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Updates come later because I’m in English class right now. Garararararar. >(

The Duello in Elizabethan England
by Maelgwyn Dda
Picture yourself in a crowded restauranL Two well- dressed upper-middle-class gentlemen are discussing politics at the next.table. One of them tells a scandalous anecdote about a prominent political figure, and the other man calls him a liar. They step out into the streeL draw swords, and kill each other. This is the Duello.
You are walking down the street and you bump into someone - You immediately apologize, explaining that you meant no offence, but if he demands satisfaction, you will meet him behind the Abbey at sunrise with a rapier in you hand. This is the Duello.
You discover one morning that your best friend has been killed by your cousin in a dispute over the quality of a bottle of wine that they had shared. This, too, is the Duello.
It is difficult for modem people to understand a culture in which mortal combat was an accepted part of the lifestyle of the elite. The Duello may only be understood when it is seen in its historical perspective and in the context of the culture in which it existed. I intend to look at the culture of Elizabethan England, and the responsibilities of a gentleman in that culture with regard to honor and combat, bearing in mind both historical precedent and contemporary influences.
SOCIAL EVOLUTION
One way of understanding the Duello is to look at its roots as a judicial institution. The duel first appears in 510 A.D. when the King of the Burgundians instituted trial by combat as a means of settling disputes.1 The theory behind this "trial by battel" was not that justice would always prevail, but rather that anyone slain while defending a just cause would be blessed in Heaven. while anyone defending an unjust cause would be rewarded in an opposite manner. Out of this custom rose the duel of chivalry: the meeting of two knights to contest a point of law, ownership, or honor. The duel of chivalry was much like a medieval joust or toumament, but the weapons were sharp and the contest was often to the death. This public display was much criticized by the church, and eventually fell out of practice. One reason for the decline of the duel of chivalry may have been a change in military technology which made the heavily armored knight on horseback obsolete on the battlefield.
During a transition period between the early fifteenth and mid sixteenth centuries, disputes between noblemen were settled by means of great feuds where each lord armed his men with "backswoorde and buckeler." As historian Lawrence Stone observes,
"these weapons allowed the maximum muscular effort and the most spectacular show of violence with the minimum threat to life and limb." These conflicts excluded the ever more numerous and powerful gentry, who had no gangs of retainers with which to enter the fray.3
At the same time other changes were taking place, both in fashion and in military technology. On the battle field a long, thin weapon called an estoc was developed to penetrate the joints of plate armor.4 The nobility, who were required by custom to go armed, began to carry this lighter, more comfortable weapon. The demands of both fashion and efficiency caused the weapon to be lengthened and the hand guard improved until it took the form of the classic cup-hilted rapier.
The concurrent growth of towns caused a concentration of wealth and population, which in turn led to an increase in thievery and brigandage. It became more and more important for gentlemen to carry an effective weapon for discouraging assaults upon his purse or his person. The rapier filled this need very nicely. It was light and comfortable enough to carry at all times, and yet more swift and deadly against unarmored opponents than the more traditional sword. This weapon having become the fashion, it is little wonder that the gentlemen of the day expressed a great interest in learning the proper technique for wielding it.
CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE
Where could the English gentlemen find instruction in rapier combat? Certainly not in England. Not yet, anyway. The rapier was commonly carried in England beginning in the mid fifteen hundreds, but the English Masters of Defense were too conservative and tradition bound to learn or teach the use of "frog pricking poniards and rapiers."
The solution to this problem was for wealthy families to send their sons away to Italy or France, where they might learn first-hand all of the refinements of Renaissance culture. It was mentioned by an Elizabethan chronicler that in Paris, "The fencing masters have their schools full of English gentlemen of quality."7
In 1576 an Italian gentleman and sword-master named Rocco Bonetti established a school of arms in London.8 One contemporary writer reported,
"He caused to be fairely drawne and set round his Schoole all the Noblemen's and Gentlemen's armes who were his Schollers."9
Bonetti appears to have taught the use of other weapons in addition to the rapier and dagger, most notably the two-handed sword. In 1590 Vincentio Saviolo arrived in London. He was a professional swordmaster from Pauda who had studied systems of rapier combat both in Italy and in Spain.12 Saviolo wrote a two-volume treatise on the Duello which was published in 1595 entitled, "Vincentio Saviolo his Practise. In two Books. The first intreating of the use of the Rapier and Dagger. The second, of Honor and honorable Quarrels."13
Once the gentry had acquired these sharp deadly rapiers and learned to wield them, the custom of feuding became intolerable, due to the horror of such widespread carnage. The "Code of the Duello" was developed in order to limit the bloodshed caused by these dangerous weapons. As John Seldon wrote in 1610,
"truth, honor, freedome and curtesie being as incidents to perfit chivalry upon the lye given, fame impeached, body wronged, or curtesie taxed, a custom hath bin amongst the French, English, etc. To seek revenge of their wrongs on the body of their accuser and that by private combat sul a' seul, without judicial lists appointed them."14
A person who was challenged to a duel would select time, place, and weapons to be used. Each combatant would choose a second, a person to come along and observe that no treachery or foul play was committed. The seconds also served to seek any possible means of reconciliation without bloodshed, although this was rarely successful.15
One important custom was that a duel ended any dispute, and further combat over that issue was forbidden. Another aspect of the Code was that no man of sound body could refuse a challenge without severe consequences. Examples of this include Sir William Wentworth, who was publicly proclaimed a coward when he refused a challenge, and Antony Felton, who received lasting public disgrace for refusing to avenge a beating, despite the efforts of the Earl Marshal's Court to clear his name.16
What constituted sufficient grounds for a challenge? One contemporary wrote that,
"it is reputed so great a shame to be accounted a Iyer, that any other injury is cancelled by giving the lie, and he that receiveth it standeth so charged in his honour and reputation, that he cannot disburden himself of that imputation, but by the striking of him that hath so given it, or by challenging him the combat."17
Vincentio explained that.
"All injuries are reduced to two kindes, and are either by wordes or deeds. In the first, he that offereth the injurie ought to be thc Challenger: in thc later, hee that is injured."
Injury by word included any form of slander, either of a man's honor, or that of his lady or his friend, or his judgement and good taste. Such statements were to be answered by the giving of the lie. In the case of injurie by deed, however,
"whosoever offereth injurie by deede, as striking, beating, or otherwise hurting anie man, ought presently without anie further debate or questioning to be challenged to the Combat, unlesse hee refuse the same by making satisfaction for the offence of offered injurie."
This is because there can be no question as to whet her a blow was struck, buty the question was whet her such a blow was delivered justly and honorably.20 For example: I strike you. You state that I did so unjustly or in a dishonorable manner. I call you a liar, you challenge me, I choose weapons, and we proceed merrily from peccadillo to bloody mayhem in accordance with the rules.
PERSONAL AMBITION
Thus we can see that according 10 the rules of the Duello. each man of noble or gentle birth is charged with maintaining his honor at all cost, for as Vincenlio points out. "What is to defend your reputation. but so to hurt your enemye, as your selfe may escape free?"21 But why did the Elizabethan gentleman value honor and reputation so highly? There are a couple of important factors to consider. First we should note that gentlemen of quality were forbidden by custom from engaging in anything that might be considered "work". Their only socially acceptable ambition in life was to gain noble rank by winning the favor of their Soveriegn. Only a few out of hundreds of gentlemen in each generation would attain this ambition. so the competition was fierce. Dueling provided each gentleman with a means to demonstrate his skill and courage, prove his willingness to die for noble ideals, and dissuade anyone from disparraging his other virtues (including his good judgement or "taste").
Second. we should remember that the life being risked was already in peril . If you are fairly likely to die soon from plague or warfare, why not gamble your life on a chance for glory and honor? One Elizabethan observed,
"For thesc and such like offenses the law can make no adequate retribution - in such a state life is a burden, which cannot be laid down or supported, till death either terminates his own existence or that of the despoiler of his peace and honor."22
CULTURAL IMPACT OF THE DUELLO
The Duello should not be thought of as an entirely bloodthirsty institution. It was in many ways more civilized than the feuds and killing affrays that came before it when noblemen would settle their quarrels through sending armed gangs of henchmen out to fight their feuds. This placed the risk of injury upon the commoners and not on the noblemen who were responsible.23 The Duello changed that, making each man personally responsible for his actions. This seems to have resulted in a distinct improvement in the maimers and humility of the nobility.
Another result of the Duello was a leveling effect amongst the gentry and the nobility. The gentleman no longer needed a private army to deal on an equal footing with the nobility.24 Patrick Ruthven, in a challenge to the Earl of Northumberland, pointed out, "though Nobility makes a difference of persons, yet injury acknowledgeth none," Thus the gentry gladly accepted the Duello. As the modern historian Lawrence Stone put it,
"The traditional ambition of the propertied classes to demonstrate their personal courage and In avenge any disparagement of their virtue or their honor was given an outlet which at last affected no one but themselves."25
The evolution of the Duello may also be seen as an out-growth of the Humanistic philosophy of the Renaissance. Whereas trial by combat was deeply rooted in the Concept that God would reward the just, the Duello placed the defense of justice and honor in the hands of the individual. Each man, through the perfection and exercise of his own skills, could win honor and renown, not "by the grace of God" but through his own efforts.
This, then, was the Duello. The gentry and nobility of England, armed with long, sharp rapiers and short, deadly poniards or daggers, trained by Italian masters, were driven by custom, peer pressure, and personal ambition to defend their honor and good name against anyone who would besmirch it. They placed their trust not in God, but in their own skill and efforts, ready to engage in mortal combat over any slight or insult, lest the failure to do so should cause them to lose the respect of their peers. Honor and the title of "Gentleman" were more valuable to them than life itself.
Elizabethan Fencing and the Art of Defence
The Arte of Defence was studied and taught by masters in the late 15th and 16th Centuries. The most famous of the teachers typically came from Italy. Until the advent of the smallsword and the French schools of fence, the Italians and to a lesser degree the Spanish, enjoyed the role of the most sought after teachers of the Arte of Defence. This is not to say that earlier fencing schools did not exist. The Germans had fine schools and some of the oldest existant fencing manuals come from Germany. I have very little on the German schools and would appreciate any information in this area.
The English at the end of the 16th Century followed the continental fencers in taking on the use of the rapier. In defense of English technique, George Silver published a treatise called the Paradoxes of Defence. This treatise was used to espouse the use of the English weapons and to downplay the use of the rapier. Silver hated the Italians and Spanish and made sure that his readers knew that these styles were more dangerous for the user than good English practices. He also wrote a treatise on his Paradoxes called Brief Instructions. Two Italian Elizabethan Masters of note were Saviolo and Di Grassi. Saviolo' s works cover not only his view on fencing mechanics but also honor. Di Grassi in the author's opinion is one of the finer manuals translated to English in this time period. Although Di Grassi predates the Elizabethan period proper, his manual which was orginally published in 1570 was translated into English in the late Elizabethan period. There is a move now to compile electronic copies of existing early fencing manuals. Some translation is also being done. As I obtain manuals (or links to manuals) I will add them into the period manuals section.

Renaissance Fencing Terms
This list is focuses on terminology of the rapier as well as 16th century short swords or military “cut and thrust swords” It is intended to reflect the distinction that developed between the older military fencing systems and the newer civilian ones It is derived primarily from Italian, Spanish, French and English source manuals with additional material included of a modern descriptive nature The list is divided into helpful sections of Concepts, Components, and Techniques It excludes terms of classical and modern (ie, 18-20th century) fencing either not taken from historical manuals of the period, or not directly related to the use of the rapier or “cut & thrust” swords It includes only those technical terms of modern sport fencing that are relevant to describing and reconstructing the practice of historical Renaissance swordsmanship today Thus, much current French and Italian terminology used within or developed for modern sport fencing has been excluded.
Concepts
Al la macchia / ala mazza - a less formal rough-and-tumble duel “out in the woods”, often by groups as well as individuals
Bill of Challenge - a formal posted announcement of an English student’s public “Playing” of his “Prize”
Bravazzo / Branando - a swashbuckler, a swaggerer, a cutter, quarreller, rostier, raffine, ruffian
Botta-in-tempo - (attack in time) attack while the adversary’s preoccupied with a parry, bind, or feint
Botta Secreta - a secret attack or special hidden technique of a school or master
Breaking the Measure - (rompere di misura) retreating from within the measure to out of measure
Camineering - a change of engagement or in the line of threat/attack
Cartel - a hand delivered written notice of challenge describing the cause of the offence that provoked a duel of honor
Cob’s Traverse - retreating indefinitely (running away, sometimes called the “ninth parry”)
Corporation of the London Masters of Defence - the guild of English instructors of fighting and fence in the 1500s, it had four levels of fighter: Scholar, Free Scholar, Provost, and Master, as well as four “Ancient Masters”
Contratempo – (counter time) The action of beating the opponent as he tries to take advantage of a tempo you create
Cavazione - (“trade”) the action of exchanging or switching sides on the opponent’s sword, from left to right or vice versa, under or over, without making contact with it
Controcavazione - (“counter-trade”) the action of beating a Cavazione with an opposite one, thus ending up to the side where your sword started
Contrapostura – adjusting your stance or guard so that your forte always defends the line between your body and the opponent’s tip
Coup de grace - the dagger stroke given to mercifully end the suffering of a wounded duelist (originally used to execute a defeated knight in heavy plate armor)
Coup de Jarnac - an early Renaissance term for a crippling blow to the back of the opponent’s exposed knee or hamstring (so called due to a famous judicial duel, it was not a new strike at all, but did become well known and quite notorious)
Coup de main - a kill by a single, smooth, quick thrust or cut
Debole – (foible) the section of the blade from mid-sword to the tip by which attacks should be made
La Destreza – A Spanish term translating as dexterity, skill, ability, (or) art and meaning “Philosophy of the Weapons” or “The Art and Science” of fighting
Desvio – in later Spanish schools of fence the technique of redirecting an attacking blow with a deflecting action rather than a solid block
Duel - personal single combat, usually illicit and illegal, only sometimes of gentlemanly or even honorable character
En guard - to come “on guard” (ready your weapon and self for the fight)
Engagement - contacting or crossing (opposing) the adversary’s blade
Escrime’ - French for fencing, or the art of fence
Extraordinary Step (passo straordinario)
False Edge - (or “Filo falso”) the back edge facing the wielder
Fence/Art of Fence - a word for swordsmanship derived from the Middle English “defence”, as distinguished from the modern sport of “fencing” with its origins in the late 1700s and early 1800s
Filo - Italian for the sword’s edge
Fingering - to wrap the lead (and sometime second finger and thumb) around the quillons and ricasso for superior tip control and grip, an innovative method of gripping known since ancient times, it found greatest use with Renaissance blades
First blood - a duel that is fought only to the first sight of drawn blood as opposed to “to the death” or to the opponent “yielding”
Foining (Foyning) - English word for thrusting style swordsmanship
Four Governors - one way of looking at the major factors in swordsmanship: perception, distance, timing, and technique
Forte - the section of the blade going from mid-sword to the hilt by which parries should be made
Gaining the Measure (finding the measure) - proceeding from out of to in range, or from the misura larga to misura stretta
Gripping - holding of the sword, cut & thrust swords and rapiers were held in a 45 degree position, as opposed to the “hammer” grip as with medieval swords, and also utilized the concept of “fingering” the ricasso, both may be held in a “normal” grip as that when “pointing” the index finger, or in a pronated or supinated position
Girata - stepping out of line by either moving your leading right foot to the right or by crossing the left foot behind the right one
Giving the lie - the name given to the act of purposly offending the honor of another gentleman or his lady through insult, innuendo, or wit, it was cause for challenge to duel (e.g., "You have inulsted me ..." or "You disagree, when I say you have offended me, Sir? Are you then calling me a liar?")
Grypes - techniques for seizure (grabbing the adversary’s blade, hilt, or arm)
Guard - (Italian: Guardia, sing Guardie, also Posta) - fighting positions, wards, stances, ready postures, for offense and/or defense (also the protective hilt of a blade, as in compound guard, cross guard, back guard, counter guard, ring guard, etc). Viggiani 1550 - taught seven guards, left side ones were called defensive, right side one’s offensive: Prima, Seconda, Terza (high over right shoulder), Quarta (diagonal downward inside of right knee knuckles up, Quinta (with point up), Sesta (hand behind right thigh point diagonally down knuckles to the right, left leg leading), Settima (point diagonally up outside leading right leg). Di Grassi 1570 - taught three wards: Guardia Alta (high ward), the Guardia Largha (broad ward, arm extended forward), and the Guardia Bassa (low ward, arm low beside the right knee). Fabris 1606 - taught everything whether offensive or defensive came from just four guards. His four basic hand positions (which are not guards but hand positions) were attained by rotating the hand clockwise. Capo Ferro 1610: taught only one guard with the blade aimed straight and held low in the middle and four hand positions. Prima – the first guard position from withdrawing the sword with the arm high to the right, palm facing to the right, (knuckles at 12 o’clock), Seconda – the second guard position, arm about shoulder or chest height, palm facing down (knuckles at 3 o’clock), Terza – a third guard position, usually with arm at waist level, palm facing to the left (knuckles at 5 or 6 o’clock), Quarta – a fourth guard position, palm facing up (knuckles at 9 o’clock)
Gaurdia Alta - Viggiani’s & Di Grassi’s high vertical position with blade over the right shoulder
Guardant Ward – A Hanging guard, similar to Prime, George Silver also distinguishes between True, False and Bastard Guardants
Hanging guard - a ward with point down and to the inside and the arm raise above
High Ward – the weapon is held centered over the head roughly 45-degrees, identical to medieval long-sword high postures, although Silver’s Open ward (perhaps so called because you are open to making any attack) may be over the shoulder rather than over the head
IL duello - single combat/duel
In-Line/Point-on -the new rapier’s method of swordsmanship with the tip held always at the enemy
Inside or Left Back ward – weapon held point back and down to the left, close to the hip, Viggiani’s “fourth guard wide”, identical to a left Tail guard for medieval long-sword
“In-the-Round” - a modern term to describe historcial sword fighting that is 360 degrees, not linear as with the smallsword or modern sport fencing, but uses sidesteps and diagonal movements (voids and traverses)
Invitation - positioning that intentionally exposes openings to purposely draw attacks
Just Distance - the distance (“measure”) where if you are close enough to hit your opponent, they are also close enough to hit you
Kissing-the-button - derogatory Spanish term for harassing rapier thrusts aimed at the mouth
La canne - a form of 19th century French stick fighting art related to the use of cut & thrust swords, sabers, broadswords and cutlasses
Left Back ward – Inside guard, Viggiani’s “fourth guard wide” , like theTail guard in medieval methods
Line (Line of Attack) - one of the four areas by which to attack: high outside (sixte & tierce), high inside (quarte & prime), low outside (octave & seconde), and low inside (septime & quinte)
These areas also correspond to types of parries
Low guard –with the weapon held point down and centered, Silver’s Variable ward, identical to medieval long-sword low postures
Lunge - (Allungo or Distesa) an extension (typically in the course of a thrusting attack) executed by stepping forward with the right foot and leaving the left foot anchored
Large Step (passo largo)
Mezzo - middle (half) of the blade
Mezza Cavazione - (“half-trade”) the action of interrupting a Cavazione in the middle, ending up underneath your opponent’s sword
Middle guard– Silver’s Close ward (perhaps so called because the blade closes nearer to the opponent), the weapon is held centered aimed at the opponent over the head, identical to medieval long-sword middle postures
Molinello/ Molinetto - circular cut
Master of Defence - a Renaissance instructor of swordsmanship or fence and other fighting arts
Measure - judging of distance or range in fighting
Misura – measure or distance and range (close or short, wide or tight, in or out)
Misura Larga - distance at which a strike can be made by a step, by a pass, or by a lunge
Misura Stretta - distance at which a strike can be made by simply leaning in with an extension (and no step or lunge)
On-the-Pass - to strike with a forward or outward step, a pass or Passado / Passato, a standard means of forcefully striking or stabbing in cut & thrust swordsmanship, often used with a traverse or void
Out of Measure (Fuori Misura) - the distance where you cannot reach the opponent on a thrust without steeping or passing
Playing the Prize - the public testing of a student for advancement in the English schools of Defence
Parrier-dolch - German term for using the dagger’s quillons to trap a sword blade
Pike & Musket - the term used today to refer to the Renaissance’s newer methods of mass warfare that replaced those of the Middle Ages which emphasized heavy cavalry and archery
Prima (Prima Gaurdia, or Reverse, or Guardant) - the high outside ward, pronated point on (one of five or six of the major stances/guards)assumed after the natural position of drawing the weapon from the scabbard
Pronation - gripping the sword with knuckles up and palm down, the significance of which originally applied to the use of a cutting sword’s flat to parry with but later referred to certain positionings for efficient parries with a rapier
Provost - the third level of the four rankings in English schools of Defence
Punta – point
Quarta-Guardia – Agrippa’s left side Terza
Raffine - a swordsman bully who will provoke a duel on the slightest pretext or cause
Rapier & Cloak – “Spada e Capa”, a method of fighting using a common cloak or robe for defense
Rapier & Dagger - a method of fighting using the addition of a parrying dagger in the other hand
Ricavazione - the action of beating a Controcavazione with an additional one
Riverso – a left to right cut, also called Manverso
Seizure - to grab the adversary’s blade or hilt
Scherma - Italian for fencing
Schivar di vita - the action of voiding the opponent’s sword by moving the body out of line
Scholar’s privilege - in English schools of Defence, the excluding of attacks to the face during practice with novices
Seconda - (second), broad or wide ward in di Grassi and others
Second - in a formal duel, the neutral party for each side that stands in as witness and arbiter or back up
Slipping - gaining reach by sliding the hand down the grip to the pommel when striking with a cutting blade (also throwing out a one handed thrust with a pole arm)
Small Step (stretto passo or piccol passo)
Spada Libera - (“Keeping your sword free”) Keeping your sword in such a way (by space or leverage) that the opponent does not have leverage on it or the “advantage of the sword”
Spada e Pugnale - Italian for “sword and dagger”, usually a rapier & dagger
Spada Solo - Italian for single sword, usually use of the rapier alone without a secondary weapon
Stop-Thrust - a counter thrust attack into the opponent’s forward movement or oncoming attack
Stringering - maintaining contact or opposition with the opponent’s blade so as to control it
Supination - gripping the sword with knuckles down and palm up, the significance of which originally applied to the use of a cutting sword’s flat to parry with but later referred to certain positionings for efficient parries with a rapier
Swashbuckler – a Tudor or Elizabethan ruffian predisposed to streetfight and duel, so called by the “swishing” sound created by sword and buckler on the belt as the youth swaggered about town, the 1657 edition of Phillips’ New World of Words cites, “Swash-buckler” as a “Vain-glorious Sword-player or Fencer; a meer Braggadochoe, a vapouring fellow”, and cites “To swash” as “to make fly about; to clash, or make a noise with Swords”
Stances - (fighting stances) wards or guards: eg, high, middle, low, open, close, prime, seconda, terza, and guardant/hanging
Sword & Dagger - a method of early Renaissance fighting which led to the rapier and dagger
Sword & Buckler – (Spada e brochiero) a method of combat and street fighting common in the early Renaissance
Taglio – cut
Temperato - the part of the blade between forte and debole, also called Medio or Mezzane (middle)
Tempo - the element of timing or execution of moment/action in time
Terza – low, back Inside (right) ward, for a cut & thrust sword Viggiani’s “Terza” or third, blade at a 45 degree angle down, for a rapier it is the blade held back and lower, closer to the hip, usually in a reverse stance
Trovar di spada - (“occupare la spada”) the art of placing your sword against the opponent’s (without touching his blade) so that yours would have the advantage of a lever at the moment they meet
True Edge - (or “Filo dritto”) the forward edge on the same side of the knuckles
Tutte botte principali - principle cuts and thrusts
Variable Ward – Silver’s low guard (also a name for all other manner of guards not Open, Close, or Guardant)
Veney – a practice bout to a number of hits in free play or mock combat
Ward - one of five to seven fighting postures, ready stances, or guards

Components
Atajo – in the Spanish schools, the idea of taking control of the opponent’s blade, essentially a prise de fer
Anneu - the side-ring (ring guard or “port”) on a compound-hilt
Annelets –one term for the “arms-of-the-hilt”, protective quillons rings over the ricasso
Arms-of-the-Hilt - the finger rings extending from the quillons to the blade, often attached to a ring guard, they are mistakenly often called the “pas d’ane” although this has long been proved incorrect
Back-Sword - a primarily English cut & thrust blade of the Renaissance with a single straight edge and usually a swept or basket hilt, its single edge allowed for a sharper blade and stronger cut, it was popular in many countries both on foot and mounted
Blunts - dull cut & thrust practice blades which were rebated (or “bated”) with rounded edges and tips (they were sometimes called “foils” or “foiled blades”)
Broadsword - a Victorian era term coined to differentiate their own thinner swords from wider Medieval ones, it is commonly applied (incorrectly) to Medieval swords, also a form of naval cutlass
Buckler (bochiero or rottela) - a small hand held shield of metal or wood, held in a fist grip and used to deflect and punch, they sometimes had spikes, or hooks and prongs to catch rapier blades
Claymore - (basket hilted) a form of 18th century Scottish cut & thrust sword relative of the Italian schiavona
Colichemarde - a style of small sword blade, wider at the forte for strong parrying, then abruptly tapering for quick piercing thrusts
Compound-hilt (Compound guard/Complex hilt) - a term used to describe the various hilts of Renaissance and some late Medieval swords consisting of more than a simple cross guard, there were a great variety
Cup-hilt - a bowl like sword guard similar to those on modern sport fencing epee’s, common in theatrical fighting, they did not first appear until the 1650’s in Spain
Cut & Thrust sword - a form of “transition” sword from the heavier, wider Medieval blade to the thinner, edgeless rapiers of the Renaissance, they were used for hacking, slashing, stabbing, had compound hilts and employed fingering, they were military blades that became popular for civilian use until superseded by the rapier (other forms of later military cut & thrust swords include the: schiavona, spadroon, cutlass, mortuary sword, hanger, and saber)
Degen – A German word from the 1400’s generally meaning a sword, often slender, but also sometimes a Raufdegen or “brawling sword”, or a broader Haudegen, though never a rapier
Due Spada –a fighting style simultaneously using two swords or later two rapiers, a “case of rapiers “ or “brace” (sometimes now called “Florentine”)
Ecusson - (or Ecusson block) the metal center or bracket of the hilt’s guard where the quillons join and on which the thumb and fingers are often placed when gripping (fingering)
Espadon - late Medieval Spanish cut & thrust sword
Estoc - (also Tuck or Stocco) late Medieval edgeless, two handed, thrusting sword for piercing plate armor, starting in the Victorian era the term became quite often misapplied to the rapier
False edge - (or back edge) the top or thumb side of a sword’s blade, parrying with it is less effective and not as strong
Flamberge (Flamberg) - a “dish hilt” or “dueling hilt” style rapier, precursor to the later small sword Starting only in the last century, these began to also be called “flambergs” by scholars (they are also known as a variant of waved rapier blade said to affect the feel of actions during parrying and once thought to make more brutal wounds, waved blades (such as on some two handers) are actually correctly known as “flambards” or “flammards”)
Foible - the weaker (“feeble”) but faster first quarter portion of a blade, used for attack but not defense Foiled with a blunted tip, or to add a padded tip (“refoiled”) (also “debole” in Italian)
Forte’ – the stronger but slower last quarter portion of a blade, used for defense more than offense, sometimes also called “fort” or even “prime”
Fuller - the shallow channel or grooves of some blades intended to lighten and strengthen it, it has nothing to do with blood flow, or sticking, or cutting power, fullers are sometimes mistakenly called “blood runs” or “blood grooves”
Grip - handle of a sword, usually made of leather, wire, bone, horn, or ivory (also, the method of gripping the sword) Guanta di presa (grasping glove) a mail, leather, or metal dueling gauntlet for grabbing blades
Hilt - the sword’s guard, handle, and pommel (types of Renaissance sword hilts include: swept-hilt, shell, half-hilt, cup-hilt, dish-hilt, dueling-hilt, cavalier-hilt, Pappenheimer, mortuary-hilt, basket-hilt, etc)
Knuckle-guard (knuckle-bar) - a protective bar on the forward quillon sometimes extending to the pommel
Long-Sword - in the Renaissance, a term used for a Medieval-style hand-and-a-half or “bastard” sword
Main Gauche (“left hand”) - a parrying dagger worn on the back and typically held in the left hand, usually it has a wide bell-guard
Media Proporcional – in the later Spanish schools, the key concept of achieving and maintaining proper distance of weapon and body to the opponent’s weapon and body
Outside-Ward (Low Outside-Ward) - with the sword held back and down to the right, like a Back or Tail guard with a medieval long-sword
Parrying-Dagger - a dagger intentionally designed for use with a rapier, they were light, narrow, up to two feet long, and usually had curved quillons, side rings and/or finger rings
Pas d’ane - a misnomer for the finger rings or “arms-of-the-hilt”
Pappenheimer - a rapier hilt of pierced shell guard style named after a military leader
Pommel bolt/nut (or tang nut) - a small metal bolt or rivet on some blades securing the pommel to the tang and thereby holding the handle and guard in place
Pommel - (Latin for “little apple”) the bottom of the hilt/handle which secures the hilt to the blade, with the rapier it is not gripped or handled as on some Medieval swords, nor does it rest in the palm
Poniard (Poynard) - a thin, long, thrusting dagger, typically square or triangular in shape
Rapier - the familiar, thin, virtually edgeless thrusting sword of the Renaissance, popular in duel for more than a century, it produced an almost entirely new method of swordsmanship (pronounced “ray-pee-er” or “rap-peer” not “ray-peer”)
Reitschwert - (“cavalry sword”) A German name for a military cut & thrust sword of c 1500-1700, it was also called a degen or “knight’s sword”
Ricasso - on cut & thrust swords and rapiers the dulled or squared off portion of blade just above the hilt, where the fingers hold and which is protected by the arms-of-the-hilt (finger rings), they were sometimes covered in felt or soft leather as on some two handers (modern sport fencing weapons do not have
ricassos)
Riser - a raised fuller ridge providing rigidity and strength on a blade
Rondache/Targa - larger, less common renaissance battle shields worn on the arm, metal or wood
Rondella – a round buckler usually metal or leather
Rotella – a small round shield or targe usually metal
Quillon - a Renaissance term for the straight “T” shaped cross guard on swords (those on Medieval swords were simply known as the “cross”, or the “guard” today), it is a French word likely derived from an older Latin one, there are two quillons: the forward (bottom) and the rear (top)
Schiavona - an Italian cage hilt cut & thrust sword, usually with a ricasso for fingering
Sharpes - real blades with actual sharpened points or cutting edges (as opposed to practice swords or “blunts”)
Shoulder - the portion of the blade which fits against the hilt and at which the tang begins
Spada – Italian for sword, of any form, medieval or renaissance, usually a single-hand cut & thrust variety but also rapiers
Spada da gioco - practice sword (also “spade da marra”) as opposed to sharp or edged blades (spade da filo)
Spada di marra/Spada nera - historical Spanish practice rapiers which were untipped (also Italian “smarra”, and “fioretto” or foil)
Small-Sword - a sort of rapier-jr, that became the dueling weapon of the upper classes in the late Renaissance and Age of Enlightenment, it leads directly to modern sport fencing, sometimes known as a “court-sword” or” town-sword”
Segno - a wall target diagram showing the eight principle cuts
Stitchblatt - the small pierced plates on some hilts, German for “thrust leaf”
Stocco - Medieval Italian name for the estoc or tuck
Sword-Breaker - a term used for serrated dueling daggers with teeth-like projections capable of grabbing and holding, and supposedly snapping a rapier blade, they were fairly uncommon
Swept-hilt - an early Renaissance hilt form designed originally to protect the unarmored hand from cuts more than thrusts, they are made up of finger-rings, side-rings, knuckle-guard, and often a variety other protective bars (back-guards and counter-guards, etc), they are found on many cut & thrust swords and early rapiers The name is actually a Victorian era term and not a
historical one
Sword-Rapier - a modern collector’s term for certain Renaissance blades neither true rapiers nor clear cut & thrust ones, they were the result of attempts to combine the new rapier’s thrusting agility with traditional cutting actions, and as a result they do neither quite as well
Sword-catcher - a term used for special dueling daggers with extended prongs and quillons capable of grabbing and trapping a rapier blade, some had spring-locked triggers, they were uncommon (and possibly more menacing than practical)
Tang - the portion of untempered blade hidden inside the hilt and which attaches to the pommel
Targe / Target / Targa – a small round shield larger than a buckle and usually mad of wood
Terzo - Italian term for the middle portion of a blade
True-edge (right-edge/lead-edge) - the leading side or bottom edge of a sword, on the rapier it is used for all parries, on cutting swords only the flat and never the edge is used for parrying
Tuck - the English word for estoc, often mistakenly used as a synonym for rapier (which at one time was how it was derogatorily used)
Turk’s head - name given to the “turban-like” metal band or collar fitting between the pommel and handle, or handle and quillons of some swords, they were often merely ornamental
Umbo - the bowl-like metal protrusion of a buckler or shield in which the hand
fits inside
Waster - a wooden stick used as a practice sword, also called a “bavin” (later a “cudgel” or “wiffle”)

Techniques
Affondo - an extending step thrust (a form of lunge)
Arrebatar - (Spanish) to cut with the whole arm (from the shoulder)
Attack-from-compound - (compound attack) to deliver an attack following a quick succession of prior ones
Attack-from-counter - (counter attack or counter) a retaliatory attack in reaction to one by the adversary and timed to take advantage of an opening thus created
Attack-from-inaction - one delivered quickly from a relatively still position without prior action or preparation
Attack-from-preparation - one delivered following a prepatory action (feint, beat, cut-over, etc)
Azioni Volanti - avoiding blade contact on the attack and instead thrusting by deceptive motion, as in camineering (may involve Troumpement - avoiding a parry or the blade as you attack, or
Derobement - avoiding a beat or bind)
Ballestra - a kicking feint and hop lunge
Battre de main - a hand parry
Bind - the action of pressuring or enveloping the adversary’s blade/point in order to carry it off line and make an opening
Botta de tempo/In Tempo - (attack-in-time) countering or attacking when the opponent is distracted and/or unprepared
Botta dritta - a straight attack (thrust)
Botte de paysan - a two-handed stab made by grabbing the blade near the middle with the free hand and closing-in to knock aside an opponent’s weapon
Battuta - (a beat) a distracting smack to move the adversary’s blade off line or evoke a response
Coupe’ - (cut-off) a quick disengage over the top of the adversary’s blade, often after their parry, basically a cut-over
Cuts - in renaissance cut & thrust swordsmanship, there are 8 primary cuts (diagonal, horizontal, and vertical delivered up or down, right or left, using primarily the true-edge)
Cut-over - altering the line of the attack by passing the blade over the adversary’s point, basically a coupe’
Disengage - deceptively altering the line of attack by passing the blade under the adversary’s point (said to have been first devised from observing the bobbing motions of fighting cocks)
Draw cut - a slicing cut made when close in by placing the edge against the target and quickly drawing it across or down, typically applied with steeping back or a reverse-pass
Dritto-Filo - cuts with the true (right) edge
Estramacon - French term for the Stromazone
Falsing - subtly faking the intention or the line of an attack (a form of feinting)
Falso Dritto - cuts to the wrists with the false-edge
Falso Filo - attacks with the false-edge or diagonal upward cuts using the back of the sword, it also indicates a strike that is brought to deceive the
opponent and then transformed in something else
Falso Manco - cuts to the knees with the false edge
Fendente’ - vertical downwards cut (right or left of guard)
Finda / Finta - (feint) a false attack or action designed to elicit a response and create an opening
Fleche’ - (“arrow”) passing the adversary on the attack, a form of running attack
Full Pass - a form of lunge in which the rear leg moves to the lead with a thrust or cut
“Giving the blade” - an intentional threatening extension of the arm and weapon designed to provoke a response that can then be countered
“Half blows” – as taught by Giovanni Dell’Agochie in 1572, a form of parry, also a strike not meant to reach the opponent but deflect their sword by counter-cutting
Imbrocata - thrust over top of the adversary’s blade or grip
Lunga (Stocatta Lunga or Lunge) - a far-reaching thrusting attack using a forward step of the lead leg with a push off the rear leg, it was used in various forms during the Renaissance, (also a punta sopramano)
Mandoble - a light slash of the point delivered by a flick of the wrist
Mandritti - an attack cutting from the right to the left (“forehand” cuts) (plural, mandritta)
Mediatajo - cuts made from the “elbow” (faster than from the shoulder but not as strong)
Montante (Montante Sotto Mano) - a straight upward cut with the false edge (right or left of the adversary’s guard)
Parry - to block, defense by the deliberate resistance of an attack by imposing the blade before it, from 6 to 8 are used to the inside/outside and high/low areas or lines
Pass - stepping the rear leg to the lead (or a reverse pass where the lead leg falls back) as in a “cut made on the pass”, one major difference from the linear fencing of the modern sport version
Passatto Sotto/Batte de nuit - to duck under an attack with a drop onto the free hand to deliver a counter thrust
Patinado - a quick forward step and lunge
Prise de fer - to bind or take the blade
Punta Reversa - thrust to left/outside of the adversary’s blade or grip
Punta Sopramano (Lunge or Stocatta Lunga) - a straight thrust lunge
Quartatta (Incartata) - a rear leg side step around to the outside made with a counter-thrust
Redoppio - diagonal rising cuts (German Underhau)
Redoublement - quickly renewing the attack after a feint, beat, or bind
Reverso - an attack cutting from left to right (“back hand” cuts) (plural, roversa)
Reprise - renewing the attack after a quick return to guard
Riposte - a counter-attack immediately following a parry, usually in one action, an idea that became more effective with the rapier and perfected with the small-sword (common in the modern sport)
Seconde’ (seconda) - Middle- ward, with the blade up at a 45 degree angle (one of the major cut & thrust stances or guards)
Scandiaglio - probing actions (feints, beats, etc) to test and discover the opponent’s nature
Slip - to pull back some just prior to countering or stop-thrusting
Sopra il braccio - “over the arm” positions according to Di Antonio Manciolino in 1531 (equivalent to super brachium in the Medieval sword & buckler text MS I33)
Sotto il braccio - “under the arm” positions according to Di Antonio Manciolino in 1531 (equivalent to sub brachium in the Medieval sword & buckler text MS I33)
Squalembrato - a diagonal cut down or up (mandritta squalembrato = right-to left, collar-to-waist cut, riverso squalembrato – left to right)
Stocatta - a thrust low under the adversary’s blade or grip
Stocatta Lunga (Lunga or Punta Sopramano) - a lunge and low straight thrust
Stop-Thrust/Stop-Cut - a preemptive counter attack into the opponent’s forward motion
Stromacione (stromazone) - a tearing tip-cut to the face, used to harass or distract
Stesso Tempo - to parry and riposte in one action, often a deflecting counter-attack
Tondo / Tonda - a horizontal cut (mandritti tonda = side cut right-to-left, reversi tonda = side cut left-to-right)
Traverse - a forward or backward diagonal side-stepping move employed with a parry, void, or passing attack, effective stepping is possible in 8 directions (as opposed to the two of the modern sport form) also called a Cross Passage
Volte’ - a rear leg side-step and void made with a thrust attack, it allows the adversary’s attack to slip past as a counter-thrust angles in, it is a form of half Quartatta
Void – (Voyd or Voyded) to evade or avoid an attack rather than directly parry, often by a simple side step or pass, used preferably to parrying



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