A curated collection of critical materials, articles, and documents related to the ORIGINI volumes. You will find context studies, analysis, and insights with abstracts and downloads in Italian and English when available.
Author: Alessandro Battistini, Niki Corradetti
ArticleThe recent findings of some documents which report the sums earned by fencing masters to teach combat disciplines has brought us the possibility to estimate how high this profession was considered, and what was its actual economic value in the Italian late Middle Ages, giving us also a synthetic view on the modes of operation of a sala d'arme in those times. In this cursory research study we will use some comparative methods on the quoted currencies and on the cost of living at the time to roughly estimate the current equivalent wages of a fencing master operating in the Italian peninsula in the XV and early XVI century.
Author: Elia Herbst, Niki Corradetti
ArticleThis article challenges the traditional dating and historical significance of Antonio Manciolino’s fencing treatise, Opera Nova. While previously believed to have been written in 1531, a newly discovered contract signed in Rome in 1518 between the author and the printer Stefano Guillery reveals that the manuscript was ready for publication thirteen years earlier. This study investigates the editorial history of the first fencing treatise ever printed in Italy and re-evaluates Manciolino's role within the peninsula's martial tradition. By shifting the timeline back to the early 16th century, the article reconsiders the relationship between Manciolino and the so-called 'Bolognese School', distinguishing his work from that of his contemporary Achille Marozzo. Consequently, Manciolino is presented as a pivotal transitional figure amidst the technical and social changes characterizing the 'Military Revolution' at the turn of the 16th century.
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