Sword-and-Target manuals?

[James Brazas]

I have long been fascinated by Sword-and-Shield combat and I will admit I was somewhat disappointed when I first discovered that there are no surviving crusader-era sword-and-shield manuals.

However, as I understand it, there are several surviving manuals dealing with renaissance sword-and-target/sword-and-rodella. These later shields were round, slightly smaller, and made of steel. They also tended to be used by middle-class warriors that could not afford full suits of plate armor. So it isn't exactly the knightly style I was hoping for back when I first started training, but I'm still interested.

So what would y'all suggest for good sword-and-target manuals?

[Jon Pellett]

Well, the greatest amount of material is found in Manciolino, Marozzo (chapters 101-112), and DiGrassi. There are also bits in Capo Ferro (near the end), Lovino, and Agrippa.

The Bolognese material probably won't make much sense without studying the rest of the system, but it is the most extensive.

[James Brazas]

Thanks!

There really isn't much material out there on sword and target, so thanks for pointing me to the right manuals.

It seems like it would still be difficult to study as the manuals are virtually text only and they all seem to build upon the idea that you already know that master's single sword teachings and terminology. Still, it sounds interesting.

[Jon Pellett]

It seems like it would still be difficult to study as the manuals are virtually text only and they all seem to build upon the idea that you already know that master's single sword teachings and terminology.

Yeah, pretty much (though with Marozzo and Manciolino the basic weapon is sword and buckler rather than single sword). Still, worth looking at to get a general idea of how the shield and sword work together.

BTW, I forgot before, but Steve Reich put out a very handy PDF containing all of the Bolognese sword and rotella material, translated, with a glossary. It's available here: http://www.nova-assalto.com/files/Bolog ... ctions.pdf

There are some other useful articles at that site too.

[Steven Reich]

BTW, I forgot before, but Steve Reich put out a very handy PDF containing all of the Bolognese sword and rotella material, translated, with a glossary. It's available here: http://www.nova-assalto.com/files/Bolog ... ctions.pdf

There are some other useful articles at that site too.

Hey thanks! BTW, I'm interested in suggestions for other material people would like to see on the site. I mean interpretive, etc. material since others are doing translations and any translations I did would go on the Wiktenauer site.

Steve

[James Brazas]

Thanks again!

I've perused your document and it should allow me to study sword and target much easier.

I'm guessing it might still be wise for me to study sword and buckler in depth before trying sword and target. Is that correct?

Also, would it be possible to get an explanation of the stances? I'm not familiar with such things as "Coda Lunga Stretta" or "Porta di Ferro Stretta." All I've done so far is from the German school of fencing.

[James Brazas]

The only real suggestions I can give would be to try to shed light on weapons that are less studied.

We have lots of great material on the longsword, the sword-and-buckler, and the rapier.

I haven't seen quite as much on polearms of any sort - especially the forest bill/black bill which were incredibly popular in England for centuries. We do see some study of spears and pollaxes, though not nearly as much as the aformentioned three sword styles.

I also haven't seen much on sword-and-target, true two-hand sword, armored combat, or horseback combat. Of course, I doubt many of us have horses for mounted warfare anyway.

Still, there are a lot of weapons commonly used in the Medieval/Renaissance era that just haven't been given their due.

If you come out with any new interpretive works on more obscure weapons, be sure to let us on the ARMA forum know!

[Steven Reich]

Thanks again!

I've perused your document and it should allow me to study sword and target much easier.

I'm guessing it might still be wise for me to study sword and buckler in depth before trying sword and target. Is that correct?

Also, would it be possible to get an explanation of the stances? I'm not familiar with such things as "Coda Lunga Stretta" or "Porta di Ferro Stretta." All I've done so far is from the German school of fencing.

Well, for those two guards, I wrote a detailed article (because they are the primary guards in Bolognese):
Forming and Understanding the Guards of Coda Lunga Stretta and Porta di Ferro Stretta.

For most of the others, there is this pdf extract:
The Guards of Single-handed Sword.

Generally, I would advise learning sword and buckler before learning sword and rotella, but I think you can get value out of going through the sword and rotella material by itself if you can understand it.

The only real suggestions I can give would be to try to shed light on weapons that are less studied.

I generally focus on the Bolognese (and other 16th century Italian) sources, so I probably won't be getting to the English Bill any time soon. OTOH, I guess it would be a good idea to put some of the Bolognese polearm material online.

Steve

[James Brazas]

Sounds good!

I'm looking forward to sword-and-target, though I think I'll take your advice and try sword-and-buckler first.

Thanks again!