbl=-}}
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| class="noline" | {{section|Page:Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti) 1606.pdf/18|2|lbl=-}}
| {{section|Nicoletto Giganti/1644 German|18|lbl=-}}
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| class="noline" | {{section|Nicoletto Giganti/1644 German|18|lbl=-}}
| {{section|Page:Escrime Novvelle ou Theatre (Nicoletto Giganti) Book 1 1619.pdf/9|2|lbl=-}}
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| class="noline" | {{section|Page:Escrime Novvelle ou Theatre (Nicoletto Giganti) Book 1 1619.pdf/9|2|lbl=-}}
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 +
|}
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{{master subsection end}}
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 +
{{master subsection begin
 +
| title = Clearance and copyright
 +
| width = 90em
 +
}}
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{| class="master"
 +
|-
 +
! <p>Illustrations<br/>from the 1606</p>
 +
! <p>{{rating|C}}<br/>by [[Jeff Vansteenkiste]]</p>
 +
! <p>[[Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti)|First Edition]] (1606){{edit index|Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti) 1606.pdf}}<br/>Transcribed by [[Jeff Vansteenkiste]]</p>
  
 
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|-  
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:::Giovanni Francesco Pinardo, Secretary
 
:::Giovanni Francesco Pinardo, Secretary
 
| {{pagetb|Page:Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti) 1606.pdf|19|lbl=xv}}
 
| {{pagetb|Page:Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti) 1606.pdf|19|lbl=xv}}
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<p>The power is granted to our faithful Nicoletto Giganti, Venetian, that other than him or someone at his behest, it is not permitted for the space of the next thirty years to venture to print in this city, nor any other city, land, or place of our domain, nor printed elsewhere to conduct or sell in our domain the book composed by him, titled School, or Theatre, under pain of losing the printed or conducted works, which are by the aforesaid Nicoletto Giganti, and being obliged to observe what is required by our law in matters of printing, of paying three hundred ducats: A third to our arsenal, a third to the magistrate that makes the execution, and the other third to the complainant.</p>
 
<p>The power is granted to our faithful Nicoletto Giganti, Venetian, that other than him or someone at his behest, it is not permitted for the space of the next thirty years to venture to print in this city, nor any other city, land, or place of our domain, nor printed elsewhere to conduct or sell in our domain the book composed by him, titled School, or Theatre, under pain of losing the printed or conducted works, which are by the aforesaid Nicoletto Giganti, and being obliged to observe what is required by our law in matters of printing, of paying three hundred ducats: A third to our arsenal, a third to the magistrate that makes the execution, and the other third to the complainant.</p>
 
| class="noline" | {{pagetb|Page:Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti) 1606.pdf|20|lbl=xvi}}
 
| class="noline" | {{pagetb|Page:Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti) 1606.pdf|20|lbl=xvi}}
| class="noline" |
 
| class="noline" |
 
  
 
|}
 
|}
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| [[File:Nicoletto Giganti portrait.png|400x400px|center|Nicoletto Giganti]]
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}}
 
}}
 
{{master subsection begin
 
{{master subsection begin
  | title = Introduction and Dedication
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  | title = Dedication
 
  | width = 90em
 
  | width = 90em
 
}}
 
}}
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|-  
 
|-  
| [[File:Libro secondo di Niccoletto Giganti.png|400x400px|center|Title Page]]
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| rowspan="4" | [[File:Libro secondo di Niccoletto Giganti.png|400x400px|center|Title Page]]
|  
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| class="noline" | <p>'''Second Book of Nicoletto Giganti, Venetian''' Master of Arms of the Most Illustrious Lord Knights of the Sacred Religion of Saint '''Stephen'''</p>
|  
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| class="noline" | {{section|Page:Libro secondo di Niccoletto Giganti.png|1|lbl=Ttl}}
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 +
|-
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| class="noline" | <p><small>''Wherein are presented various manners and methods of defending and wounding. With the Sword and Dagger. With the Single Sword. With Sword and Rotella. With Sword and Targa. With Sword and Buckler. With Sword and Cape, and with the Dagger Alone.'' Wherein every studious person will be able to exercise and become practised in the profession of Arms.</small></p>
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| class="noline" | {{section|Page:Libro secondo di Niccoletto Giganti.png|2|lbl=-}}
 +
 
 +
|-
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| class="noline" | <p>Dedicated to the Very Famous and Reverend Lord {{sc|Brother Christofano Chigi}}, Senese Gentleman, Jerusalemite Knight, and Knight Commander of Saint Mark in Fano</p>
 +
| class="noline" | {{section|Page:Libro secondo di Niccoletto Giganti.png|3|lbl=-}}
  
 
|-  
 
|-  
|  
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| <p>In '''Pisa''', printed by Giovanni Fontani, with license from the Superiors, 1608</p>
|  
+
| {{section|Page:Libro secondo di Niccoletto Giganti.png|4|lbl=-}}
|  
 
  
 
|-  
 
|-  
 +
| class="noline" | <p style="text-align: center;"><br/><br/><br/><br/>[Heraldric achievement]</p>
 +
| class="noline" | <p>'''Most Illustrious and Much Reverend Lord Commander, My Most Respected Patron'''</p>
 +
 +
<p>If, by universal consensus, those who scorn manmade laws are considered worthy of dishonour and punishment, those who transgress and show contempt for the laws of Nature must be castigated and abhorred even more, these being written not by human knowledge or power on paper and tablets, but sweetly impressed by Her with praiseworthy characters of love in the hearts of Her sons. Among the many of those worthy of inviolable observance, it seems to me that what is called the law of gratitude is to be safeguarded and observed, so as to not take the glory from benefactors who, conducting themselves well, deserve to acquire it.</p>
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<p>This has made me understand that, given that I am infinitely indebted to Your Lordship due to the distinguished courtesies and favours I receive from You daily, being therefore unable to repay You for these, I would endanger this by not at least expressing thanks to You, which I will do at all times and places, Fortune notwithstanding. For, if She was able to make me scarce of intelligence, She will not, however, be able to deprive me of the virtue that I have gained in the course of many years and with much labour, and whence it will be quite easy by means of the press for me to tell the world how much I am indebted to Your Lordship.</p>
 +
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<p>The present book of arms will produce especially clear testimony of it, composed in the lowness and obscurity of my position at the gentle urging of the law of gratitude, brought to light under the glorious name of my singular benefactor, You. Therefore, take it as something rightly owed to You. Just as I gained much in acquiring service with Your Lordship, thus by means of this book that I will no longer call mine, but Yours, the world will learn the art of defence from the same, and take Your Lordship as an example to raise itself to glory with wings of courtesy and nobility. Humbly making reverences, I continue praying for Your further greatness from the Almighty. In Pisa. May 25, 1608.</p>
 
| class="noline" |  
 
| class="noline" |  
 +
{{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|2|lbl=i|p=1}} {{section|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf/3|1|lbl=ii|p=1}}
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|-
 
| class="noline" |  
 
| class="noline" |  
 
| class="noline" |  
 
| class="noline" |  
 +
:Of Your Very Illustrious Lordship
 +
 +
::A Most Humble and Devoted Servant
 +
 +
:::Nicoletto Giganti, Master of Arms
 +
| class="noline" | {{section|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf/3|2|lbl=-}}
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|}
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{{master subsection end}}
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{{master subsection begin
 +
| title = Introduction
 +
| width = 90em
 +
}}
 +
{| class="master"
 +
|-
 +
! <p>Illustrations<br/>(See note)</p>
 +
! <p>{{rating|C}}<br/>by [[Jeff Vansteenkiste]]</p>
 +
! <p>[[Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti)|First Edition]] (1608){{edit index|Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf}}<br/>Transcribed by [[Benjamin Keiller]]</p>
 +
 +
|-
 +
| [[File:Nicoletto Giganti portrait 1608.png|400x400px|center|Nicoletto Giganti]]
 +
| <p>'''Preface to the Lord Readers'''</p>
 +
 +
<p>''It being the case that in my first book I discussed throwing the firm-footed thrust, and feints, and taught to defend against all the stoccate, in this, my second, I thought to be more universal, intending to teach you additional types of weapons and, more importantly, how all sorts of cuts are defended against and how they must be thrown, the method of passing with the foot, and everything in accordance with what I promised you in my First Book.''<p>
 +
 +
<p>''It is necessary that someone who wishes to become perfect in the profession of arms not only know how to throw a thrust well, perform a beautiful feint, and pass well with both the right and left foot, but also that he know the counter to all these things—that is, how to gracefully defend against them. That given, someone who knows how to throw a thrust well and how to perform a pass but is then lacking in knowledge of how to defend can be said to know nothing, because if he disputes with another who knows how to throw a thrust as he does, both will be wounded. Thus, it is good to know how to throw a thrust and perform a pass but much better to know how to defend against it, as we will discuss in this book.''</p>
 +
 +
<p>''Additionally, someone who is a valiant man in throwing a thrust and passing and also knows how to defend against all kinds of passes and feints but is lacking in throwing and defending against cuts is understood to know nothing. This is because if he contends with someone who does not know how to fence with the sword, as one mostly finds these days, he will have to know how to parry cuts, since the instincts of these such who have no knowledge naturally throw many cuts. Even though someone who knows how to throw a thrust who contends with someone who does not will strike him with a stoccata, in the same tempo that other person throws a cut at him, whence both will be struck. As many thrusts as the person who knows how to throw a thrust throws at him, that many cuts the other will throw at his head or legs, trained thus by nature. Given that, both would be in danger, and for this reason knowing how to throw a stoccata is not sufficient. Knowing how to parry cuts is very useful, though. Therefore, I encourage everyone who wishes to learn this virtue of fencing to learn to throw everything, thrust and cut, and further, to learn to defend against thrusts and cuts of all kinds well.''</p>
 +
 +
<p>''Three kinds of cuts are thrown.''</p>
 +
 +
<p>''The first are concerted cuts, which are learned from masters.''</p>
 +
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<p>''The second are the natural cuts of those men who know nothing of this profession and throw certain bizarre blows that cannot be defended against but by those who have much practice in this virtue. Wishing to learn to defend against these natural cuts, it is necessary after you have learned to throw thrusts and cuts well that you recognize tempo and measure and that you know how to fence with those who do not know of them. Begin to practise with those who know nothing and let them throw at you in their own way. Parrying with the sword and dagger according to what you see he throws at you, throw at him on the side he uncovers. Fencing with various men, you will learn how to parry natural cuts. It is for this reason that it is no wonder that some good fencers, contending with those with no knowledge, are quite often struck—that is, because they are unpractised with those who know nothing, they therefore do not know how to parry natural cuts.''</p>
 +
 +
<p>''The third type of cut are artificial. These are learned in many ways, such as making a show of throwing a cut at one place and then throwing it at another, or even arranging oneself in some artificial and uncovered guard so that the enemy throws and then throwing either a thrust or a cut.''</p>
 +
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<p>''We will discuss all these kinds in this book.''</p>
 +
|
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{{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|5|lbl=2|p=1}} {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|6|lbl=3|p=1}}
  
 
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|-  
 
|-  
 +
| [[File:Giganti 1608 01.png|400px|center|border]]
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| <p>[1] '''The Proper Method of Parrying the Cut with the Sword'''</p>
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 +
<p>In accordance with what I promised you in the preface, I wish to teach you how to defend yourself from cuts. Know, therefore, that the cut can be defended against in three ways. The first is with the sword. The second is with the sword and dagger. The third is by voiding the vita. I discussed parrying cuts with the dagger in my First Book, to which I refer the reader.</p>
 +
 +
<p>Now, this first figure shows you that if your enemy were to throw a cut at your head, you would have to parry with the edge and forte of your sword and in the same tempo throw a riverso at his leg, putting the dagger under the enemy’s sword as the figure shows you, and immediately return backward outside of measure. If you prefer not to throw at the leg, you can throw a riverso at his head and return backward outside of measure with the weapons ready to parry and wound.</p>
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| {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|8|lbl=5}}
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|-
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| [[File:Giganti 1608 02.png|400px|center|border]]
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| <p>[2] '''The Method of Parrying the ''Riverso'' with the Sword'''</p>
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 +
<p>If your adversary happens to throw a ''riverso'' at your head, parry with the edge and ''forte'' of your sword and immediately throw a cut at his leg, putting your dagger under the enemy’s sword as you see in the figure. Then immediately return backward outside of measure as above. When you have parried the ''riverso'', you will also be able to throw the cut at his head and return backward according to the above method.</p>
 +
| {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|10|lbl=7}}
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 +
|-
 +
| [[File:Giganti 1608 03.png|400px|center|border]]
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| <p>[3] '''The Proper Method of Parrying Cuts''' with the Sword and Dagger Crossed</p>
 +
 +
<p>If an unarmoured gentleman with only sword and dagger were by chance [attacked] by an armoured enemy with a heavy sword, attempting to parry with the dagger would be dangerous. This is because without gauntlets there is no doubt that if the hand catches it, the dagger will be thrown to the ground or, instead, the dagger will not withstand the great blow. Attempting to parry with the sword works well, but he will not be able to wound his adversary without notable danger because someone who is armoured has more courage than someone who is not, and more daringly drives himself forward and redoubles the cuts, which would endanger someone who is unarmoured. It can therefore be done in this way.</p>
 +
 +
<p>When the enemy throws the cut at your head, parry with the sword and dagger crossed as the figure shows, the dagger above and the sword below. In the same tempo, disengage the sword from under that of the enemy and throw a stoccata at his face, and return backward outside of measure. Parry and throw stoccate at his face in this way as many times as the adversary throws. A hundred cuts can be parried in this way and it is easy to wound him in the face because, throwing the cut, he comes forward with his face and head much more as the gentleman throws the stoccata as an imbroccata, extending the foot and then withdrawing outside of measure.</p>
 
|  
 
|  
 +
{{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|12|lbl=9|p=1}} {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|13|lbl=10|p=1}}
 +
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|-
 
|  
 
|  
|  
+
| <p>[4] '''Method of Parrying with the Sword and Dagger Crossed and Throwing a ''Riverso'' at the Leg'''</p>
 +
 
 +
<p>It is also quite safe to parry cuts in this way: When your enemy throws the cut at you parry in the above way, and in the same instant let a ''riverso'' go toward his leg so that he cannot parry it and keep his sword in your dagger. Most importantly, parrying, throwing the ''riverso'', and withdrawing outside of measure are done in the same tempo. You can parry in this manner as many times as he throws at you and throw the ''riverso'' at his leg or thrust at his face as above.
 +
</p>
 +
| {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|14|lbl=11}}
 +
 
 +
|-
 +
| rowspan="2" | [[File:Giganti 1608 04.png|400px|center|border]]
 +
| <p>[5] '''Method of Defending Against Cuts by Voiding the ''Vita'''''</p>
 +
 
 +
<p>This figure shows you that if your enemy throws a cut at your head, you must pull your ''vita'' backward in the same tempo, as the figure shows you, let the cut fall in vain, in the same instant throw a stoccata where you see the adversary is most uncovered, and return immediately outside of measure. The stoccata will be safe because the more strongly your enemy throws, the more he uncovers himself, and he then recovers with greater difficulty. You can also throw this thrust if your enemy were to throw a ''riverso'' at your head. While he throws the ''riverso'', bring your ''vita'' back and throw the stoccata as above, and quickly return backward outside of measure.</p>
 +
| {{section|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf/16|1|lbl=13.1}}
 +
 
 +
|-
 +
| <p>[6] '''Method of Defending Against Cuts by Voiding the ''Vita'' and Throwing the Cut at the Leg'''</p>
 +
 
 +
<p>Further, it is good and safe in this way: We suppose that your enemy throws a cut at your head, your ''vita'' brought back in the above way, and, while the cut passes by, you throw a ''riverso'' at his leg, which will strike him safely so that he cannot defend from it. The harder he throws, the worse it is for him. If he were to throw a ''riverso'' at you, bringing your ''vita'' backward, give him a ''mandritto'' to the leg because when someone throws a ''mandritto'', the ''riverso'' is eluded by the ''mandritto''. Given that, if your enemy throws a ''riverso'', you must throw a ''mandritto'', and if he throws a ''mandritto'' at you, you must throw a ''riverso'', taking care to keep your sword high and that your blow travels in the same tempo that the adversary’s sword passes by, so that he will therefore have no tempo to parry it. As soon as you have thrown, return outside of measure with your weapons ready to parry and wound.</p>
 +
| {{section|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf/16|2|lbl=13.2}}
  
 
|}
 
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Revision as of 22:10, 26 May 2024

Nicoletto Giganti
Born 1550s-60s
Fossombrone, Italy
Died date of death unknown
Occupation
Nationality Italian
Citizenship Republic of Venice
Patron
  • Cosimo II de' Medici
  • Christofano Chigi
Influenced Bondì di Mazo (?)
Genres Fencing manual
Language Italian
Notable work(s)
First printed
english edition
Leoni, 2010
Concordance by Michael Chidester

Nicoletto Giganti (Niccoletto, Nicolat) was an Italian soldier and fencing master around the turn of the 17th century. He was likely born to a noble family in Fossombrone in central Italy,[1] and only later became a citizen of Venice.[2] Little is known of Giganti’s life, but in the dedication to his 1606 treatise he claims 27 years of professional experience, meaning that his career began in 1579 (possibly referring to service in the Venetian military, a long tradition of the Giganti family).[1] Additionally, the preface to his 1608 treatise describes him as a Master of Arms to the Order of Santo Stefano in Pisa, a powerful military order founded by Cosimo I de' Medici, giving some further clues to his career.

In 1606, Giganti published a treatise on the use of the rapier (both single and with the dagger) titled Scola, overo teatro ("School, or Theater"). It is dedicated to Cosimo II de' Medici. This treatise is structured as a series of progressively more complex lessons, and Tom Leoni opines that this treatise is the best pedagogical work on rapier fencing of the early 17th century.[3] It is also the first treatise to fully articulate the principle of the lunge.

In 1608, Giganti made good on the promise in his first book that he would publish a second volume.[4] Titled Libro secondo di Niccoletto Giganti ("Second Book of Niccoletto Giganti"), it is dedicated to Christofano Chigi, a Knight of Malta, and covers the same weapons as the first as well as rapier and buckler, rapier and cloak, rapier and shield, single dagger, and mixed weapon encounters. This text in turn promises additional writings on the dagger and on cutting with the rapier, but there is no record of further books by Giganti ever being published.

While Giganti's second book quickly disappeared from history, his first seems to have been quite popular: reprints, mostly unauthorized, sprang up many times over the subsequent decades, both in the original Italian and, beginning in 1619, in French and German translations. This unauthorized dual-language edition also included book 2 of Salvator Fabris' 1606 treatise Lo Schermo, overo Scienza d’Arme which, coupled with the loss of Giganti's true second book, is probably what has lead many later bibliographers to accuse Giganti himself of plagiarism.[5]

Treatise

Giganti, like many 17th century authors, had a tendency to write incredibly long, multi-page paragraphs which quickly become hard to follow. Jacob de Zeter's 1619 dual-language edition often breaks these up into more manageable chunks, and so his version is used as the template for these concordances.

A copy of the 1628 printing that was extensively annotated by a contemporary reader now resides in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek. Its annotations are beyond the scope of this concordance, but they have been transcribed by Julian Schrattenecker and Florian Fortner, and incorporated into Jeff Vansteenkiste's translation in a separate document.

The only known copy of Giganti's Libro Secondo is in the Howard de Walden Library, currently hosted by the Wallace Collection, and their policies prevent anyone from publicly releasing the illustrations from the book. The best we can do at the moment is attempt to recreate the book's illustrations by combinind elements from other books from the same time period.

Additional Resources

The following is a list of publications containing scans, transcriptions, and translations relevant to this article, as well as published peer-reviewed research.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Terminiello et al. 2013, p 9.
  2. That he eventually became a Venetian citizen is indicated on the title page of his 1606 treatise.
  3. Leoni, p xi.
  4. This treatise was considered lost for centuries, and as early as 1673 the Sicilian master Giuseppe Morsicato Pallavicini stated that this second book was never published at all. See La seconda parte della scherma illustrata. Palermo, 1673. p V.
  5. This accusation was first made by Johann Joachim Hynitzsch, who attributed the edition to Giganti rather than Zeter and was incensed that he gave no credit to Fabris.
  6. Although the plates depicting the guards and counterguards are somewhat less than clear, we know from this chapter that Figure 2 depicts binding the enemy’s sword on the inside.
  7. Figure 3, which we know from the description of this chapter’s action depicts binding the enemy’s sword on the outside.
  8. Reading the text, Figures 6 and 7 appear to be swapped, meaning this lesson’s text refers to Figure 7. Interestingly, the plate order does not appear to be corrected in subsequent printings, even in Jakob de Zeter’s German/French version (1619), which uses entirely new plates created by a different artist.
  9. This lesson’s text refers to Figure 6.
  10. The two fencers.
  11. The placeholder was never replaced with the proper figure number reference when the book went to print, and it remains missing in Paolo Frambotto’s 1628 reprint. Jakob de Zeter’s 1619 German/French version refers to Figure 7.
  12. This is the second manner mentioned at the beginning of the lesson, rather than an action that follows from the first.
  13. Camillo Agrippa (1553), for example, recommends turning the face away.
  14. The two preceding figures.
  15. The original text is “vorreste”, or “you would like”. As our fencer’s opponent is the one with the dagger, it is likely that this is a mistake in the text.
  16. The figure number is missing in both the 1606 and 1628 printings. Jakob de Zeter’s 1619 German/French version refers to Figure 21.
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 Figure 21.
  18. The guard Giganti refers to here is unclear.
  19. 19.0 19.1 Figures 21–26.
  20. The original text uses the words “in varia”, or “in varying”. This is likely an error in the text which should read “in aria”, or “in the air”, and has been corrected here.
  21. The figure number is missing in both the 1606 and 1628 printings. Jakob de Zeter’s 1619 German/French version also omits a figure reference. The anonymous notes in the Vienna copy state that it is the 21st figure.
  22. The figure number is missing in both the 1606 and 1628 printings. Jakob de Zeter’s 1619 German/French version refers to Figure 27.
  23. Scannare—to slaughter or cut the throat of.