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== Treatise ==
 
== Treatise ==
  
Giganti, like many 17th century authors, had a tendency to write incredibly long, multi-page paragraphs which quickly become hard to follow. Jacques de Zeter's 1619 dual-language edition often breaks these up into more manageable chunks, and so his layout is reflected in these concordances.
+
Giganti, like many 17th century authors, had a tendency to write incredibly long, multi-page paragraphs which quickly become hard to follow. Jacques de Zeter's 1619 dual-language edition often breaks these up into more manageable chunks, and so his layout is reflected in these concordances.  
  
Research on Giganti's newly-rediscovered [[Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti)|second book]] is still ongoing, and it cannot yet be included in the tables below.
+
Neither scans nor transcription of Giganti's [[Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti)|second book]] are yet available, so it cannot yet be included in the tables below.
  
 
{{master begin
 
{{master begin
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| [[File:Giganti 22.png|400x400px|center|Figure 22]]
 
| [[File:Giganti 22.png|400x400px|center|Figure 22]]
| <p>[58] '''The Proper Method of Parrying the Stoccata''' that Comes Toward Your Left Flank</p>
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| <p>[58] '''The Proper Method of Parrying the Stoccata''' That Comes Toward Your Left Flank</p>
  
 
<p>In the present figure it is necessary to place yourself like in that above. If your enemy intends to throw at your left flank, stand with your dagger toward the guard of his sword and in the tempo that he throws parry with the edge of the dagger and wound the enemy in the sword shoulder in the same tempo. Nay, throw yours sooner than he throws his stoccata, staying alert with your eye and mind, collected in the vita, and in the tempo you see he wants to throw his throw yours at his shoulder and parry his in that tempo, so that he cannot parry yours because you wound in that tempo he comes forward, as is seen in the figure. The stoccata thrown, return backward outside of measure in the same way as the first figure of sword and dagger.<ref name="f21">Figure 21.</ref></p>
 
<p>In the present figure it is necessary to place yourself like in that above. If your enemy intends to throw at your left flank, stand with your dagger toward the guard of his sword and in the tempo that he throws parry with the edge of the dagger and wound the enemy in the sword shoulder in the same tempo. Nay, throw yours sooner than he throws his stoccata, staying alert with your eye and mind, collected in the vita, and in the tempo you see he wants to throw his throw yours at his shoulder and parry his in that tempo, so that he cannot parry yours because you wound in that tempo he comes forward, as is seen in the figure. The stoccata thrown, return backward outside of measure in the same way as the first figure of sword and dagger.<ref name="f21">Figure 21.</ref></p>
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| <p>[62] '''Method of Parrying the Cut''' on the Head with Sword and Dagger</p>
 
| <p>[62] '''Method of Parrying the Cut''' on the Head with Sword and Dagger</p>
  
<p>As you see, one learns from this figure to parry the cuts with the dagger that come at the top of your head. It is necessary to place oneself in the guard of the first lesson,<ref>First lesson of sword and dagger – Figure 21.</ref> and if your enemy comes throwing you a cut on the head meet it with your dagger edge, in that same tempo throwing the thrust to the enemy’s face and increasing forward a little with your right foot. Do these three things together so that you see the effect of the figure. For a great cut that comes it would be better to kill it so that it does not have half the strength. While your enemy lifts the sword to throw the cut, throw your stoccata at his face so that he will need to withdraw his head a little backward. He will clamp his eyes and you will take the strength of the cut. To make this effect, it is necessary to be bold, to not be afraid of the sword or of the enemy, to understand parrying with the dagger well, and to understand how to throw a straight and long stoccata well. Watch that you do not parry the cut with the flat of the dagger, as a strong cut would cast the dagger from your hand and wound you on the head. If you parry with the edge holding the arm extended there will be no danger. Having thrown the thrust return backward outside of measure, as above.</p>
+
<p>As you see, one learns from this figure to parry the cuts with the dagger that come at the top of your head. It is necessary to place oneself in the guard of the first lesson,<ref>First lesson of sword and dagger – Figure 21.</ref> and if your enemy comes throwing you a cut on the head meet it with your dagger edge, in that same tempo throwing the thrust to the enemy’s face and increasing forward a little with your right foot. Do these three things together so that you see the effect of the figure. For a great cut that comes it would be better to kill it so that it does not have half the strength. While your enemy lifts the sword to throw the cut, throw your stoccata at his face so that he will need to withdraw his head a little backward. He will clamp his eyes and you will take the strength of the cut. To make this effect, it is necessary to be bold, to not be afraid of the sword or of the enemy, to understand parrying with the dagger well, and to understand how to throw a straight and long stoccata well. |Watch that you do not parry the cut with the flat of the dagger, as a strong cut would cast the dagger from your hand and wound you on the head. If you parry with the edge holding the arm extended there will be no danger. Having thrown the thrust return backward outside of measure, as above.</p>
 
| {{pagetb|Page:Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti) 1606.pdf|81|lbl=61}}
 
| {{pagetb|Page:Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti) 1606.pdf|81|lbl=61}}
 
| {{section|Page:Escrime Novvelle ou Theatre (Nicoletto Giganti) Book 1 1619.pdf/70|1|lbl=37}}
 
| {{section|Page:Escrime Novvelle ou Theatre (Nicoletto Giganti) Book 1 1619.pdf/70|1|lbl=37}}
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|-  
 
|-  
 
| rowspan="2" | [[File:Giganti 26.png|400x400px|center|Figure 26]]
 
| rowspan="2" | [[File:Giganti 26.png|400x400px|center|Figure 26]]
| <p>[63] '''Method of Parrying a Riverso with the Dagger'''</p>
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| <p>[63] '''Method of Parrying a Riverso''' with the Dagger</p>
  
 
<p>As you see, one learns from this figure how to parry a riverso that comes at your face. It is necessary to place oneself in guard of the first lesson<ref name="f21"/> with the dagger high and strong, and when you see the riverso come go to meet it with the edge of the dagger. In the same tempo increase a little with your right foot, throwing the stoccata at his uncovered flank so that you see the effect of the figure.</p>
 
<p>As you see, one learns from this figure how to parry a riverso that comes at your face. It is necessary to place oneself in guard of the first lesson<ref name="f21"/> with the dagger high and strong, and when you see the riverso come go to meet it with the edge of the dagger. In the same tempo increase a little with your right foot, throwing the stoccata at his uncovered flank so that you see the effect of the figure.</p>
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| <p>[66] '''Thrust Thrown at the Chest with the Sword''' and Dagger<br/><br/></p>
 
| <p>[66] '''Thrust Thrown at the Chest with the Sword''' and Dagger<br/><br/></p>
  
<p>The first quality that one who delights in making a profession of arms must have is the knowledge of how to approach to bind the enemy, give a stoccata to him, and return in guard outside of measure. To do this it is necessary to have understanding of the counterguards and know how to throw the stoccata where you see the enemy is uncovered. If he were a little uncovered in the chest it would be necessary to approach to bind him slowly, with the sword low, holding the point toward the enemy’s chest with the dagger to the guard of his sword, and when you are in measure throw the sword first, then the vita, and after the foot so that you see the effect of this figure. This is because if you throw the sword arm and then the vita you will give him the stoccata in the chest and he will not perceive it. Otherwise, if you were to move the vita first and then throw the stoccata, since he could see it and be able to parry and respond in the same tempo you would then be in danger. Having thrown the stoccata, immediately retreat outside of measure, standing in guard with your weapons ready to parry and wound because the enemy seeing himself wounded will become disconcerted enough to throw either a thrust or cut at you. You will then parry and wound in one tempo as described in the first six figures.<ref name="f21-6"> The importance of this figure consists (after having thrown) in knowing how to return outside of measure. In order to return safely it is necessary (as has been said above) to carry your head back first so that the vita will come, and the leg, because if you were to pull your leg first you would be in danger either of falling or of your enemy wounding you since your head would go forward. This one of the principal things that you learn.</p>
+
<p>The first quality that one who delights in making a profession of arms must have is the knowledge of how to approach to bind the enemy, give a stoccata to him, and return in guard outside of measure. To do this it is necessary to have understanding of the counterguards and know how to throw the stoccata where you see the enemy is uncovered. If he were a little uncovered in the chest it would be necessary to approach to bind him slowly, with the sword low, holding the point toward the enemy’s chest with the dagger to the guard of his sword, and when you are in measure throw the sword first, then the vita, and after the foot so that you see the effect of this figure. This is because if you throw the sword arm and then the vita you will give him the stoccata in the chest and he will not perceive it. Otherwise, if you were to move the vita first and then throw the stoccata, since he could see it and be able to parry and respond in the same tempo you would then be in danger. Having thrown the stoccata, immediately retreat outside of measure, standing in guard with your weapons ready to parry and wound because the enemy seeing himself wounded will become disconcerted enough to throw either a thrust or cut at you. You will then parry and wound in one tempo as described in the first six figures. <ref name="f21-6"> The importance of this figure consists (after having thrown) in knowing how to return outside of measure. In order to return safely it is necessary (as has been said above) to carry your head back first so that the vita will come, and the leg, because if you were to pull your leg first you would be in danger either of falling or of your enemy wounding you since your head would go forward. This one of the principal things that you learn.</p>
 
| {{pagetb|Page:Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti) 1606.pdf|85|lbl=65}}
 
| {{pagetb|Page:Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti) 1606.pdf|85|lbl=65}}
 
|  
 
|  
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| <p>[68] '''Thrust Thrown Over the Dagger'''</p>
 
| <p>[68] '''Thrust Thrown Over the Dagger'''</p>
  
<p>To give a stoccata to someone who holds the dagger low it is necessary (as one sees in this figure) to approach him to bind on the side of the dagger, and when you are in measure first throw the sword, and then the vita, raising your wrist a little so that you make the effect. Then return backward in the way described in Figure …….<ref>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.</ref></p>
+
<p>To give a stoccata to someone who holds the dagger low it is necessary (as one sees in this figure) to approach him to bind on the side of the dagger, and when you are in measure first throw the sword, and then the vita, raising your wrist a little so that you make the effect. Then return backward in the way described in Figure ……<ref>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.</ref></p>
 
| {{section|Page:Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti) 1606.pdf/89|1|lbl=69}}
 
| {{section|Page:Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti) 1606.pdf/89|1|lbl=69}}
 
| {{section|Page:Escrime Novvelle ou Theatre (Nicoletto Giganti) Book 1 1619.pdf/80|1|lbl=43}}
 
| {{section|Page:Escrime Novvelle ou Theatre (Nicoletto Giganti) Book 1 1619.pdf/80|1|lbl=43}}
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|-  
 
|-  
| <p>[69] It is very difficult to defend oneself from one who is practiced at first throwing the sword, then the vita, and after this quickly returning backward in the way described in lesson ….<ref>The figure number is missing in both the 1606 and 1628 printings. Jakob de Zeter’s 1619 German/French version refers to Figure 27</ref> who understands approaching to bind with tempo, and when he is in measure throwing where the enemy is uncovered, since it is necessary that he<ref name="the enemy"/> is uncovered somewhere, as the sword and dagger cannot cover everything and where he is uncovered it is necessary to approach him to bind in the described way.</p>
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| <p>[69] It is very difficult to defend oneself from one who is practiced at first throwing the sword, then the vita, and after this quickly returning backward in the way described in lesson [27],<ref>The figure number is missing in both the 1606 and 1628 printings. Jakob de Zeter’s 1619 German/French version refers to Figure 27.</ref> who understands approaching to bind with tempo, and when he is in measure throwing where the enemy is uncovered, since it is necessary that he<ref name="the enemy"/> is uncovered somewhere, as the sword and dagger cannot cover everything and where he is uncovered it is necessary to approach him to bind in the described way.</p>
 
| {{section|Page:Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti) 1606.pdf/89|2|lbl=-}}
 
| {{section|Page:Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti) 1606.pdf/89|2|lbl=-}}
 
| {{section|Page:Escrime Novvelle ou Theatre (Nicoletto Giganti) Book 1 1619.pdf/80|2|lbl=-}}
 
| {{section|Page:Escrime Novvelle ou Theatre (Nicoletto Giganti) Book 1 1619.pdf/80|2|lbl=-}}
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|-  
 
|  
 
|  
| <p>[86] This lesson only teaches how to wound him in the face—if you wished to throw at his chest he would be able to parry it with the dagger. If you want to do it more artificially so that you deceive even the knowledgeable, it is necessary to uncover your left side and hold the dagger low, giving the enemy occasion to throw either at your face or over the dagger, so that he believes you will parry with the dagger. In the same tempo you will parry with the forte of your sword and increase with your right foot, holding the point of your sword toward his face. If he attempts to parry he bumps into his own sword and cannot parry or wound, as in the figure. The thrust thrown, return backward outside of measure as above.</p>
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| <p>[86] This lesson only teaches how to wound him in the face - if you wished to throw at his chest he would be able to parry it with the dagger. If you want to do it more artificially so that you deceive even the knowledgeable, it is necessary to uncover your left side and hold the dagger low, giving the enemy occasion to throw either at your face or over the dagger, so that he believes you will parry with the dagger. In the same tempo you will parry with the forte of your sword and increase with your right foot, holding the point of your sword toward his face. If he attempts to parry he bumps into his own sword and cannot parry or wound, as in the figure. The thrust thrown, return backward outside of measure as above.</p>
 
| {{section|Page:Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti) 1606.pdf/109|2|lbl=-}}
 
| {{section|Page:Scola, overo teatro (Nicoletto Giganti) 1606.pdf/109|2|lbl=-}}
 
| {{section|Page:Escrime Novvelle ou Theatre (Nicoletto Giganti) Book 1 1619.pdf/101|2|lbl=-}}
 
| {{section|Page:Escrime Novvelle ou Theatre (Nicoletto Giganti) Book 1 1619.pdf/101|2|lbl=-}}
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|-  
 
|-  
 
| rowspan="2" | [[File:Giganti 42.png|400x400px|center|Figure 42]]
 
| rowspan="2" | [[File:Giganti 42.png|400x400px|center|Figure 42]]
| <p>[89] '''Passing with the Foot with Sword and Dagger'''</p>
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| <p>[89] '''Passing with the Foot with Sword''' and Dagger</p>
  
 
<p>This figure does not serve as a demonstration of what I did in my first book, but of the others that I will, God willing, bring to light. I will discuss the passes of sword and dagger, that is, passing with the foot, since in this book more than the firm foot were not discussed because all that one does with firm foot, if one knows how to take the tempo, one can do with a pass of the foot.</p>
 
<p>This figure does not serve as a demonstration of what I did in my first book, but of the others that I will, God willing, bring to light. I will discuss the passes of sword and dagger, that is, passing with the foot, since in this book more than the firm foot were not discussed because all that one does with firm foot, if one knows how to take the tempo, one can do with a pass of the foot.</p>

Revision as of 23:07, 14 July 2020

Nicoletto Giganti
Born 1550-1560
Fossombrone, Italy
Died after 1622
Venice, Italy (?)
Occupation
Nationality Italian
Citizenship Republic of Venice
Patron Cosimo II de Medici
Influenced Bondì di Mazo (?)
Genres Fencing manual
Language Italian
Notable work(s)

Nicoletto Giganti (Niccoletto, Nicolat; 1550s-after 1622[1]) was a 16th – 17th century Italian soldier and fencing master. He was likely born to a noble family in Fossombrone in central Italy,[2] and only later became a citizen of Venice as he stated on the title page of his 1606 treatise. Little is known of Giganti’s life, but in the dedication to his 1606 treatise he counts twenty seven years of professional experience (possibly referring to service in the Venetian military, a long tradition of the Giganti family).[3] The preface to his 1608 treatise describes him as a Mastro d'Arme of the Order of St. Stephen in Pisa, 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"). 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.[4] 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.[5] Titled Libro secondo di Niccoletto Giganti Venetiano, it 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 two additional works, on the dagger and on cutting with the rapier, but there is no record of these books 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.[6]

Treatise

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

Neither scans nor transcription of Giganti's second book are yet available, so it cannot yet be included in the tables below.

Additional Resources

  • Giganti, Nicoletto; Pendragon, Joshua; Terminiello, Piermarco. The 'Lost' Second Book of Nicoletto Giganti (1608): A Rapier Fencing Treatise. Vulpes, 2013. ISBN 978-1909348318
  • Leoni, Tom. Venetian Rapier: The School, or Salle. Nicoletto Giganti's 1606 Rapier Fencing Curriculum. Wheaton, IL: Freelance Academy Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-9825911-2-3
  • Mediema, Aaron Taylor. Nicoletto Giganti's the School of the Sword: A New Translation by Aaron Taylor Miedema. Legacy Books Press, 2014. ISBN 978-1927537077

References

  1. Leoni, p xii.
  2. Lancellotti, Francesco Maria. Quadro letterario degli uomini illustri della città di Fossombrone. In Colucci, Giuseppe. Antichità picene, XXVIII. Fermo, 1796. p 33.
  3. Calcaterra, Francesco. Corti e cortigiani nella Roma barocca. Rome, 2012. p 76.
  4. Leoni, p xi.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 In a counterguard.
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 The enemy.
  9. 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.
  10. Figure 3, which we know from the description of this chapter’s action depicts binding the enemy’s sword on the outside.
  11. 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.
  12. This lesson’s text refers to Figure 6.
  13. The two fencers.
  14. 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.
  15. The figure number is missing in both the 1606 and 1628 printings. Jakob de Zeter’s 1619 German/French version refers to Figure 8.
  16. Your hand.
  17. This is the second manner mentioned at the beginning of the lesson, rather than an action that follows from the first.
  18. Camillo Agrippa (1553), for example, recommends turning the face away.
  19. The two preceding figures.
  20. 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
  21. The figure number is missing in both the 1606 and 1628 printings. Jakob de Zeter’s 1619 German/French version refers to Figure 21.
  22. 22.0 22.1 Figure 21.
  23. The guard Giganti refers to here is unclear.
  24. First lesson of sword and dagger – Figure 21.
  25. Figures 21-26.
  26. The figure number is missing in both the 1606 and 1628 printings. Jakob de Zeter’s 1619 German/French version refers to Figure 27.
  27. The chest is uncovered.
  28. “Scannare” – to slaughter or cut the throat of.
  29. Of the enemy.
  30. Our fencer.