Pietro Monte
Master of arms and condottiero from Milan, author of the Latin treatise Exercitiorum Atque Artis Militaris Collectanea, killed in 1509 at Agnadello.
Quick Facts
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Pietro Monte was born around 1457. Sources disagree on whether he came from Spain or from Italy. At the end of the 15th century he worked in Milan as a master of arms and served as a condottiero in several armies.
He knew Leonardo da Vinci. His pupil was Galeazzo da Sanseverino, whom the source calls a leading master of strength and skill. We have not found in the sources whom Monte himself studied under.
In 1492 he published the treatise De Dignoscendis Hominibus. His main work, the Latin treatise Exercitiorum Atque Artis Militaris Collectanea, was published in 1509 and again in 1522; it was published posthumously by Giovanni Angelo Scinzenzeler. In 1509 the treatise De Singulari Certamine Sive Dissentione, De veritate unius legis et falsitate sectatrum also appeared, likewise with a second edition in 1522. The manuscripts MS A.IV.23 in Spanish (Escorial) and Codex Estense T.VII.25 in Italian (Biblioteca Estense) have also survived. In fencing he emphasised rising and lateral cutting strikes and thrusting attacks, with quick combinations ending in a thrust.
He died on 14 May 1509 while defending a position at the Battle of Agnadello. According to the source, his system preceded the Italian Dardi school, but he does not appear to have directly influenced his successors, and his work fell into obscurity.