From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice: The Longsword Techniques of Fiore dei Liberi

Essential reading for all martial artists and historians of the medieval and early Renaissance, this new book from renowned historical swordsman Guy Windsor opens up one of the greatest martial arts books of all time to a wide audience: Fiore dei Liberi’s Flower of Battle.

In the late 14th century dei Liberi, an Italian knightly combat master, wrote Il Fior di Battaglia, The Flower of Battle. A magnificent illustrated manuscript, it describes how to fight on foot and on horseback, in armour and without, with sword, spear, pollax, dagger, or with no weapon at all.

Guy has spent the last 20 years studying Fiore’s work and creating a modern practice of historical swordsmanship from it. In this book, Guy takes you through all of Fiore’s longsword techniques on foot without armour. Each technique (or “play”) is shown with the drawing from the treatise, Guy’s transcription and translation of the text, his commentary on how it fits into the system and works in practice, and a link to a video of the technique in action. The book contains a detailed introduction describing Fiore’s life and times, and extensive discussion of the contexts in which Fiore’s art belongs.