Gladiatoria  New Haven - MS U860.F46 1450

The "Gladiatoria" group of German fencing manuscripts are several editions of a treatise on armoured foot combat, specifically aimed at fighting in a judicial duel. Gloriously illustrated, and replete with substantial explicatory text, these works are some of the greatest achievements in the corpus of late medieval fight books.
In this gorgeous, full color volume, authors Dierk Hagedorn and Bartłomiej Walczak present their work on the copy of this treatise now in the Yale Center for British Art, including a reproduction of the manuscript, a full transcription, and translations into modern German and English. And as if that were not enough, the front matter features articles and essays about the fighting tradition found in the manuscript, as well as analyses of the book itself, arms and armour of the mid-15th century, and even a tale of Mr. Hagedorn's adventures in tracking down the manuscript! Further, the authors have included contributions from such luminaries as Sydney Anglo, Hans-Peter Hils, and Daniel Jaquet.

A beautiful manuscript, lovingly rendered in a beautiful,  modern, color-edition; this book is a must for students of medieval fighting arts, and arms and armour enthusiasts.

New Electronic Editions! Venetian Rapier, In Saint George's Name, and

The Complete Renaissance Swordsman

 We've heard you loud and clear! Response to our electronic edition of Old School has been huge, so we are working hard to bring you our entire catalog in Mobi and ePub editions. Beginning with the three titles that launched our press, you can now download Mobi (Kindle) editions of the following titles right from the Freelance webpage:

Venetian Rapier
 

Perhaps no other weapon represents Renaissance Italian fencing like the rapier. But do we know how it was used and how it was taught? This book takes you to the fencing School, or Salle of celebrated renaissance rapier Master Nicoletto Giganti of Venice, one among the period teachers leaving instructions on the use of this weapon. More uniquely, his 1606 text The School, or Salle is a veritable training curriculum, with its stepwise lessons and easy-to-follow explanations on the use of the rapier alone and rapier and dagger. This faithful translation of Giganti's The School, or Salle by internationally-known rapier teacher Tom Leoni includes the complete text, original illustrations, and an introduction on rapier fencing that will make Giganti's text easy to follow.

In Saint George's Name

The medieval knight was a well-trained fighting man, expert in the use of sword, lance, spear and dagger, and member of a warrior aristocracy whose values, virtues and vices helped shape European society for over 500 years. As a window into the knight and his craft, In Saint George's Name: An Anthology of Medieval German Fighting Arts brings readers a treasure trove of historic combat treatises, musings on the culture and context of the martial arts in the late Middle Ages, and hands-on training exercises for wrestling, dagger, falchion, and poleaxe. Join medieval combat expert Christian Henry Tobler on an expansive journey into the lost world of chivalric fighting arts, certain to thrill martial artists, arms and armour enthusiasts, and lovers of history alike.

The Freelancers