Fiore dei Liberi
Friulian fencing master (died after 1409), author of the treatise Fior di Battaglia, the oldest surviving Italian fencing manual.
Quick Facts
ItalyBiography
Fiore dei Liberi was a Friulian fencing master of the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries and author of the treatise Fior di Battaglia, the oldest surviving Italian fencing manual. He was born in Cividale del Friuli in the Patriarchate of Aquileia, son of Benedetto of the Liberi family of Premariacco. We have not found the year of his birth or death, and the estimate of around 1350 comes from his own words that he devoted himself to the art for over forty years.
According to the prologue he learned from many masters from Italy and the German lands, namely from Johan called Suveno, a pupil of Nicholaie de Toblem. He also writes that he fought five duels with sharp swords wearing only a padded jacket and gloves and won them unharmed, but no independent record of them exists.
Archival records from Udine list him in 1383 as keeper of the city weapons, and in 1384 he was to recruit a mercenary company for the city. In 1395 in Padova he prepared Galeazzo Gonzaga for a duel with Marshal Boucicaut, and in 1399 in Pavia Giovannino da Baggio for a duel before Gian Galeazzo Visconti. The Pisani Dossi manuscript is dated 10 February 1409.
The treatise describes wrestling and fighting with the dagger, the sword in one hand and in both, in armour, with the axe, the spear and on horseback. Four manuscripts survive, among others in the Morgan Library and the Getty Museum.
Early life
Fiore was born in Cividale del Friuli in the Patriarchate of Aquileia, and Wiktenauer does not give the exact year. The estimate of around 1350 comes from his own statement of more than forty years of practice before 1409. According to the prologue of the Pisani Dossi manuscript, his father was Benedetto of the Liberi family of Premariacco. The name Liberi may suggest the family's imperial immediacy, but a connection with Cristallo dei Liberi of 1110 is only a conjecture. In the prologue he writes that from his youth he had a natural inclination to fighting, and according to the association AEMMA he went as a young man to Italy and the German lands for training.
Training and teachers
According to the prologue he trained with countless masters from Italy and the German lands. He names only Johan called Suveno, a pupil of Nicholaie de Toblem, and very little is known about either. He writes that he has devoted himself to the art for more than forty years. He also claims that he fought five duels with sharp swords wearing only a padded jacket and leather gloves and won them without injury. According to Wiktenauer his pupil Piero Paolo del Verde probably fought Peter Kornwald in Perugia in 1381.
Contribution and innovations
On 3 August 1383 he obtained the right of residence in Udine, and on 30 September he was entrusted with the administration of the city weapons, including the artillery. In February 1384 he was to recruit a mercenary company for the city, and on 23 May 1384 he took an oath as an official of one of the city districts. In 1395 in Padova he prepared Galeazzo Gonzaga for a duel with Marshal Boucicaut, which was interrupted. In 1399 in Pavia he prepared Giovannino da Baggio for a duel with the squire Siran on 24 June in front of Gian Galeazzo Visconti. He wrote the treatise Fior di Battaglia in Italian and Latin, and the Pisani Dossi manuscript is dated 10 February 1409 and dedicated to Niccolò III d'Este.
Legends and documented facts
We have not found any diplomatic or command activity in the sources, and according to Wiktenauer the archival records document only the administration of the city weapons and the recruitment of a company in Udine in 1383 and 1384. We know of the five victorious duels only from his own prologue, and we have not found an independent contemporary record. C. A. Blengini di Torricella, referring to Novati, claims that Fiore was in Paris in 1418 and 1420, which Wiktenauer describes as unverified. The dating of the Paris manuscript is also disputed, and Wiktenauer places it in the tens and twenties of the 15th century.
Legacy
Four manuscripts survive, in the Morgan Library in New York, in the Getty Museum, in the private collection Pisani Dossi and in Paris. The Morgan manuscript M.383 now has 19 folios and 124 pen drawings. In the 15th century the d'Este family owned at least three of Fiore's manuscripts, and two of them were lost before 1436. In central Europe, according to Wiktenauer, he had little influence, because the tradition of Liechtenauer prevailed there. The works of Philippo di Vadi and Ludwig VI von Eyb are very similar to Fiore's, but whether this is a direct influence cannot be determined. His pupils included Piero Paolo del Verde, Niccolò Unricilino, Galeazzo Cattaneo dei Grumelli, Lancillotto Beccaria, Giovannino da Baggio and Azzone di Castelbarco.
Associated Martial Arts
Quotes
I have studied them for a good forty years and more.
o studiado ben XL anni o più