De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi (MS Vitt.Em.1324)

De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi
MS Vitt.Em.1324, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Rome, Italy
Frontispiece and folio 1r
Hagedorn PVR Leng —
Wierschin — Hils —
Type	Fencing manual Wrestling manual
Date	between 1482 and 1487
Place of origin	Urbino, Italy (?)
Language(s)	Middle Italian
Author(s)	Philippo di Vadi
Scribe(s)	Unknown
Illustrator(s)	Unknown
Dedicated to	Duke Guidobaldo da Montefeltro
Material	Paper, with a leather binding
Size	42 folia (235 mm x 150 mm)
Format	Double-sided; two illustrations per side, with text above
Exemplar(s)	Fior di Battaglia
External data	Library catalog entry
Treatise scans	Digital scans Digital scans Digital scans Microfilm scans

The De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi ("On the Art of Fencing with Swords", MS Vitt. Em. 1324), is an Italian fencing manual by Philippo di Vadi of Pisa, probably created between 1482 and 1487. The original currently rests in the Vittorio Emanuele II collection of the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma in Rome, Italy. The main body of text is largely a redaction of the writings of Fiore de'i Liberi, generally repeating the text of Liberi's Flos Duellatorum; the layout is likewise very similar to that of his later Florius de Arte Luctandi. It seems almost certain that Vadi stood in the tradition of Liberi, or at the very least possessed a copy of his fencing manual. However, this manuscript cannot be written off as a mere plagiarism of Liberi, as it augments his offering with a lengthy, sixteen chapter introduction that illuminates many of the subtleties of Medieval Italian fencing.

Provenance

The known provenance of the MS Vitt. Em. 1324 is:

• Written in the late 1400s. Gifted by Philippo di Vadi to Duke Guidobaldo da Montefeltro between 1482 and 1487.
• 1480s-1502 – Held in the Ducal Library at Urbino (disappeared during Cesare Borgia's conquest in 1502).
• 1500s – "Di Francescho a leoni battiloro e de sua amici" inscribed inside the cover in a 16th century hand.
• before 1838 – Acquired by British book dealer JT Payne (sold London, JT Payne, 1838).
• 1838-1872 – Owned by Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), mistakenly listed twice as Mss. Ph. 11725 and 13545 (purchased London, JT Payne, 1838).
• 1885-1938 – Owned by Thomas FitzRoy Fenwick (1856-1938), who took control of Phillipps Library in 1885 after a protracted legal dispute (sold London, 1946).
• 1946-1967 – Owned by book dealers Phillip and Lionel Robinson, who purchased the "residue" of Phillipps Library, including Mss. Ph. 11725&13545, for £100,000 (sold London, Sotheby's, 1967).
• 1967-present – Purchased by the Italian Ministry of Education, stored at Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma.

Contents

IIv - 3v	Preface by Philippo di Vadi
3v - 14v	Introduction by Philippo di Vadi
15r - 23v	Sword by Philippo di Vadi
24r - 25r	Axe by Philippo di Vadi
26r - 27v	Sword in Armor by Philippo di Vadi
28r - 28v 38r - 38v	Staff Weapons by Philippo di Vadi
29r - 37v	Dagger by Philippo di Vadi
29r	Grappling by Philippo di Vadi
39r - 42v	Dagger by Philippo di Vadi

Gallery

A collation diagram for this manuscript is available on the index page.

Front Cover

Inside Cover

Ir

Iv

IIr

IIv

Folio 1r

Folio 1v

Folio 2r

Folio 2v

Folio 3r

Folio 3v

Folio 4r

Folio 4v

Folio 5r

Folio 5v

Folio 6r

Folio 6v

Folio 7r

Folio 7v

Folio 8r

Folio 8v

Folio 9r

Folio 9v

Folio 10r

Folio 10v

Folio 11r

Folio 11v

Folio 12r

Folio 12v

Folio 13r

Folio 13v

Folio 14r

Folio 14v

Folio 15r

Folio 15v

Folio 16r

Folio 16v

Folio 17r

Folio 17v

Folio 18r

Folio 18v

Folio 19r

Folio 19v

Folio 20r

Folio 20v

Folio 21r

Folio 21v

Folio 22r

Folio 22v

Folio 23r

Folio 23v

Folio 24r

Folio 24v

Folio 25r

Folio 25v

Folio 26r

Folio 26v

Folio 27r

Folio 27v

Folio 28r

Folio 28v

Folio 29r

Folio 29v

Folio 30r

Folio 30v

Folio 31r

Folio 31v

Folio 32r

Folio 32v

Folio 33r

Folio 33v

Folio 34r

Folio 34v

Folio 35r

Folio 35v

Folio 36r

Folio 36v

Folio 37r

Folio 37v

Folio 38r

Folio 38v

Folio 39r

Folio 39v

Folio 40r

Folio 40v

Folio 41r

Folio 41v

Folio 42r

Folio 42v

Folio 43r

Folio 43v

Inside Cover

Back Cover

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.

• Deacon, Jacob Henry (2016). "Prologues, Poetry, Prose and Portrayals: The Purposes of Fifteenth Century Fight Books According to the Diplomatic Evidence." Acta Periodica Duellatorum 4(2): 69-90. doi:10.36950/apd-2016-014.
• Vadi, Filippo (2002). Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi: 15th Century Swordsmanship of Master Filippo Vadi. Trans. by Gregory Mele; Luca Porzio. Union City, CA: Chivalry Bookshelf. ISBN 978-1891448164.
• Vadi, Filippo (2005). L'arte Cavalleresca del Combattimento. Ed. by Marco Rubboli; Luca Cesari. Rome: Il Cerchio Iniziative Editoriali. ISBN 88-8474-079-7.
• Vadi, Philippo; Connor Kemp-Cowell (2021). Wielding the Light of Mars: A Translation and Guide to De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi. Trans. by Ian Davis. Self-published.
• Windsor, Guy (2013). Veni Vadi Vici. A Transcription, Translation and Commentary of Philippo Vadi's De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi. Self-published. ISBN 978-952-93-1686-1.
• Windsor, Guy (2018). The Art of Sword Fighting in Earnest. Spada Press. ISBN 978-952-7157-37-4.

Copyright and License Summary

For further information, including transcription and translation notes, see the discussion page.

Work	Author(s)	Source	License
Images	Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma	Biblioteca Digitale
Transcription	Marco Rubboli and Luca Cesari	Index:De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi (MS Vitt.Em.1324)