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Philippo di Vadi

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Philippo di Vadi Pisano
Born 1425
Pisa, Italy
Died 1501
Urbino, Italy (?)
Occupation Fencing master
Nationality Pisa, Italy
Ethnicity Ligurian
Citizenship Pisan
Patron Guidobaldo da Montefeltro
Influences Fiore de'i Liberi
Genres Fencing manual
Language
Notable work(s) De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi
Manuscript(s)
First printed
english edition
Porzio and Mele, 2002
Concordance by Michael Chidester
Translations Alternate English translation

Philippo di Vadi Pisano was a 15th century Italian fencing master. His name signifies that he was born in Pisa, a city in northern Italy, but little else can be said with certainty about the life of this master. It may be that he was the same Philippo Vadi who was governor of Reggio under the marquisette of Leonello d’Este and later, from 1452 to 1470, counselor to Borso d’Este, Duke of Ferrara.[1] Some time after this, Vadi composed a treatise on fencing entitled De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi ("On the Art of Swordsmanship"); it was dedicated to Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino,[2] and gifted to him between 1482 and 1487,[3] but while this may indicate that he served the duke after leaving Ferrara, there is no record of a Master Vadi being attached to the ducal court.

Vadi was probably an initiate of the tradition of Fiore de’i Liberi, as both his teachings and the format of his treatise closely resemble those of the earlier master. As both Leonello and Borso were sons of Niccolò III d’Este, owner of two copies of Fiore's treatise Fior di Battaglia, Vadi would have had ample opportunity to study his writings.

Treatise

Additional Resources

References

  1. For an alternative theory as to the identity of Philippo di Vadi, see Greg Mele. "Interesting information on the Vadi family (Philippo Vadi)". HEMA Alliance Forum. 06 June 2012. Retrieved 09 October 2012.
  2. Vadi, Philippo di. De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi [manuscript]. MS Vitt. Em. 1324. Rome, Italy: Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma, 1480s.
  3. Rubboli, Marco and Cesari, Luca. The Knightly Art of Combat of Filippo Vadi. Document circulated online.
  4. The translation of these lines was kindly done by Alan Cross, personal correspondence, 28 September 2016.
  5. The title that the manuscript is known by comes from this line of the book: de arte gladiatoria dimicandi. Dimicare means to fight in earnest against your enemies; l’arte gladiatoria is the art of fencing. Together, the sense is “the art of fencing in earnest against your enemies”, as opposed to fencing for fun, exercise or display.
  6. I am indebted to both Prof Alessandra Petrina and Tom Leoni for their suggestions on improving this section.
  7. The word here is ‘sacomani’ (more commonly saccomani), a kind of man at arms who follows the army looking for spoils. I think ‘scavenger’ would not be inaccurate, but clearly Vadi is laying out a hierarchy of martial prowess, with kings at the top, barons in the middle, and men at arms near the bottom. Saccomani is the lowest class of men worthy to learn the art, and so elevated above what comes to mind when we think ‘scavenger’. I’ve used the generic ‘soldier’ here. It is not a normal translation of this term, but it fits this hierarchy better.
  8. I, and Mele and Porzio before me (on page 41), were confounded by the page break between this line and the next. E mostrallo con breve eloquenza./La geometria che divide e parte. F3v, f4r. I am indebted to Prof Petrina for pointing out that Geometry, not the author, is the subject of the sentence. I mention this particularly because I know that many readers will trace the translation line by line, comparing it to a transcription or the scans of the ms, and may wonder why Geometry is apparently on the wrong line! It serves to illustrate the differences between the two languages, and as a reminder that similar changes to word order can be expected throughout.
  9. Note that on folio 28r where he gives the form of the sword to be used in armour, the crossguard is as long as the handle alone, not handle and pommel together. The images tend to suggest this latter arrangement.
  10. This could refer to the blade, but most practitioners believe it refers to the crossguard itself, which can indeed be sharpened for striking with, as we see in the section on combat with the sword in armour. The word is ‘ferruza’; ‘ferruzo’ means ‘a little piece of iron’, so the implication is that this would refer to the crossguard.
  11. si tu averai nel cervel tuo sale, lit. “if you have salt in your brain”.
  12. Passi o torni, lit. “pass or return.” It’s clear from the context that this means forwards or backwards. Also, on f22r of the Getty ms, Fiore describes the three turns and four steps which make up the footwork of his system. By pairing accrescere and discrescere, passare and torrnare, it’s clear that ‘passare’ is a pass forward and ‘tornare’ is a pass backward. See also f19r where ‘tornare’ is used and the fencing context makes it absolutely clear that it refers to passing back with the front foot.
  13. This is very obscure in the Italian. Prof. Petrina suggests: “Imbratar carte” means write a lot with little effect – it is usually said of a bad poet. So – he who wishes to oppose his own art to everybody else’s is writing a lot to no effect?” Alessandra Petrina, personal correspondence, 23rd March 2018.
  14. This number is written out (quarto), and does not have a roman numeral in the ms, so I have written it out here.
  15. The image here is of a formal duel, in which the duellists are given their choice of weapons. This indicates a specific context for this art to work in.
  16. Advantage of the sword is presumably length, especially in a duelling context.
  17. Lit. “You will make everyone scratch their own mange”
  18. This is a poetic image, which conveys the defeat of the ignorant by the knowledgeable.
  19. Erased.