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De duello, vel De re militari in singulari certamine (Paride del Pozzo)

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De duello
Questions of Honor and Arms
Pozzo title image.png
Full title De duello, vel De re militari
in singulari certamine
Author(s) Paride del Pozzo
Place of origin Napoli, Italy
Language Renaissance Latin
Publisher Sixtus Riessinger
Publication date 1476, 1501, 1509, 1515, 1518,
1521, 1523, 1525, 1530, 1536,
1540, 1543, 1544, 1560, 1580
Pages 376 pages
Treatise scans

De duello, vel De re militari in singulari certamine ("On the Duel, or On Military Matters in Single Combat") is an Italian treatise on dueling laws and customs written in Renaissance Latin by Italian jurist Paride del Pozzo and published in 1476. It is particularly important due to its detailed descriptions of dueling laws and customs, which help establish the context of 15th century fighting systems, and also of incidents from specific historical duels, which shed light on how fighting looked in practice.

Pozzo's treatise seems to have been quite popular, published in at least fifteen editions over the subsequent century and translated into three other languages; sections were also lifted by Achille Marozzo and formed one the of core components of his own enormously popular treatise on Bolognese fencing.

Publication History

De duello, vel De re militari in singulari certamine was printed in Naples in 1476-77 by Sixtus Riessinger; the Latin edition was reprinted in 1509 and 1515 in Milan, and in 1543 by Benedictum Bonnyn in Lyon, France. There are also two 15th century Latin manuscripts preserved in Bergamo, though it's unclear as yet whether they represent copies of the book or Pozzo's own drafts.

In 1501, Diego Enriquez de Castillo translated the treatise to Spanish, mediated by an as-yet-unidentified Toscano (Italian?) version, perhaps Pozzo's original text. This translation is preserved in two manuscripts held by the Biblioteca Nacional de España, MSS 936 and 944. Enriquez' translation doesn't seem to have ever been published, but the Toscano version was translated to Spanish again in 1544 and published in Seville by Dominico de Robertis, under the title Libro llamado batalla de dos ("Book Called the Battle of Two").

Some time before 1518, the text was translated into Italian, and several Italian editions were printed in Venice thereafter, including in 1518, 1521, 1523, 1525, 1530, 1536, 1540, and 1544.

In 1536, the Italian version was lifted by Achille Marozzo and integrated into his own work on dueling, published as book 5 of his treatise Opera nova, which also saw several editions over the subsequent century.

Finally, in ca. 1580, the Italian version was translated to English by Thomas Bedingfield and titled Questions of Honor and Arms. This translation is preserved in a manuscript held by the Folger Shakespeare Library, MS V.b.104, but doesn't seem to have ever been published.

Contents

1 - 373 Treatise on duelling by Paride del Pozzo

Gallery

Title pages

1476 edition (Latin)
Pozzo title 1.jpg
1501 edition (Spanish)
MS.936 001r.png
1501 edition (Spanish)
MS.944 001r.png
1509 edition (Latin)
Pozzo title 1c.jpg
1515 edition (Latin)
Pozzo title 1d.jpg
1518 edition (Italian)
Pozzo title 2.jpg
1521 edition (Italian)
Pozzo title 3.jpg
1523 edition (Italian)
Pozzo title 4.jpg
1523 edition (Italian)
Pozzo title 5.jpg
1525 edition (Italian)
Pozzo title 6.png
1530 edition (Italian)
Pozzo title 7.jpg
1536 edition (Italian)
Pozzo title 8.jpg
1540 edition (Italian)
Pozzo title 9.jpg
1543 edition (Latin)
Pozzo title 10.jpg
1544 edition (Italian)
Pozzo title 11.jpg
1544 edition (Spanish)
Pozzo title 12.jpg
1560 edition (Italian)
1580 edition (English)
MS V.b.104 003r.jpg

Additional Resources

References

Copyright and License Summary

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

Work Author(s) Source License
Images
Public Domain.png
Latin (1476) Index:De duello, vel De re militari in singulari certamine (Paride del Pozzo)
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Italian (1521) Index:Duello, libro de re (Paride de Pozzo)
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Spanish (1544) Index:Libro llamado batalla de dos (Paride del Pozzo)
CCBYSA30.png
English (1580) Index:Questions of Honor and Arms (Paride del Pozzo)
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