The Flower of Battle

[Craig Peters]

Why is it that some people refer to Fiore's fechtbuch as the Fior di Battaglia while others call it Flos Duellatorum? Are both of these names correct? Are the different names from different editions of his manuscript?

[Rob Lovett]

Both of these names are correct. FLos Duellatorum is the name given to the Novati Facsimilie of the Pisani-Dosi because one of the prologues is written in Latin, whilst the Getty and the pierpoint morgan are referred to as Fior Battaglia as they are written entirely in Italian.

Incidentally, the use of the word "FLower" is like as saying "The best" or "The Cream", "Battaglia" also means things pertaining to battle/war, so if we are to believe Mr Liberi he is showing "The Cream of Warlike Things" <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

Regards
Rob

[Jay Vail]

The title of the book may also be a pun. Fiore means "flower" in Italian, which is "flos" in Latin.