Bolognese Swordsmanship

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Bolognese Swordsmanship, also known as the Dardi school is a tradition within the Italian school of swordsmanship, based in 16th century Bologna.

It is named for Lippo Bartolomeo Dardi di Lucca, a fencing master whose tradition is the foundation for the work of Antonio Manciolino and Achille Marozzo. Bolognese masters over at least six decades show a consistent unity of style and terminology justifying their treatment as within a single school. Dardi founded the school in 1415, just a few years after Fiore dei Liberi completed his Fior di Battaglia. No manuscript ascribed to Dardi himself survives.

The Dardi school uses primarily a single-handed sword (early rapier), still used for both cutting and thrusting. The sword is combined with various defensive weapons, including a shield brocchiero, rotella or targa), a dagger, a gauntlet or a cape. The two-handed sword or spadone is also still taught, although losing its prominence. In addition, there are treatments of fighting with the poleaxe and other polearms.

1 Sources
2 Literature
3 External links

[edit] Sources

[edit] Manciolino

The Opera Nova of Antonio Manciolino is dated at 1531 but this work appears to be a reprint of an early text that may date to 1509.

[edit] Marozzo

Main article: Achille Marozzo

Achille Marozzo's text Opera Nova dell'arte delle armi ("New Treatise on the Art of Arms") was published in 1536 in Modena, dedicated to Count Rangoni. It is considered the most important work on Italian fencing of the 16th century. It exemplifies techniques about fighting in a duel with all the major weapons of the times.

[edit] Anonimo Bolognese

The L'Arte della Spada ("Art of the Sword") treatise by the Anonimo Bolognese (anonymous master of Bologna), Manuscripts Ravenna M-345 and M-346 is an early 16th century fencing manual of the Bolognese school. It is dated to the "very first years of the 1500s" by Rubboli and Cesari (2005), who would like to ascribe it to the master of Manciolino, while other estimates place it closer to 1550.