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| <p>[4] '''Method of Parrying with the Sword and Dagger Crossed and Throwing a ''Riverso'' at the Leg'''</p>
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| <p>[4] '''The Method of Parrying with the Sword and Dagger Crossed and Throwing a ''Riverso'' at the Leg'''</p>
  
 
<p>It is also quite safe to parry cuts in this way: When your enemy throws the cut at you parry in the above way, and in the same instant let a ''riverso'' go toward his leg so that he cannot parry it and keep his sword in your dagger. Most importantly, parrying, throwing the ''riverso'', and withdrawing outside of measure are done in the same tempo. You can parry in this manner as many times as he throws at you and throw the ''riverso'' at his leg or thrust at his face as above.
 
<p>It is also quite safe to parry cuts in this way: When your enemy throws the cut at you parry in the above way, and in the same instant let a ''riverso'' go toward his leg so that he cannot parry it and keep his sword in your dagger. Most importantly, parrying, throwing the ''riverso'', and withdrawing outside of measure are done in the same tempo. You can parry in this manner as many times as he throws at you and throw the ''riverso'' at his leg or thrust at his face as above.
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| <p>[5] '''Method of Defending Against Cuts by Voiding the ''Vita'''''</p>
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| <p>[5] '''The Method of Defending Against Cuts by Voiding the ''Vita'''''</p>
  
 
<p>This figure shows you that if your enemy throws a cut at your head, you must pull your ''vita'' backward in the same tempo, as the figure shows you, let the cut fall in vain, in the same instant throw a stoccata where you see the adversary is most uncovered, and return immediately outside of measure. The stoccata will be safe because the more strongly your enemy throws, the more he uncovers himself, and he then recovers with greater difficulty. You can also throw this thrust if your enemy were to throw a ''riverso'' at your head. While he throws the ''riverso'', bring your ''vita'' back and throw the stoccata as above, and quickly return backward outside of measure.</p>
 
<p>This figure shows you that if your enemy throws a cut at your head, you must pull your ''vita'' backward in the same tempo, as the figure shows you, let the cut fall in vain, in the same instant throw a stoccata where you see the adversary is most uncovered, and return immediately outside of measure. The stoccata will be safe because the more strongly your enemy throws, the more he uncovers himself, and he then recovers with greater difficulty. You can also throw this thrust if your enemy were to throw a ''riverso'' at your head. While he throws the ''riverso'', bring your ''vita'' back and throw the stoccata as above, and quickly return backward outside of measure.</p>
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| <p>[6] '''Method of Defending Against Cuts by Voiding the ''Vita'' and Throwing the Cut at the Leg'''</p>
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| <p>[6] '''The Method of Defending Against Cuts by Voiding the ''Vita'' and Throwing the Cut at the Leg'''</p>
  
 
<p>Further, it is good and safe in this way: We suppose that your enemy throws a cut at your head, your ''vita'' brought back in the above way, and, while the cut passes by, you throw a ''riverso'' at his leg, which will strike him safely so that he cannot defend from it. The harder he throws, the worse it is for him. If he were to throw a ''riverso'' at you, bringing your ''vita'' backward, give him a ''mandritto'' to the leg because when someone throws a ''mandritto'', the ''riverso'' is eluded by the ''mandritto''. Given that, if your enemy throws a ''riverso'', you must throw a ''mandritto'', and if he throws a ''mandritto'' at you, you must throw a ''riverso'', taking care to keep your sword high and that your blow travels in the same tempo that the adversary’s sword passes by, so that he will therefore have no tempo to parry it. As soon as you have thrown, return outside of measure with your weapons ready to parry and wound.</p>
 
<p>Further, it is good and safe in this way: We suppose that your enemy throws a cut at your head, your ''vita'' brought back in the above way, and, while the cut passes by, you throw a ''riverso'' at his leg, which will strike him safely so that he cannot defend from it. The harder he throws, the worse it is for him. If he were to throw a ''riverso'' at you, bringing your ''vita'' backward, give him a ''mandritto'' to the leg because when someone throws a ''mandritto'', the ''riverso'' is eluded by the ''mandritto''. Given that, if your enemy throws a ''riverso'', you must throw a ''mandritto'', and if he throws a ''mandritto'' at you, you must throw a ''riverso'', taking care to keep your sword high and that your blow travels in the same tempo that the adversary’s sword passes by, so that he will therefore have no tempo to parry it. As soon as you have thrown, return outside of measure with your weapons ready to parry and wound.</p>
 
| {{section|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf/16|2|lbl=13.2}}
 
| {{section|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf/16|2|lbl=13.2}}
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| <p>[7] '''The Method with which Cuts to the Leg are Defended Against'''</p>
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<p>We have shown how cuts to the head are defended against. Now the ordering requires that we teach how cuts toward the leg are defended against. Therefore, this figure shows you that if your enemy were to come to throw you a cut at your leg, in the same tempo you parry with the edge, or rather, ''forte'', of your sword and immediately throw a ''riverso'' at his face, because only a ''riverso'' can be extracted from parrying according to the method in the figure. Then, immediately return backward outside of measure.</p>
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| {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|18|lbl=15}}
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| <p>[8] '''Another Method of Defending with the Sword Against Cuts to the Leg'''</p>
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<p>Cuts toward the leg can also be parried with the sword in this other way, if need be. If you were to throw a stoccata at your enemy and he parries it and in the same tempo throws a cut at your leg, it is necessary to parry it with the sword as the figure shows. As soon as you have parried, it is necessary that you throw a thrust at your enemy’s face because if he throws at your leg he must lower his head, whence it will be easy for you to catch his face and wound him. Then, immediately return from it backward outside of measure in the above way.</p>
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| {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|20|lbl=17}}
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| <p>[9] '''The Method of Defending With the Sword Against the ''Riverso'' to the Leg'''</p>
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<p>This is a safe way of parrying a ''riverso'' at the leg. While your enemy throws this ''riverso'' at you, parry with the edge of the sword, turning your wrist, and immediately throw a thrust by way of imbroccata at his face. It can occur that when you throw a stoccata, your enemy parries it. In the instant he throws a ''riverso'' at your leg, parry with your sword in the above way, throw the stoccata at his face, and immediately return outside of measure.</p>
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| {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|22|lbl=19}}
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| <p>[10] '''Preface on the Properties of Cuts to the Lord Readers'''<br/><br/></p>
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<p>In this, my Second Book, I did not intend to discuss cuts further because it would produce too large a volume if I wished to put all the ways they can be performed into figures. I will only briefly touch on all the ways that one can wound with cuts and how they must be defended against. Then, in another book that I will shortly publish, if it pleases the Lord, I will discuss the trickeries and deceptions that can be performed in throwing cuts. Therefore, I will say only this: In contending with or playing at arms, be advised not to throw both in the same tempo, but wait until the adversary’s cut to your leg or head has been defended from and then wound safely as said above. If the same enemy waits in guard for you to throw, however, you must throw at the part that appears most uncovered, taking care that your dagger or sword guards against the adversary’s sword while you throw, so that if he were also to throw in the same tempo you are able to parry and return outside of measure. I wish to teach you to defend yourself with cuts against two or three people in cases of necessity. If you are assaulted by two people, it often happens that if you throw a ''mandritto'' at one, the other throws at you in that tempo, and if you throw a stoccata at the other, you encounter a stoccata from the first. You would thus quickly find yourself dead, as has happened to many. Therefore, in order to defend yourself and offend, I want you to hold the sword high as if to throw a ''mandritto''. If both were to throw a stoccata at you in the same instant, throw a ''mandritto'' and then a ''riverso'' onto the swords. The ''mandritto'' must be thrown in this way: So that it almost wounds the enemy’s neck and arrives at your left side to wound again. This manner of ''mandritto'' produces two effects: it wounds and parries in the same tempo. The ''mandritto'' thrown, the ''vita'' and foot can be drawn back along with putting the sword under the left arm in order to throw the ''riverso''. Then immediately throw the ''riverso'' in this way: So that it begins wounding the adversary’s neck and arrives to wound anew at your right flank—which is to say the ''mandritto'' and ''riverso'' wound in the form of a cross. One parries and wounds in this way because your sword must necessarily find the enemies’ weapons, taking care that such ''mandritti'' and ''riversi'' must be thrown long, strong, quick, and wide, and must never stop at all. Rather, as soon as the ''mandritto'' is thrown it is necessary that the ''riverso'' occurs, and thus, on the contrary, as soon as the ''riverso'' is thrown do not delay at all in throwing the ''mandritto''. In conclusion, all must be performed like a wheel.</p>
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<p>To throw this kind of cut, it is necessary to practise throwing ''mandritti'' and ''riversi'' in order to prepare the arm and quicken and invigorate the leg by throwing two or three hundred cuts and, likewise, ''riversi'', without ever stopping. Everyone will thus also be able to parry all the stoccate of three or four, both wounding and keeping their enemies at a sword’s length by throwing long, quick, strong, and wide. This kind of cut has this property: If a gentleman were to find himself unarmoured with only a sword and is assaulted by his enemy, fully armoured and with sword and dagger who comes at him with stoccate and imbroccate, he will be able to defend his body in this way: He holds his sword as I said above, high as if to throw a cut, and while his enemy throws a cut he throws a ''mandritto'' at the enemy’s sword and immediately throws a ''riverso'' at his head or legs, then immediately returns backward outside of measure. This is for the reason that, throwing a ''mandritto'' onto the sword while the enemy throws the stoccata, his sword will be thrown to the ground, and before [the enemy] recovers [the gentleman] will be able to throw not a single ''riverso'', but two or three, then return backward. If the enemy were to throw a hundred stoccate in a row at him, [the gentleman] will parry them all safely and be able to wound his enemy with the ''riverso'' to the face or leg. Furthermore,  the cut thrown in this manner also has this property: That if an adversary were to throw said imbroccata or stoccata, throwing a ''mandritto'' to parry it and finding the enemy’s arm weakened from having thrown the stoccata, it will be easy to make the sword fall from his hand. Therefore, I urge everyone to practise this method of throwing cuts because it defends and wounds safely and other [methods] do not, as they only wound but do not defend if the enemy were to throw in the same tempo.</p>
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{{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|24|lbl=21|p=1}} {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|25|lbl=22|p=1}} {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|26|lbl=23|p=1}}
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| <p>[11] '''The Method of Parrying a Stoccata that Comes at the Face on the Outside'''</p>
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<p>In my first book I promised you that I would discuss how one passes with the foot in order to attempt to wound, being that in it I only spoke of the firm-foot, with which someone knows how to play well and recognize the tempo. He will do those same things when passing. Therefore, I ready myself to keep the promise. If your enemy were to throw at you, whatever blow he wishes, either thrust or cut, you can pass with the foot, knowing how to take the tempo. When you have passed, disengage the sword, throw two or three stoccate, and immediately return backward outside of measure, as you will learn in this figure, which shows you that, being in guard with your right foot forward, if your enemy were to throw a thrust on the outside of your dagger, in the same tempo you parry with the dagger, pass your left foot forward, and throw the stoccata in the same tempo, as the figure shows. Once you have thrown the stoccata, it is necessary to withdraw the ''vita'', disengage the sword, keep the dagger firm on your enemy’s sword, throw two or three stoccate, and withdraw outside of measure. Take care in leaping backward, however, to secure yourself with your sword on his so that in returning outside of measure your adversary does not throw you a stoccata where you are most uncovered, thus wounding you both, as often occurs. If in returning backward you place your sword over his, however, he will not be able to wound you. Therefore, I urge you in all passes you perform to keep your sword over the enemy’s until you are outside of measure again, because someone who knows how to perform a pass but does not know how to then disengage the sword and wound again or to escape from the enemy’s weapons can be said to be ignorant of this profession. This is for the reason that if they pass with the foot they come to grips and both end up in no small amount of danger if they do not know the method of doing so. Performing these kinds of passes, then, is not for everyone. Rather, it is only for those who are strong and dexterous, who know how to play from a firm foot well so that they recognize the tempo and measure, and who are well-practised, because it cannot be said that I wish to pass at the onset. First it is necessary to see what the enemy does, the tempo and occasion must be taken according to this, recognizing when it is time to throw from a firm foot, when from a pass, when with a stoccata, and when with a cut.</p>
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{{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|28|lbl=25|p=1}} {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|29|lbl=26|p=1}} {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|30|lbl=27|p=1}}
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| <p>[12] '''The Method of Performing a Pass with the Foot when the Enemy Throws a Thrust on the Inside at the Face'''</p>
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<p>This figure shows you that if you are in guard with your right foot forward and your enemy throws a thrust at your face, you must parry with the dagger and in the same tempo pass with the left foot and throw a stoccata at the flank, as the figure shows, and immediately secure yourself well over your feet and disengage your sword and throw two or three stoccate while holding your dagger firm over your enemy’s sword. If he were to try to disengage it in order to throw additional blows, it is necessary that you follow it with the dagger while continuing to throw stoccate and return backward outside of measure, securing yourself with your sword over his.</p>
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| {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|32|lbl=29}}
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| <p>[13] '''The Method of Performing a Pass with the Foot, Throwing a Thrust at the Enemy’s Chest'''</p>
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<p>This figure shows you that if your enemy were to throw a thrust at your chest, you parry it with the dagger and in the same tempo pass with the foot and wound with a thrust, as the figure shows you. The stoccata thrown, disengage the sword and return outside of measure, securing yourself with your sword over his and keeping the weapons ready to parry and wound.</p>
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| {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|34|lbl=31}}
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| <p>[14] '''The Method of Passing Onto the Enemy, Him Standing in Guard Uncovered on the Right Side'''</p>
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<p>Given that one can pass when the adversary throws whatever blow he wishes, thrust or cut, the enemy standing in whatever guard he wishes, you are able to pass, taking heed of what guard he places himself in, considering where he is most uncovered and what side to assail him on, taking care to watch where the enemy’s sword is so that you are able to impede it while you pass so he does not wound and offend you. This figure shows that if your enemy were to stand in a guard that was uncovered on the right side, it would be necessary to bind him on the outside and when you are at measure, if he stays still in guard, it is necessary to throw the stoccata, pass with the foot, and place your dagger over the enemy’s sword. These things must be done in the same tempo. In the case that the enemy were to disengage in order to wound you while you put your dagger on his sword, follow it while you wound. The first stoccata thrown, disengage the sword, pull yourself outside of measure, and secure yourself in the above way. Adding here that if the enemy parries your first stoccata, you would be in parity.</p>
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| {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|36|lbl=33}}
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| <p>[15] '''The Proper Method of Passing with the Foot and Wounding Over the Dagger'''</p>
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<p>I believe you will recognize that this figure shows you how to wound over the dagger. That given, as you can see, your enemy is in a guard with his dagger low, with the sword however he wishes—high or low does not matter because your dagger must always guard against his sword, and where you see it you must always go and bind him little by little to guard against it. When you are at measure, if he stands in guard to wait for you, throw the stoccata strongly, passing with the foot with your dagger on the enemy’s sword, as you see in the figure. To perform these passes most perfectly, it is necessary that when you are at measure you throw the arm first and then pass with the foot, which strikes him with the stoccata so quickly that he does not perceive it, as I fully demonstrated in my First Book. Take care that when your enemy stands in whatever guard he wishes that you go to bind him, and when you are at measure intending to pass you watch that he does not throw at you in that tempo. If you see that he wishes to throw, however, be careful to parry his stoccata first, then pass as we said above.</p>
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| {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|38|lbl=35}}
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| <p>[16] '''The Method of Passing When the Enemy has Uncovered His Chest'''</p>
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<p>If your enemy has uncovered his chest, his sword high or low, and stands in guard in order to wait for you, in a narrow guard with the sword inside go to bind him little by little until you are at measure. When you are at the designated point, pass in the above way, first throwing the sword arm where he is most uncovered, then passing with the foot, securing yourself from the enemy sword with your dagger as above, throwing the same stoccate and escaping in the same way. In this Second Book I did not wish to produce more than these three lessons for wounding when the enemy is in guard waiting for you, which, if I am not mistaken, will illuminate for you how to understand proceeding to pass in all guards that the enemy can produce by making use of the said method.</p>
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| {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|40|lbl=37}}
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| <p>[17] '''The Method of Parrying the Cut at the Head and Passing with the Foot, Crossing the Sword and Dagger'''</p>
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<p>This figure shows you that if your enemy were to throw a cut at your head, you must parry crossed, pass with the foot, give him a ''riverso'' to the leg along with three or four stoccate, and escape. It is done in this way: Standing in guard with the right foot forward, forward so that your enemy throws a cut at your head, cross the sword and dagger and go to meet the ''mandritto'', passing with your left foot as you see in the figure, and immediately throw the ''riverso'' at his leg along with pulling back the ''vita'', so that the adversary’s sword will remain on your dagger, throw three or four stoccate, and return outside of measure, securing your sword over his in the above way.</p>
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| {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|42|lbl=39}}
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| <p>[18] '''The Method of Proceeding against all Guards and Wounding in Many Ways While the Enemy Disengages the Sword'''</p>
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<p>In these four figures I want to show you how one proceeds against every kind of guard. Two figures show you how one binds, the others how one wounds, because a valiant man who is a good and practised fencer will never endanger himself, but will be alert to what the enemy does and see to binding him against his guard.  Advancing against the guards is done in this way: Finding the adversary in whatever guard he wishes, high or low or with the sword extended, cover the enemy’s sword with yours but in a way that he cannot wound if he does not disengage the sword, like you see with the two figures. After you have gone to cover the sword so that he cannot offend you if he does not disengage you are safe from every offence, since in disengaging it he can end up wounded in many manners, as you will learn. Finding your enemy with his sword forward, go to bind him with your sword on his like you see in the first figure. If your enemy were to disengage the sword in order to wound you, turn your wrist and parry strongly with your arm extended until the adversary’s sword is on the ground, as you see in the figure. In the same tempo, pass with the foot, place the dagger on the enemy’s sword and, throwing two or three stoccate at him, escape in the above way, securing yourself with your sword on his. This manner of wounding is performed when the enemy is in guard with the sword forward: Go to bind him with your sword on his, and if you see that he does not wish to disengage his sword and stays firm in guard, then disengage yours narrowly, parrying strongly with your arm, and pass with your left foot until the enemy’s sword is on the ground. Then you can place your dagger on his sword, throw some stoccate, and escape in the described way. Many things can be done when proceeding to bind your enemy in the way of the first two figures. If your enemy disengages the sword yet stays still in guard, go to bind him gently and when you are at measure throw with a firm foot where he is most uncovered and escape. You can pass with artifices you have learned. You can also do this: As you advance to bind your enemy, if the adversary disengages the sword in order to wound your face when you are at measure, parry in the same tempo with the dagger and, passing with the foot, throw your stoccata at his chest, keeping in mind that you must perform all three of these things in one same tempo—that is, while your enemy throws the thrust at your face, you must parry with the dagger, pass with the foot, and throw the stoccata. Otherwise, the pass would not succeed. After, withdraw the ''vita'', throw two or three stoccate, and escape in the above way.</p>
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{{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|45|lbl=42|p=1}} {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|46|lbl=43|p=1}}
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| <p>[19] '''The Method of Throwing the ''Punta Riversa'' at the Face'''</p>
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<p>This is another kind of wound called a “''punta''”, which is performed in many ways. I will speak to you about this artifice alone. If your enemy were found in guard with the right foot forward and is desirous to wound you, also place yourself with your right foot forward and uncover your chest in order to give him an opportunity to throw at you. Hold the point of your sword toward his left flank so that the enemy guards against your sword with his dagger, and as the adversary throws the stoccata, parry with the dagger and pass with your left foot, throwing the stoccata on the outside of his sword at his face as you see the figure. This manner of wounding greatly deceives the enemy because, holding the sword toward his left side, he will watch to parry it with the dagger, imagining that when you have parried you will throw the straight stoccata like he threw his. Whence, he is surprised to find the sword in his face. Having thrown the stoccata, disengage the sword, withdraw your ''vita'', place your dagger on his sword, throw some stoccate, and escape in the above way.</p>
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| {{pagetb|Page:Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti) 1608.pdf|48|lbl=45}}
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| <p>[20] '''Artificial Guard for Defending Against Furious Passes of the Left or Right Foot'''</p>
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<p>After you have learned to perform all kinds of passes it is necessary to learn how they must be defended against. If by chance someone knew fencing as well as or better than you and was stronger and more dexterous, it would be necessary to make use of the arts of deception, for the reason that it is not enough to know how to throw a graceful thrust, a feint, or a pass, but one must also make use of trickeries and deceptions, and to know from those how to be watchful in occasions, because the flower of this science boils down to trickery and deception. I will demonstrate that such is true thus: If two masters play, they do not make use of either thrusts or cuts, but of the usefulness of new trickeries and deceptions. These figures show you that if your enemy were with his left foot forward due to wishing to pass onto you, when he approaches binding you, place yourself in a guard with the right foot forward, artfully uncover your chest, and give him an opportunity to throw at your chest as you see with the first figures. Be careful that you do not let him come inside measure, and when you see that your enemy wishes to pass, parry with your dagger in the same tempo and bring back your right foot, ending up with your left foot forward as the second figure shows you. The enemy having passed and become similarly disconcerted, having parried his stoccata you will find it easy to give him as many stoccate as you wish. Give him the first thrust while he passes, parrying in the same tempo, bringing your ''vita'' and step backward and wounding. Then you can immediately disengage the sword again and, when you have thrown the stoccate you wish, return backward outside of measure and escape in the way mentioned above.</p>
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Revision as of 23:45, 26 May 2024

Nicoletto Giganti
Born 1550s-60s
Fossombrone, Italy
Died date of death unknown
Occupation
Nationality Italian
Citizenship Republic of Venice
Patron
  • Cosimo II de' Medici
  • Christofano Chigi
Influenced Bondì di Mazo (?)
Genres Fencing manual
Language Italian
Notable work(s)
First printed
english edition
Leoni, 2010
Concordance by Michael Chidester

Nicoletto Giganti (Niccoletto, Nicolat) was an Italian soldier and fencing master around the turn of the 17th century. He was likely born to a noble family in Fossombrone in central Italy,[1] and only later became a citizen of Venice.[2] Little is known of Giganti’s life, but in the dedication to his 1606 treatise he claims 27 years of professional experience, meaning that his career began in 1579 (possibly referring to service in the Venetian military, a long tradition of the Giganti family).[1] Additionally, the preface to his 1608 treatise describes him as a Master of Arms to the Order of Santo Stefano in Pisa, a powerful military order founded by Cosimo I de' Medici, giving some further clues to his career.

In 1606, Giganti published a treatise on the use of the rapier (both single and with the dagger) titled Scola, overo teatro ("School, or Theater"). It is dedicated to Cosimo II de' Medici. This treatise is structured as a series of progressively more complex lessons, and Tom Leoni opines that this treatise is the best pedagogical work on rapier fencing of the early 17th century.[3] It is also the first treatise to fully articulate the principle of the lunge.

In 1608, Giganti made good on the promise in his first book that he would publish a second volume.[4] Titled Libro secondo di Niccoletto Giganti ("Second Book of Niccoletto Giganti"), it is dedicated to Christofano Chigi, a Knight of Malta, and covers the same weapons as the first as well as rapier and buckler, rapier and cloak, rapier and shield, single dagger, and mixed weapon encounters. This text in turn promises additional writings on the dagger and on cutting with the rapier, but there is no record of further books by Giganti ever being published.

While Giganti's second book quickly disappeared from history, his first seems to have been quite popular: reprints, mostly unauthorized, sprang up many times over the subsequent decades, both in the original Italian and, beginning in 1619, in French and German translations. This unauthorized dual-language edition also included book 2 of Salvator Fabris' 1606 treatise Lo Schermo, overo Scienza d’Arme which, coupled with the loss of Giganti's true second book, is probably what has lead many later bibliographers to accuse Giganti himself of plagiarism.[5]

Treatise

Giganti, like many 17th century authors, had a tendency to write incredibly long, multi-page paragraphs which quickly become hard to follow. Jacob de Zeter's 1619 dual-language edition often breaks these up into more manageable chunks, and so his version is used as the template for these concordances.

A copy of the 1628 printing that was extensively annotated by a contemporary reader now resides in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek. Its annotations are beyond the scope of this concordance, but they have been transcribed by Julian Schrattenecker and Florian Fortner, and incorporated into Jeff Vansteenkiste's translation in a separate document.

The only known copy of Giganti's Libro Secondo is in the Howard de Walden Library, currently hosted by the Wallace Collection, and their policies prevent anyone from publicly releasing the illustrations from the book. The best we can do at the moment is attempt to recreate the book's illustrations by combinind elements from other books from the same time period.

Additional Resources

The following is a list of publications containing scans, transcriptions, and translations relevant to this article, as well as published peer-reviewed research.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Terminiello et al. 2013, p 9.
  2. That he eventually became a Venetian citizen is indicated on the title page of his 1606 treatise.
  3. Leoni, p xi.
  4. This treatise was considered lost for centuries, and as early as 1673 the Sicilian master Giuseppe Morsicato Pallavicini stated that this second book was never published at all. See La seconda parte della scherma illustrata. Palermo, 1673. p V.
  5. This accusation was first made by Johann Joachim Hynitzsch, who attributed the edition to Giganti rather than Zeter and was incensed that he gave no credit to Fabris.
  6. Although the plates depicting the guards and counterguards are somewhat less than clear, we know from this chapter that Figure 2 depicts binding the enemy’s sword on the inside.
  7. Figure 3, which we know from the description of this chapter’s action depicts binding the enemy’s sword on the outside.
  8. Reading the text, Figures 6 and 7 appear to be swapped, meaning this lesson’s text refers to Figure 7. Interestingly, the plate order does not appear to be corrected in subsequent printings, even in Jakob de Zeter’s German/French version (1619), which uses entirely new plates created by a different artist.
  9. This lesson’s text refers to Figure 6.
  10. The two fencers.
  11. The placeholder was never replaced with the proper figure number reference when the book went to print, and it remains missing in Paolo Frambotto’s 1628 reprint. Jakob de Zeter’s 1619 German/French version refers to Figure 7.
  12. This is the second manner mentioned at the beginning of the lesson, rather than an action that follows from the first.
  13. Camillo Agrippa (1553), for example, recommends turning the face away.
  14. The two preceding figures.
  15. The original text is “vorreste”, or “you would like”. As our fencer’s opponent is the one with the dagger, it is likely that this is a mistake in the text.
  16. The figure number is missing in both the 1606 and 1628 printings. Jakob de Zeter’s 1619 German/French version refers to Figure 21.
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 Figure 21.
  18. The guard Giganti refers to here is unclear.
  19. 19.0 19.1 Figures 21–26.
  20. The original text uses the words “in varia”, or “in varying”. This is likely an error in the text which should read “in aria”, or “in the air”, and has been corrected here.
  21. The figure number is missing in both the 1606 and 1628 printings. Jakob de Zeter’s 1619 German/French version also omits a figure reference. The anonymous notes in the Vienna copy state that it is the 21st figure.
  22. The figure number is missing in both the 1606 and 1628 printings. Jakob de Zeter’s 1619 German/French version refers to Figure 27.
  23. Scannare—to slaughter or cut the throat of.