Bolognese Swordsmanship

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Bolognese Swordsmanship, also known as the Dardi school is a tradition within the Italian school of swordsmanship, based in 16th century Bologna. It is named for Lippo Bartolomeo Dardi, a fencing master whose tradition is the foundation for the work of Antonio Manciolino and Achille Marozzo. Bolognese masters over at least six decades show a consistent unity of style and terminology justifying their treatment as within a single school. Dardi, the first known master of this school, was licensed as a master of fencing in 1415, just a few years after Fiore dei Liberi completed his Fior di Battaglia. No manuscript ascribed to Dardi himself survives. The Dardi school uses primarily a single-handed sword (generally referred to as a side-sword), still used for both cutting and thrusting. The sword is combined with various defensive weapons, including a shield (brocchiero, rotella or targa), a dagger, a gauntlet or a cape. The two-handed sword or spadone is also still taught, although losing its prominence. In addition, there are treatments of fighting with the poleaxe and other polearms.