Filippo Vadi
Filippo Vadi was a Pisan who wrote a treatise on combat, De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi ("On the Art of Sword Fighting"), around 1485. He travelled across Europe, but at the time he wrote his manuscript he was at the court of Guido di Montefeltro, the Duke of Urbano. No record of his life survives except for the single manuscript of his book.
His book begins with a dedication to Guido di Montefeltro, followed by a section of general advice on the martial arts, then techniques for the sword in two hands, the axe (pollaxe) in armour, the sword in armour, the spear, and the dagger. The body of the work is in Italian verse, and is lavishly illuminated in colour. Many of the illustrations appear to be borrowed from Fiore's manuscripts but the book also foreshadows sixteenth-century texts such as Achille Marozzo's Opera Nova.
Further Reading
Filippo Vadi, tr. Luca Porzio and Gregory Mele, Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi: 15 th century Swordsmanship of Master Filippo Vadi,Chivalry Bookshelf: Union City, California, 2001
