Fiore dei Liberi

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Fiore dei Liberi (ca. 1350s - 1420s) was a medieval master of arms and the earliest master of the Italian school of swordsmanship from whom we have an extant manual.

Most of what is known of the man comes from the prologues to his book Flos Duellatorum. The book, of which three distinct versions remain, contains a complete martial arts system describing how to fight unarmed and with various weapons, unarmoured and armoured, both on foot and mounted on horseback. (See list of medieval weapons.)

Liberi declared that he was born in the Diocese of the Patriarchate of Aquileia in Cividale del Fruili in what was then Austria. The date of his birth has been estimated as around 1350, as described below. He was the son of Sir Benedetto dei Liberi.

Fiore dei Liberi wrote that he had a natural inclination to the martial arts and began at a young age. Later he studied under masters of arms in both Italy and Germany. He mentioned studying under Master Giovanni called Suveno, a scholar of Nicolo from Metz. Fiore was a contemporary of Johannes Liechtenauer, the founder of the German school of swordsmanship.

He mentioned in his prologue that he had to fight for his honour several times alone, without friends, trusting only to God and himself and his sword.

He began writing Flos Duellatorum on February 10, 1409. Liberi dedicated the book to his commissioner Sir Nicolo d’Este, Marquis of Ferrara, Modena and Parma, Italy. He noted in the prologue of his book that he had studied the arts of combat for more than 40 years. Therefore, assuming he began training at a young age of 10 years old, he had to have been born around 1350.

His death date is an estimate as there are no known records of his life after he published his book. His teachings heavily influenced all of the Italian masters who came after him, most notably Filippo Vadi.

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[edit] Further reading

Flos Duellatorum - Manuale di Arte del Combattimento del XV secolo di Fiore dei Liberi, Italian Publication by Marco Rubboli and Luca Cesari, Il Cerchio - Gli Archi, ISBN 88-8474-023-1