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

De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi is an illustrated fencing manuscript that, according to Wiktenauer, was probably created between 1482 and 1487. It was written by Philippo di Vadi (Filippo Vadi) of Pisa and dedicated to Duke Guidobaldo da Montefeltro in Urbino. Today it is kept in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma under the shelfmark MS Vitt.Em.1324. It has 42 paper folios measuring 235 × 150 mm in a leather binding and is written in medieval Italian. After a preface comes an introduction of sixteen chapters and sections on fighting with the sword, the axe, the sword in armour, pole weapons and the dagger, and on wrestling. Each page has two illustrations with text above them. According to English Wikipedia, the illustrations and techniques suggest the influence of Fiore dei Liberi, but Vadi differs from him in footwork and in several techniques of his own. Until 1502 the manuscript was in the ducal library in Urbino, where it is recorded in the inventory of Ludovico Odasio, and it was lost when Cesare Borgia conquered the city. In 1838 it was bought by the dealer J. T. Payne, then belonged to Sir Thomas Phillipps, Thomas FitzRoy Fenwick and the dealers Phillip and Lionel Robinson, from whom the Italian Ministry of Education acquired it in 1967 for the library in Rome. Modern editions and translations were prepared by Gregory Mele and Luca Porzio (2002), Marco Rubboli and Luca Cesari (2005), Guy Windsor (2013 and 2018) and Ian Davis (2021).

Martial arts in this work

Contents

The manuscript opens with a preface on folios IIv–3v. On folios 3v–14v follows an introduction divided into sixteen chapters. The practical part begins with the sword (fol. 15r–23v), followed by the axe (fol. 24r–25r) and the sword in full armour (fol. 26r–27v). Pole weapons have two separate places, folios 28r–28v and 38r–38v. The most extensive section is on the dagger, spread over folios 29r–37v and 39r–42v, and Wiktenauer also places wrestling at folio 29r. Each page consists of a pair of illustrations with accompanying text above them. We did not find the total number of illustrations in the sources. According to English Wikipedia, the main weapon is the long sword.

Origin

Wiktenauer places the creation of the manuscript probably in the years 1482–1487 and states a dedication to Duke Guidobaldo da Montefeltro. According to the same source, the author Philippo di Vadi was born in 1425 in Pisa and perhaps died in 1501 in Urbino. From the eighties of the fifteenth century until 1502 the manuscript was in the ducal library in Urbino, and Ludovico Odasio entered it in its inventory. It was lost when Cesare Borgia conquered Urbino in 1502. It resurfaced in 1838, when the dealer J. T. Payne bought it. In 1838–1872 it belonged to Sir Thomas Phillipps, in whose collection it bore the numbers 11725 and 13545, in 1885–1938 to Thomas FitzRoy Fenwick and in 1946–1967 to the dealers Phillip and Lionel Robinson. In 1967 it was acquired by the Italian Ministry of Education, which passed it to the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma.

Editions and translations

The earliest of the modern editions listed by Wiktenauer is the English translation Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi: 15th Century Swordsmanship of Master Filippo Vadi, prepared in 2002 by Gregory Mele and Luca Porzio. The Italian edition L'arte Cavalleresca del Combattimento was published in 2005 by Marco Rubboli and Luca Cesari. Guy Windsor published the book Veni Vadi Vici with a transcription, translation and commentary in 2013, and followed it in 2018 with The Art of Sword Fighting in Earnest. The most recent of the editions mentioned is Wielding the Light of Mars by Ian Davis from 2021. We have not been able to document the publishers of the first two editions. Digital images of the manuscript are made available by the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma in its digital collection.

People and martial arts

• Filippo VadiAuthor
• Guidobaldo da MontefeltroPatron

Details

Form

Manuscript

Repository

Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma

Shelfmark

MS Vitt.Em.1324

Folios

42

Material

Paper

Editions

• 2002 · EN · Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi: 15th Century Swordsmanship of Master Filippo Vadi · translation
• 2005 · IT · L'arte Cavalleresca del Combattimento
• 2013 · EN · Veni Vadi Vici · translation
• 2018 · EN · The Art of Sword Fighting in Earnest · translation
• 2021 · EN · Wielding the Light of Mars · translation