Ragione di adoprar sicuramente l'arme (Giacomo di Grassi, 1570)

Ragione di adoprar sicuramente l'arme si da offesa, come da difesa is a printed fencing treatise by Giacomo di Grassi, a native of Modena who ran a fencing school in Treviso and observed other masters on his travels around Italy. It appeared in Italian in Venice in 1570 from the printer Giordano Ziletti and partners. After an epistle to the nobles comes an introduction on judgment, strength and basic principles and on the difference between true and false art. Di Grassi sorts weapons by length into short (one-handed swords), medium (two-handed swords and spears) and long (pikes). The exposition begins with the single rapier, continues with rapier and dagger, cloak, buckler, square and round shield and a pair of rapiers, and ends with the two-handed sword, polearms and the pike. The text covers rebounds, parries, evasions, steps and leaps and places the lunge above all other attacks. The conclusion is a treatise on deceit and on training the body. The English translation appeared in London in 1594 under the title Di Grassi his True Arte of Defence. According to Wiktenauer it was made by a translator signing with the initials I. G. and Thomas Churchyard arranged its publication, while Wikipedia attributes the translation directly to Churchyard. According to Wikipedia it ranks among the three most important fencing texts of Elizabethan England and documents the shift from heavier weapons to the lighter, longer blades of the rapier.

Martial arts in this work

Contents

The full title summarises the print's construction: Ragione di adoprar sicuramente l'Arme si da Offesa, come da Difesa, Con un Trattato dell'inganno, & con un modo di essitarsi da se stesso, per acquistare forza, giudicio, & prestezza. It thus promises an exposition on sure handling of the weapon in attack and defence, a treatise on deceit and instructions for training alone so that the fencer gains strength, judgment and speed. The core of the exposition is the one-handed rapier with three guards, high, wide and low, and with lunges. Next come combinations of the rapier with a second weapon or protection: dagger, cloak, buckler, square and round shield and a second rapier. Separate sections cover the two-handed sword and polearms including the pike.

Editions and translations

The first edition appeared in Venice in 1570 from the press of Giordano Ziletti and his partners. Wiktenauer gives the date 8 March 1570 for it, but in the sources we did not find whether this is the date of printing or of the dedication. The English version Di Grassi his True Arte of Defence appeared in London in 1594, printed for I. I. by the printer I. Iaggard at Temple Bar at the sign of the Hand and Star. The sources disagree on who translated it. Wiktenauer names a gentleman signing with the initials I. G. and ascribes to Thomas Churchyard the role of the person who commissioned the translation and secured the edition. Wikipedia names Churchyard directly as the translator. Wiktenauer also refers to a modern Czech translation, whose author we have not been able to document.

People and martial arts

• Giacomo di GrassiAuthor
• I. G.Translator
• Thomas ChurchyardPatron

Details

Form

Printed book

Editions

• 1570 · IT · Ragione di adoprar sicuramente l'Arme · Giordano Ziletti & compagni · first edition
• 1594 · EN · Di Grassi his True Arte of Defence · I. Iaggard · translation