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'''Nicoletto Giganti''' (Niccoletto, Nicolat; 1550s-after 1622<ref>Leoni, p xii.</ref>) was a 16th – [[century::17th century]] [[nationality::Italian]] soldier and [[fencing master]]. He was likely born to a noble family in Fossombrone in central Italy,<ref>Lancellotti, Francesco Maria. ''Quadro letterario degli uomini illustri della città di Fossombrone''. In Colucci, Giuseppe. ''Antichità picene, XXVIII''. Fermo, 1796. p 33.</ref> 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).<ref>Calcaterra, Francesco. ''Corti e cortigiani nella Roma barocca''. Rome, 2012. p 76.</ref> 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.
 
'''Nicoletto Giganti''' (Niccoletto, Nicolat; 1550s-after 1622<ref>Leoni, p xii.</ref>) was a 16th – [[century::17th century]] [[nationality::Italian]] soldier and [[fencing master]]. He was likely born to a noble family in Fossombrone in central Italy,<ref>Lancellotti, Francesco Maria. ''Quadro letterario degli uomini illustri della città di Fossombrone''. In Colucci, Giuseppe. ''Antichità picene, XXVIII''. Fermo, 1796. p 33.</ref> 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).<ref>Calcaterra, Francesco. ''Corti e cortigiani nella Roma barocca''. Rome, 2012. p 76.</ref> 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 popular treatise on the use of the rapier (both single and with the dagger) titled ''[[Scola, overo Teatro (Nicoletto Giganti)|Scola, overo teatro]]'' ("School or Fencing Hall"). The 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.<ref>Leoni, p xi.</ref> It is also the first treatise to fully articulate the principle of the lunge.
+
In 1606, Giganti published a popular treatise on the use of the rapier (both single and with the dagger) titled ''[[Scola, overo Teatro (Nicoletto Giganti)|Scola, overo teatro]]'' ("School or Fencing Hall"). 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.<ref>Leoni, p xi.</ref> It is also the first treatise to fully articulate the principle of the lunge.
  
In 1608, Giganti made good the promise in his first treatise that he would publish a second volume.<ref>This treatise was considered lost for centuries and as early as 1673 the Sicilian master Pallavicini stated that this second book was never published at all. See [[Giuseppe Morsicato Pallavicini|Pallavicini, Giuseppe Morsicato]]. ''[[La seconda parte della scherma illustrata (Giuseppe Morsicato Pallavicini)|La seconda parte della scherma illustrata]]''. Palermo, 1673. p v.</ref> Titled ''[[Libro secondo di Niccoletto Giganti Venetiano (Nicoletto Giganti)|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.
+
In 1608, Giganti made good the promise in his first book that he would publish a second volume.<ref>This treatise was considered lost for centuries, and as early as 1673 the Sicilian master Pallavicini stated that this second book was never published at all. See [[Giuseppe Morsicato Pallavicini|Pallavicini, Giuseppe Morsicato]]. ''[[La seconda parte della scherma illustrata (Giuseppe Morsicato Pallavicini)|La seconda parte della scherma illustrata]]''. Palermo, 1673. p v.</ref> Titled ''[[Libro secondo (Nicoletto Giganti)|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.
  
 
== Treatise ==
 
== Treatise ==
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* 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
 
* 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
 +
* '''Giganti, Nicoletto'''; Pendragon, Joshua; [[Piermarco Terminiello|Terminiello, Piermarco]]. ''The 'Lost' Second Book of Nicoletto Giganti(1608): A Rapier Fencing Treatise''. Vulpes, 2013. ISBN 978-1909348318
  
 
== References ==
 
== References ==

Revision as of 17:04, 9 December 2013

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 popular treatise on the use of the rapier (both single and with the dagger) titled Scola, overo teatro ("School or Fencing Hall"). 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 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.

Treatise

Additional Resources

  • 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
  • Giganti, Nicoletto; Pendragon, Joshua; Terminiello, Piermarco. The 'Lost' Second Book of Nicoletto Giganti(1608): A Rapier Fencing Treatise. Vulpes, 2013. ISBN 978-1909348318

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 Pallavicini stated that this second book was never published at all. See Pallavicini, Giuseppe Morsicato. La seconda parte della scherma illustrata. Palermo, 1673. p v.