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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
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 by Sixtus Riessinger in the mid-late 1470s; the original print run included both Italian and Latin editions, and it is unclear which language was written first.

The Latin edition was reset and printed 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,[1] though it's unclear whether they represent copies of the book or Pozzo's own drafts.

The Italian edition was reset and printed in Venice many times in the 16th century, including in 1518, 1521, 1523, 1525, 1530, 1536, 1540, and 1544. Furthermore, in 1536 it was abridged 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 (including in 1546, 1550, 1568, and 1615).

In ca. 1501, Diego Enriquez de Castillo translated the Italian version to Spanish. 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 Italian was translated to Spanish again in 1544 and this time published in Seville by Dominico de Robertis, under the title Libro llamado batalla de dos ("Book Called the Battle of Two").

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,[2] but doesn't seem to have ever been published.

Contents

Ir - VIv Table of contents
1r - 27r Book 1 by Paride del Pozzo
27r - 40v Book 2, "On the place of combat or battle" by Paride del Pozzo
40v - 48r Book 3, "On the duel" by Paride del Pozzo
48r - 49v Book 4, "On armaments" by Paride del Pozzo
49v - 54v Book 5, "On the need of a champion" by Paride del Pozzo
54v - 78r Book 6,"On the causes for dueling" by Paride del Pozzo
78v - 112v Book 7, "On noble fights and on [rebrociis]" by Paride del Pozzo
113r - 148r Book 8, "On cases of duels and pacts to fight" by Paride del Pozzo
148r - 168v Book 9, "On capture and redemption in duels" by Paride del Pozzo
168v - 178r Book 10, "On impression and unsaying" by Paride del Pozzo
178r - 180v Book 11, "On the decision and appeal in making battle" by Paride del Pozzo

Gallery

Title pages

1476 edition (Latin)
Pozzo title 1.jpg
1476 edition (Italian)
Pozzo title 1a.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)

Manuscripts

1501 edition (Spanish)
MS.936 001r.png
1501 edition (Spanish)
MS.944 001r.png
1580 edition (English)
MS V.b.104 003r.jpg

Additional Resources

References

  1. See entry 1 and entry 2 in the Manus Online catalog of the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo Unico delle Biblioteche Italiane e per le informazioni bibliografiche.
  2. See the record in the Hamnet Folger Library Catalog of the Folger Shakespeare Library.

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)
CCBYSA30.png
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 (MS V.b.104)
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