The following pages are from Francesco Novati’s 1904 facsimile edition of Fior de Liberi’s celebrated manual on knightly combat, the Fiore de Battaglia, or Flower of Battle. Liberi (born in 1350) dubbed himself the “flower of battle,” which is to say the greatest or most exemplary warrior of his day. Five other swordmasters tested his boastful proclamation and failed to prove him wrong, with Liberi emerging not only victorious but unscathed from each contest. Composed in the 14th Century, there are only four known original editions in existence. Novati (1859–1915), an Italian book collector and philologist, produced his edition in order to help preserve the celebrated martial arts text. Novati’s edition was a facsimile of one of the four extant texts, in this case the Pisani-Dossi manuscript of 1409.
The text breaks down several forms of combat with careful attention to the positioning of the hands and feet. Armored combat, grappling, dagger against dagger, spear and horseback combat are all addressed in this, most seminal of medieval combat texts.
Liberi is considered among the greatest swordsmen of all time.