Translation - Quattro Parole sulla Scherma by Salvatore Arista

A few years after Salvatore Arista published his highly critical and reactionary Del progresso della scherma in Italia, an article written by him entitled Quattro Parole sulla Scherma ('A few words on fencing', or more literally 'Four words on fencing') was published in the short-lived weekly magazine Don Giovanni. Here is both the full translation and a transcription of the article:

Translation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XaFopirnuW-Ejwb2l3NtnsngErEytvCK/view?usp=sharing

Transcription: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eRU1pmsec0jUQtnC0rMU_BHlcAdgIiZX/view?usp=sharing

In this article, Arista gives a much more introspective and reasoned look at the history of Italian fencing, focusing mainly on the 19th century and highlighting the achievements and innovations of the northern Italian school in comparison to the southern school. He then moves on to the story of the Radaellian school, proving himself to still be one of its staunchest defenders and praising Masiello's recent fencing treatise as being an excellent propagation of Radaelli's theories. At the very end, Arista announces to the world that he has designed his own type of sword which is supposedly inspired by the cut-and-thrust types seen in the 18th and earlier 19th century.

The main interesting parts I take away from this article are:

1. Where he describes Radaelli's pasteggio, that is, how Radaelli told his students to grip the sabre, his description of which closely resembling that of Masiello, Barbasetti, and Pecoraro/Pessina (a discussion on this topic is forthcoming).
2. His mention of there being some form of compromise by the Ministry of War in which the master's school would still officially adopt Parise's method as the regulation sabre system, but the cavalry regiments would continue to teach Radaelli's method. This seems to strengthen my theory that the cavalry never adopted Parise's method in the first place, or at least it was only for a brief period of less than a year.
3. Arista announces a new, revolutionary sword of his design and that he intends to take it out and trial it in private fencing halls, however I have yet to find any mention of it elsewhere, so it probably wasn't that great.

The article was divided across three issues of Don Giovanni, the first part being published on the 7th of January 1888, the second on the 26th of January, and the last on the 23rd of February. The magazine itself only had 11 issues in total, the last of which being published on the 31st of March 1888.

Special thanks to the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze for locating and providing this article.

Translation - Del progresso della scherma in Italia by Salvatore Arista

After the 1884 Commission which replaced Radaelli's fencing masters school in Milan with that of Parise in Rome, there was naturally a lot of outrage from the Radaellians. The translated work I present to you today is a good example of that outrage. This booklet by Salvatore Arista was released in that same year, and its full title is Del progresso della scherma in Italia: Considerazioni sull'impianto della nuova scuola magistrale per l'esercito fondata in Roma nel 1884, or in English, "On the progress of fencing in Italy: Considerations on the establishment of the new masters school for the army founded in Rome in 1884".

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jOWC5x3I42YazYqVQl3dqu9dPQ4m7WM_/view?usp=sharing

Arista being one of the most prominent Radaellians of the time, this booklet is a good reflection of the Radaellians' outrage following the 1884 Commission. It is filled with emotion, accusations, and the occasional snide remark levelled at Radaelli's opponents. The booklet is divided into three sections; the first is a brief history of Radaelli’s school and its achievements, the second a damning critique of the 1884 Commission's report, and the third is Arista's comments on Parise's treatise itself.

Special thanks to Biblioteca comunale dell'Archiginnasio for providing me with the scans.

Who is Salvatore Arista?

Since I will soon be releasing translations of a couple of this man's articles, I thought it prudent to explain who Salvatore Maria Arista is and his significance in relation to the Radaellian lineage. To do this, we will turn once again to what Gelli had to say about him in Bibliografia Generale della Scherma:

[Translation updated 2022/05/20]

 

As long as Arista, Masiello, Pecoraro, and Rossi do not abandon their theories, Radaellianism will continue to ascend its parable of victory.

Arista was born in Palermo in 1856. At the age of 17 he enlisted into the Asti training battalion, and in 1873 he dedicated himself to fencing, driven by Roggia and Milanesi, both excellent Radaellians, who had discovered in Arista the favourable aptitudes of mind and body to become an extraordinary fencer. In Sinigaglia he passed under the direction of Cavalli, who taught him the play of the sword, making him study all day, only allowing him few and short rests.

Towards the end of 1875 Arista was sent to Radaelli in Milan, whom he was very dear to, confident of having found in the young disciple a worthy and loyal continuer of his theories.

Arista was sent to Rome in 1876 by the Ministry of War to represent the Master's School of the army at the fencing congress and tournament, and in the final competition he defeated Baron Miceli, grand champion of the Neapolitan school, which was hurriedly trying to establish superiority over the Radaelli system.

The Neapolitan school was overcome by Masiello, Pecoraro, Rossi, Pagliuca, Scarani, Cerchione, Barraco, and Ciullini. Arista, the main victor, was appointed master for the Turin Military Academy.

At the 1881 international tournament in Milan, held on the occasion of the National Exhibition, along with Pecoraro and other Radaellians, not only did they and Arista defeat the Neapolitan school again, which had convened there in large numbers, but they also affirmed the superiority of the new Italian fencing system over the French system, represented by Paul Ruzé and Ayat, and the German system represented by Hartl.

Arista was awarded the prize to best fencer of the tournament.

While the Radaellians won 15 of the 21 prizes, only 5 touched the School of Naples and one, well deserved, to the French.

At the end of 1881 Arista moved to Trieste, where he and Reich reorganised the training of the local fencing society, abolishing the Slavic method which had dominated there for about 30 years.

Since 1886 Arista has lived in Bologna, where he applies the Radaellian theories with ever increasing success.

As for his publications on fencing, my translations of the only two that I am aware of (so far) will be posted here in the coming weeks.

As an added bonus, I leave you with an additional photo of this dashing maestro.

An Introduction to Radaelli Sabre

Although this blog is normally directed towards those who are particularly interested in Radaelli sabre and the history surrounding it, I thought I'd put together an introduction for those in the wider HEMA community that don't know about this uniquely interesting sabre system.

Giuseppe Radaelli (1873)

The system was created during the latter half of the 19th century by Giuseppe Radaelli, a Milanese fencer master and veteran of the 2nd and 3rd Italian wars of unification, during which he served in the Monferrato light cavalry. He developed his system as a response to what he considered to be serious flaws in the sabre systems being taught throughout Italy. His observations were that using the wrist to power the molinelli (Italian version of the French moulinets - circular motions done with the sabre) often resulted in poor edge alignment, and that cavalry soldiers were not properly being shown how to produce sufficient power in the blows to promptly incapacitate the opponent.

The defining principle of his solution was to move the main point of rotation from the wrist to the elbow. By teaching fencers to exclude wrist flexion and extension, the possibility of the blade landing flat is greatly diminished. In addition, the greater muscle mass that can be utilised in the forearm increases the chance that the blow will have enough force to put the opponent out of action.

The resulting molinelli exercises, with their wide arcs and accompanying body movements, might therefore seem quite large and exaggerated when compared with most contemporary systems, but they served as an effective exercise for increasing flexibility, muscle development, and power generation, while also ensuring good edge alignment when they are used as strikes.

These large movements can then be made smaller in order to be used more effectively as blows. Some other distinguishing aspects of the system are the long forward-leaning lunges,

the extended arm in the three guard positions (3rd, 4th, and 2nd),

and the powerful expulsions known as sforzi.

Radaelli's theories proved so popular that his system became regulation for the cavalry, and soon after the Italian Ministry of War opened a fencing academy in Milan with Radaelli at the head, where military fencing masters were trained in the use of the sabre. Radaelli taught there from 1869 until a few years before his untimely death in 1882 at the age of 49.

In the period that Radaelli was teaching for the military, two treatises on his sabre system were produced on his behalf by his friend Settimo Del Frate, whom Radaelli also served alongside of in the Monferrato cavalry. The first of these works was published in 1868 and 1869, the second in 1876, which was more expansive and also included a section on the use of the foil. This version was republished in 1885.

Settimo Del Frate

A common misconception regarding Radaelli’s system is that it was primarily a system intended for sabre duels, which were still relatively common in Italy at the time. A large part of this misunderstanding most likely comes from the fact that in general the Italians preferred to fence with lighter sabres (commonly but misleadingly known in English as 'duelling sabres') than those that would be used in battle. The main reason for this being to prevent the fencers from tiring too quickly, which is especially important if they were training every day. When training cavalry troopers, however, they would be using their heavier regulation cavalry sabre.

The Radaellian fencing sabre is immediately recognisable by its ring surrounding the hand in addition to the typical sabre shell guard. In Del Frate's 1868 text on Radaelli's system, he gives specifications for a Radaelli fencing sabre with a blade 89 cm long, weighing 350 g, and a hilt weighing 370 g, giving an ideal total weight of 720 g.

Radaelli had a huge impact on sabre fencing even well after his death, both in Italy and throughout Europe. His students went on to apply his theories in creating their own systems, two of the most famous ones being Ferdinando Masiello, whose sabre system eventually became the basis for the British 1895 Infantry Sword Exercise, and Luigi Barbasetti, who brought his brand of Italian fencing to Austria-Hungary.

Ferdinando Masiello

Luigi Barbasetti

Radaelli was not without his critics however, and there existed a lively debate between Radaelli’s supporters and his opponents, the latter of whom primarily consisted of the proponents of the Neapolitan school of fencing. The Neapolitan school eventually succeeded in supplanting the Radaelli system in 1884 after a commission chose to replace it with the Neapolitan system as taught by Masaniello Parise. Nevertheless the debate continued for years after this controversial decision. Translations of various articles in this debate may be found here, here, here, and here.

For further reading, Chris Holzman's The Art of the Dueling Sabre cannot be recommended more highly. It contains a translation of Del Frate's 1876 manual on Radaelli's system and a large additional section containing more in-depth explanations of various techniques and fencing concepts and countless supplementary drills. This book can be purchased via the publisher Swordplay Books or via Amazon. My translation of the 1868 treatise can be found on this blog here.

Bibliography

Barbasetti, Luigi. The art of the sabre and the épée. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1936.

Del Frate, Settimo. Istruzione per maneggio e scherma della sciabola. Florence: Tip. lit. e calcografia La Venezia, 1868.

⸻. Istruzione per la scherma di sciabola e di spada del professore Giuseppe Radaelli scritta d'ordine del Ministero della Guerra. Milan: Litografia Gaetano Baroffio, 1876.

Gelli, Jacopo. Bibliografia generale della scherma con note critiche, biografiche, e storiche. Florence: Tipografia Editrice di Luigi Niccolai, 1890.

⸻. L'Arte dell'armi in Italia. Bergamo: Istituto Italiano d'Arti Grafiche, 1906.

Holzman, Christopher. The Art of the Dueling Sabre. New York: SKA SwordPlay Books, 2011.

Ministero della Guerra. Regolamento di esercizi e di evoluzioni per la cavalleria. Vol. 1. Rome: Carlo Voghera, 1873.

Parise, Masaniello. Trattato teorico pratico della scherma di spada e sciabola: preceduto da un cenno storico sulla scherma e sul duello. Rome: Tipografia Nazionale, 1884.

War Office. Infantry Sword Exercise. London: n. pub., 1895.

1885 Italian Cavalry Regulations

Today I bring you digital scans (of photocopies) of the 1885 edition of volume 1 of the Italian Ministry of War's Regolamento di esercizi e di evoluzioni per la cavalleria:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B90B1IqWDLowa0JjajZiWTVRTGs

Previously I have provided the same volume from the 1873 edition and pointed out that it detailed the cavalry application of Radaelli's sabre system. Despite Parise's system becoming the new regulation system in 1884, these 1885 regulations still retain almost exactly the same sabre section from the 1873 edition, meaning that Parise's system had not yet been officially adopted in the cavalry by this time. What makes this all the more interesting is that in Gelli's 1888 booklet Resurrectio he claims that at that time the cavalry were still practising Radaelli's method on a large scale. Perhaps the cavalry never officially adopted Parise's system over Radaelli's, which would have been an implicit acknowledgement of the deficiencies of Parise's method in a cavalry application.

One curiosity particular to this document is a hand-drawn correction of the depiction of the second movement of the molinello to the head from the left.

A previous owner of this document evidently noticed that the depicted fencer's weight was not shifted fully to left leg as the description states, and so took it upon himself to correct this. There also seems to be some very faint writing to the right of the drawing, but sadly it is not legible on my photocopies.

As for the rest of the volume, a large section was added for instruction on the use of the cavalry carbine. This section consists of instructions for using the rifle both on horseback and on foot, and some bayonet exercises. There is also a section on the use of the Modello 1874 revolver. Aside from the removal of the section "Scuola delle Distanze", there do not seem to be any other major changes.

Special thanks to Biblioteca Malatestiana for providing the photocopies.

Translation - Come il sistema Redaelli fu esautorato by Ernesto Besenzanica

In the link below you will find my translation of Ernesto Besenzanica's 1886 booklet Come il sistema Redaelli fu esautorato: Considerazioni intorno la Relazione della Commissione giudicante dei Trattati di Scherma presentati al Ministero della Guerra dietro concorso indetto il 21 settembre 1882, or in English, 'How the Radaelli system was overthrown: Considerations regarding the Report of the Judicial Commission of the Fencing Treatises presented to the Ministry of War for the competition announced on 21 September 1882'.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=16xHQUjjLtGT1p1bZg4ldJ11_1-_YMM7d

In this essay, Besezanica succinctly criticises the report of the commission that replaced Radaelli's Milan fencing school with Parise's in Rome, while also providing mathematical evidence of the superiority of Radaelli's system, both in sabre and spada. For the sabre, he shows that the wider range of motion incurred by using the elbow as the main pivot instead of the wrist does not cause blows to be slower as a result, due to the greater force that results from using the forearm.

Besenzanica also claims that Parise's system had already been 'practically banished' in the Modena fencing academy, which would not have been much more than a year after it became the regulation system. Along with other such statements, this provides more proof of the backlash towards the introduction of Parise's system in the army, which is supported by Gelli's claims that the cavalry eventually went back to teaching Radaelli's method instead.

Curiously, Angelini never mentions Besenzanica or his arguments in his 1887 critique, which is a shame since Besenzanica raises many good points that are never addressed (as far as I'm aware) by Radaelli's critics.

As for Besenzanica himself, here is what Gelli had to say about him in his 1890 fencing bibliography:

Ernesto Besenzanica was born in Milan in 1864 (4th of December) and studied fencing at the age of 16 with Maestro Giovanni Monti, Radaellian and director of the Scuola Magistrale of fencing in Milan.
At the National Tournament of Lodi (1883), and alone among the many amateurs summoned from all parts of Italy, he got the first prize and won the sabre competition. In Vercelli and Milan he always won prizes.
The laurels achieved on the piste made sure that Besenzanica never forgot the art, which he cultivates constantly in his own fencing hall.
In Livorno, Varese, Modena, Bologna, the engineer Besenzanica held the Radaelli method high.
In 1885 he wrote the cited booklet and published it in January of 1886.

Besenzanica went on to become a highly regarded railway engineer, designing and completing many projects not just in Italy, but also in countries such as Greece, Albania, and Romania. He died in 1940.

The original scans of this document can be viewed here via Harvard Library.

Settimo Del Frate - Obituary and possible birthplace

As a complement to my post from late last year Who is Settimo Del Frate?, I've gathered together some other information about Settimo Del Frate which provides a greater insight into the man's full military career.

Firstly, I present my translation of his obituary In memoria del Tenente Generale Settimo Del Frate ("In memory of Lieutentant General Settimo Del Frate"), taken from a 1919 issue of Rivista di Cavalleria, an Italian cavalry periodical:

History carves on its eternal plates the names of the men who rise to the top of the crowds, some for their great deeds, others for the volumes they wrote or the works they left, others for the eminent positions they reached; lastly, there are others who, like luminous beacons, shine on present and future generations through the intrinsic gifts of virtue and moral beauty.

Such was Lieutenant general Settimo Del Frate, whose death we sadly learned of last month. 

He was one of the few survivors of the ardent volunteers of ‘59 who, being protagonists of the first chapter of the History of Italian Independence, had the fortune of seeing its great conclusion: Settimo Del Frate forever closed his tired eyes from the watch of the last triumph for which he had fought as a young man. 

To the memory of the venerable veteran, who devoted a long career to its favourite weapon, the cavalry owes a tribute of gratitude, and the Rivista di Cavalleria has the great honour of being able to also extol his name to those who, young of years, could not appreciate his outstanding virtues of mind and character, at the same time sending out a sad thought of condolences to the grandson of the late General Arturo Milanesi, commander of the 7th Cavalry Brigade, on whom he concentrated his friendly affections and his ambitions of an old cavalryman after the premature and painful loss of his son Cesare, a brilliant cavalry officer, laid to rest too soon. 

Born in 1832, Settimo Del Frate was 27 years old when the challenged issued to Austria by Vittorio Emanuele II in the name of the Italian people called the host of volunteers to arms; he left his study, having already obtained a law degree, and rushed to enlist in the ranks of young Lombards that were welcomed by “Monferrato”. — With the early Italic hopes being cut short in Villafranca, Del Frate remained in service and was promoted to second lieutenant in the Monferrato light cavalry, in which he had to remain for eighteen years, that is, until his promotion to Major. — Major in “Alessandria”, Lieutenant colonel in “Firenze”, in 1887 he took command of the Saluzzo Light Cavalry, reaching the age limit in 1892 and putting an end to his industrious career. 

And industrious it truly was; that active industriousness not being fruitless efforts, but noble teachings and practical applications. For many years as aide-de-camp of Colonel Gerolamo Avogadro, whose name still rings in the ears of the few survivors of bygone times, Captain Del Frate devoted his study and activity, aside from in the faultless service and noble passion of fencing, to the perfection of the arms and equipment of the soldier. The result was: the sabre, weapon of the cut and thrust, invented and proposed by him and which the Ministry adopted; and the troop saddle which bears his name and whose essential part, the saddlebow, was studied by him so perfectly so as to make it, in the opinion of many, if well understood and correctly used, unequalled. 

He was a supporter and sponsor of the idea of giving the cavalry a powerful firearm, almost sensing or predicting the necessity of its wide use in the current campaign.
Having reached the rank of major, he deeply intuited the educational mission of the senior officer and to that he directed all his cares with an open mind, far ahead of his time, and predicting new horizons for his young employees, very different to the sterile pedantry of the time. — One of his old subordinates, having later risen to the top of the hierarchy, wrote of him: “Goodness, serenity, common sense, stability, he laid the path to be followed; he was an architect of the moral and intellectual revival which gave our army new life.” 

What higher praise is possible? 

The seed that was cast was not lost; it slowly sprouted in the long and drab peacetime years, but it was quick to flourish in the sunlight of conflict. It blossomed superbly and bore fruit on the fields of Monfalcone, Pozzuolo, from the banks of the Piave to the Isonzo. 

In the soul of the valiant cavalrymen, the soul of the volunteers of ‘59 was instilled. The great heart of Settimo Del Frate had multiplied in a thousand hearts… and victory was ours.

F. E. B.

Some additional information can be gleaned from this article about an Italian politician named Enzo Moavero Milanesi. Among other things, this article talks about Milanesi's ancestry in his home town of Cavenago d'Adda, with his ancestors recorded as having lived there since at least 1460. Cavenago d'Adda is a small township of about 2000 people just outside of Lodi, in Lombardy.

How does this relate to Settimo Del Frate? Well, this article also mentions that Milanesi is in fact related to Settimo Del Frate, whose family owned a villa in Cavenago d'Adda that was named "Villa Bocconi Del Frate". Supporting this is the fact that Cavenago d'Adda appears to even have a street named after Settimo Del Frate ("Via Settimo del Frate", although Google Maps has it labelled as just "Via del Frate").

I therefore feel that it is not unreasonable to assume that Cavenago d'Adda is Settimo Del Frate's birthplace, or at least where he lived for a large part of his life.

Translation - Ultima Parola sulla Risorta Questione Angelini-Masiello by Achille Angelini

This latest translation is an essay by General Achille Angelini entitled Ultima Parole sulla Risorta Questione Angelini-Masiello intorno alla Scherma della Sciabola del Defunto Maestro Redaelli ('Final word on the revived Angelini-Masiello matter regarding the sabre fencing system of the late Maestro Radaelli'), which was published in 1888.

Click here to read it

Angelini claims he was spurred into writing this after reading Masiello's divisive introduction to his 1887 fencing treatise. In this introduction, Masiello heavily criticises the commission which replaced Radaelli's sabre method with that of Parise, and also justifies his undying support for the Radaelli's principles in spite of all this. Angelini himself states that a large number of arguments contained in this essay of his were taken straight from his 1877 booklet Osservazioni sul maneggio della sciabola secondo il metodo Radaelli ('Observations of the handling of the sabre according to the Radaelli method'), with some additions dealing with quotes from Masiello's 1887 treatise.

It is predominately this article that Jacopo Gelli is responding to in his booklet Resurrectio, where he takes apart all of Angelini's obtuse logic.

An interesting thing to note is that Angelini mentions various articles written in defence of Radaelli's system by Del Frate, Arista, Masiello and others in the journals l'Esercito italiano and l'Italia militare between 1876 and 1878.

Special thanks to Chris Holzman for providing me with the scans of this document.

Radaelli's Horseback Sabre Method

**EDIT: A full translation of the cavalry regulations by Chris Holzman is now available here**

As a follow-up to my post from a few months ago in which I released the first volume of the Italian Ministry of War's 1873 cavalry regulations, I have written up a rough English translation of the section detailing the use of the sabre on horseback, which you may view with the following link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m7GTEBnKkXLFt6RQUYCxbn6PRDLjbusZS0WntB6CGqw/edit?usp=sharing

Those of you familiar Masiello's 1891 manual La Scherma di Sciabola a Cavallo will notice the extreme similarity between Masiello's method and that detailed in this manual. Nevertheless, the 1873 cavalry regulations provide some other details that the reader may find interesting. I have also provided a summary of this cavalry system below. For further reading, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Holzman's translation of Masiello's aforementioned cavalry manual.

Guard Positions

The manual gives three guard positions, with all of them being "similar to the guard of 3rd" in Radaelli's system. It only describes the forward guard however, which has the grip above the bridle hand, the point in the direction of the left shoulder, and the edge facing down. The other guards are to the right and the left, which I can only assume are just the normal 3rd guard but with the arm on the right or left side.

Parries

The parries that are used on horseback are those of 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, low 3rd, low 4th, semicircle parry to right, and semicircle parry to the left. The parries of 1st to 6th are the same as those described in Del Frate's 1876 text, whilst low 3rd and low 4th are more similar to Rossi's versions of those parries, with the grip next to the right hip for low 3rd, and next to the left hip for low 4th.

The "semicircle" parries are the same as Masiello describes in his horseback sabre manual, and are used to parry thrusts from bayonets and lances. They are performed by holding the arm and sabre straight up, then vigorously swinging the sabre in a circle, finishing back in the starting position, ready to strike a downward blow.

Cuts

The cuts are distilled down into descending and horizontal cuts. The descending cuts are performed in the same manner as Radaelli's coupés, and are aimed either at the opponent's head or bridle hand. The horizontal cuts are exactly the same as Radaelli's two molinelli to the face. Note the complete absence of the molinelli to the head and the rising molinelli. In all the blows, the cavalryman must also lean their body in the direction of the blow to increase its power and reach, supporting themselves by leaning on the horse's neck with their bridle arm.

Thrusts

Thrusts are performed either horizontally to an opposing cavalryman's chest or abdomen, or downward towards infantry. The cavalryman brings their elbow back to the line of their shoulders, the sabre in line with the forearm, then thrusts in the desired direction with the supporting movement of the torso.

The Charge

The first row of cavalrymen are in the position described above for the thrust, with their elbow drawn back and the sabre pointing forward in line with the forearm. The second row is in the position of parry of 5th.

Amendment to Radaelli's Low Parries

Since publishing my last post entitled "Radaelli's Low Parries", I have come across new information that compels me to write an amendment to my interpretations, specifically regarding the parry of low 3rd. This new information comes in the form of scans of the original 1876 text (in Italian), which can be found here.

In Del Frate's description of the parry of low 3rd in the 1876 text, Holzman's translation reads:

"The grip should be hip high and in the direction of the flank approximately eight inches ahead of it."

Since Holzman's use of the word "flank" was somewhat ambiguous to me, I relied on Del Frate's 1868 description:

"...the sabre with the grip at the height of the left flank about one palm away..."

Thus I concluded that Holzman was intending to mean the left flank. However, I now know this to be untrue and that the original Italian states:

"...l'impugnatura all'altezza e in direzione del fianco destro 20 centimetri circa avanti..."

That is, with the grip in the direction of the RIGHT flank. It does not seem unlikely that Radaelli may have slightly tweaked the parry of low 3rd between the publication of the two manuals, therefore I am inclined to believe that the change from left flank to right was intentional.

As a result of this information, the photos depicting my interpretation of the parry of low 3rd in the original post now show the grip too far to the fencer's left. Although this is not a dramatic change, it does feel noticeably easier to perform than my original interpretation. Apologies for this error.

Radaelli's Low Parries

*** EDIT: New information has caused me to tweak my interpretation of the parry of low 3rd. Please refer to my amendment for this updated interpretation. ***

Whilst my previous post contained a discussion of an interpretation based almost entirely off its illustration in the plates, in this post I shall go in the opposite direction and even contradict the plates somewhat. Here I will outline my interpretations of Radaelli's parries of low 3rd and 4th and attempt to demonstrate some instances where I feel the illustrations fail to accurately portray the techniques as described in the text.

The two parries in question are illustrated in Del Frate's 1876 manual like so:

The plates in the '68 manual are also very similar:

Position of the Parry of Low 3rd

Position of the Parry of Low 4th

The only real noticeable difference between these plates is the seemingly more retracted arm in the parry of 4th low in the 1868 plate as opposed to the corresponding 1876 plate. Apart from that, the consistency that these plates show would normally be indicator to me that the depictions show are accurate. However, this does not seem to be the case when they are compared to Del Frate's textual descriptions of the parries. Here's the except from Holzman's translation of the 1876 text:

Parry of Low 4th

From the parry of 5th - Low Forth!
Carry the right foot backward one good pace to the rear of the left with the heel raised from the ground, bending the knee. Incline the body over the left leg, and at the same time, move the sabre nearly across the body with the grip at the height and direction of the right hip, about eight inches [20 cm] away from it. The blade tip should be shoulder high and in line with the left shoulder, with the edge turned toward the ground.

Parry of Low 3rd

From the parry of 6th - Low Third!
Assume the body position described in the parry of low 4th, and without changing the position of the sabre, lower the arm so that it is nearly in front of the body diagonally, with the point shoulder high and to the right of the right shoulder, with the edge turned toward the ground. The grip should be hip high and in the direction of the flank approximately eight inches [20 cm] ahead of it. The arm should be bent and supported by the flank, with the elbow somewhat behind the body.

And here's the descriptions of the parries from the 1868 text (my translation):

For the execution of the parries of low 3rd and 4th and 2nd, the student is placed in parry of 6th, since that is the position from which one passes more naturally and easily to these different parries, and then at the command:
Low-third - The right foot is brought a good pace behind the left with the heel lifted off the ground, both knees bent, the weight of the body on the left leg, the sabre with the grip at the height of the left flank about one palm away, the point turned outside, the edge turned towards the ground, the elbow supported by the flank, the sabre, in other words, is almost across the body.

For the parry of low 4th, the student will resume the position of parry of 6th, then at the command:
Low-fourth - After having brought the right foot behind the left as described for the parry of low 3rd, the sabre is carried almost across in front of the body so that the grip is in the direction and at the height of the right flank about a palm away, the point of the blade at the height of the head, slightly to the left, the edge towards the ground.

Apart from the slightly cleaner sentence structure in the 1876 version, the two texts describe these parries very similarly. If one is to perform these parries as described, the differences between the text and the illustrations start to become quite obvious.

The illustration of the parry of low 4th in the 1868 manual appears to be the only one that abides by its respective description. In the others, we can observe that:

• The point is too high
• The grip is too far forward
• The grip is sometimes held too high

If we are to then attempt to perform these parries as the text describes, as opposed to what the plates show, we perhaps end up in positions similar to these:

 Parry of Low 3rd

Parry of Low 4th

As our handsome model shows, the hilt is much closer to the body than what the plates show, providing better coverage to the whole body. You may also notice that with the hilt being on the opposite side of the body as the direction in which the strike is coming, the body and arm are protected if the strike ends comes in vertically upwards as opposed to at an oblique angle. An interesting note about this parry of low 3rd is that it is the only parry in the Radaellian system that involves extension of the wrist (also observed by Jacopo Gelli in Resurrectio).

An analysis of Radaelli's engagement and invitation

When I was recently looking through the beautiful plates in Del Frate's 1876 manual (a common pastime of mine), I noticed something that doesn't seem to have been discussed before (at least on the internet) in regard to Radaelli's system. While initially thinking it was merely an imperfection on the part of the illustrator, I soon realised that it cannot be a mistake due to its appearance in multiple instances, including Del Frate's '68 manual. What I am referring to here is the slight forward lean of the fencer on the left in the image below:

Engagement in 2nd (1876 version)

Although not obvious at first, the fencer's rear leg appears to be somewhat extended, and the front leg is bent past where it would normally be when on guard.

To remove the doubt that it was not just a mistake of the illustrator, the same phenomenon can be observed in Del Frate's earlier manual:

Engagement in 2nd (1868 version)

Nor is it a matter of the image's perspective, as the '68 plates also show it on the opposite side:

Engagement in 4th (1868 version)

Perhaps, then, Radaelli advocated for the fencer engaging the blade to shift their weight forward slightly. This could serve to increase the pressure on the opponent's blade (making the blade easier to deviate off line), but perhaps to also act as a "pre-lunge"; that is, committing some of your weight forward to make the proceeding lunge faster, but not committing so much as to make it too hard to react should the opponent act first.

What I find even more interesting than this is that this lean can also be seen in the one doing the invitation in both manuals:

Invitation in 2nd (1876 version)

Invitation in 2nd (1868 version)

This slight forward inclination of the body is supported by the description of the invitation in the '76 manual (translation Holzman):

"An invitation is made with the sword and body without blade contact and seeks to cause your adversary to commit to an action so that you can be ready with a riposte."

With this description and the measure at which the two fencers in the plates are placed, I am inclined to believe that Radaelli intended the invitation to be a discrete action similar to the engagement, as opposed to a state that you lie in to provoke the opponent to approach and attack you. Instead of opening a line with the sabre and waiting for the opponent to come in and attack, perhaps Radaelli intended the invitation to be a somewhat aggressive action, quickly coming into lunge distance while leaving a line open. The lean here would probably serve to imitate the body position taken for the engagement, thereby increasing the threat felt by the opponent and their likelihood of attacking. However, this is evidently not meant to be as aggressive as the engagement, as Del Frate goes on to say:

"The invitation also differs from the engagement in that the movement is executed with less speed and energy."

That is, enough speed to pressure the opponent into acting, but still retaining the ability to give a timely and appropriate response to their action.

Whether or not this subtle aspect of the engagement and the invitation will give any advantage to the one who utilises it, I am in no position to say. Now that I have begun changing how I perform these actions to match my interpretation, perhaps I may be able to present my findings some time in the future.

There may be much of this that is not new to other aficionados of the Radaellian method, but I thought it would at least be good to get my ideas out in public so that they have the opportunity to be scrutinised.

1873 Italian Cavalry Regulations

***NOTE: A full translation of this text is now available here, courtesy of Chris Holzman.***

Below you will find a link to scans of the first volume of a military cavalry manual entitled Regolamento di esercizi e di evoluzioni per la cavalleria (basically "Regulation exercises and movements for the cavalry"), published by the Ministry of War in 1873.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B90B1IqWDLowNUhYTFU1MHVoejg

This manual contains various exercises for cavalry troopers training in the Italian army. Most importantly, at least in relation to this blog, are the exercises related to the handling of the cavalry sabre both on foot and on horseback. Although the manual is only attributed to the Ministry of War, the sabre method shown on foot is distinctly Radaellian. Furthermore, the section detailing the use of the sabre on horseback shows great resemblance to Masiello's cavalry system (See Holzman's Sabre Fencing on Horseback, 2015), which he supposedly based off Radaelli's cavalry method. Therefore I do not think it unreasonable to assume that this manual does indeed contain the direct application of Radaelli's method for the cavalry.

For those of you who have read Jacopo Gelli's Resurrectio (translation provided in here), you may remember Angelini citing an "1873 Regulation Exercise" to claim that Radaelli advocated the prioritisation of offending over parrying when on horseback. What I have published today is indeed the manual Angelini was referring to (the passage he references is on page 81), and while it is highly unlikely that Radaelli wrote this manual himself, Angelini's belief that he did supports the assumption that Radaelli at least had something to do with the system presented.

In addition to these sabre exercises, the manual also contains gymnastic exercises, exercises for handling the lance, troop movements on foot, methods of judging distances, and sheet music for bugle calls.

Special thanks to Bibliotecha Statale di Cremona for providing the scans.

Translation - Resurrectio by Jacopo Gelli

In the link below you will find my first draft of the translation of Jacopo Gelli's 1888 short book Resurrectio: Critica alle osservazioni sul maneggio della sciabola secondo il metodo Radaelli del Generale Achille Angelini, or in English, 'Critique of the observations on the handling of the sabre according to the Radaelli method by General Achille Angelini'.

Click here to read

This book by Gelli is a response to General Achille Angelini's 1877 book Osservazioni sul maneggio della sciabola secondo il metodo Radaelli ("Observations of the handling of the sabre according to the Radaelli method"). It also contains a response to another article of Angelini's, Ultima parola sulla risorta questione Angelini-masiello intorno alla scherma della sciabola del defunto Maestro Radaelli ('Final word on the revived Angelini-Masiello matter regarding the sabre fencing system of the late Maestro Radaelli'), written in 1888. For those of you who may find some of Gelli's references in this book confusing, I will now provide some context to this text, so that it may be better understood.

In 1884, after over a decade of Radaelli's sabre system being taught at the Scuola Magistrale in Milan, a commission was formed with the purpose of adopting a new fencing system for the spada and the sabre (both infantry and cavalry). At the head of this commission was Achille Angelini, a decorated general of the Royal Army and a keen fencer. Greater detail on this commission can be found in the report published in Parise's 1884 manual (see Holzman's The Roman-Neapolitan School of Fencing, 2015), but suffice it to say that Masaniello Parise's system replaced that of Radaelli in 1884, and the Scuola Magistrale was moved to Rome. Radaelli had died by that point, so the only people that were left to get outraged over this decision were Radaelli's loyal students and admirers, Jacopo Gelli being one of them.

Rewinding back to the year 1877, General Angelini studied Del Frate's 1868 manual (translation here) and wrote a book entitled Osservazioni sul maneggio della sciabola secondo il metodo Radaelli, which consisted of 47 pages of poor interpretations of Radaelli's system. It seems this text may have been referred to by the 1884 commission to help form their opinion on Radaelli's system (which, as you may have guessed, was less than favourable), no doubt through the strong influence of Angelini, who presided over said commission.

Returning to the year 1888, we find that many shots had been fired back and forth between Radaelli's supporters and his opponents in the meantime, most notably between Ferdinando Masiello and General Angelini. In an attempt to do be done with the debate, General Angelini published Ultima parola sulla risorta questione Angelini-masiello intorno alla scherma della sciabola del defunto Maestro Radaelli, which showed that Angelini had not changed his views on Radaelli's system, and that he still believed that which he wrote in his 1877 book to be true. Masiello published a short response to this, which Gelli included in a footnote in this text.

Radaelli's Guard of 2nd

Today we shall be looking at Radaelli's Guard of 2nd, and some pieces of information that might provoke some thoughts on how we interpret it.

The illustration of the guard of 2nd provided in Del Frate's 1876 text Istruzione per la scherma di sciabola e di spada del professore Giuseppe Radaelli is the following:

Del Frate does not provide a written description of the guard in this text, but the illustration is quite clear in showing the hand at about shoulder height, with the point around chest height (which may be lower towards the opponent's flank depending on the curve of the sabre).

Del Frate's 1868 text Istruzione per maneggio e scherma della sciabola also shows a similar position for this guard, albeit with the point at the height of the flank:

However, Del Frate does actually provide a description of the guard in this text:

In this guard the hand should be placed at the height and in the direction of the chin, the point at the height of the flank, with the blade across the body so that the point extends about one palm beyond the left flank, and the edge slanted to the right.

This description would bring the hand higher than what is shown in both these plates, and perhaps further to the left than what one would assume. Thus the recurring question of whether the description or the illustrations are more accurate in describing the position arises.

There are other examples of differences between description and illustration in Del Frate's works, but the other example that will be shown here is that of his guard position in the sword section of the 1876 text:

Compared to his description of this position:

… right arm semi-extended forward, the sword forming a straight line with the forearm; the point at around head height; the hand at the height of the chin; point, hand, and shoulder in the same direction.

Note that he again states that the hand should be at chin height, yet the illustration shows it at what appears to be shoulder height. The detailed nature of this description leads me to believe that he did not simply mean 'shoulder' when he said 'chin', as the hand would no longer follow the straight line he describes with the point and shoulder, which also cannot be seen in the illustration.

As for Radaelli's students, it seems that some opted to hold the sabre lower for their 2nd guards, like Giordano Rossi (1885):

The right arm is extended, at the same time turning the edge of the sabre diagonally up and to the right, with the grip at the height and in the direction of the right breast; point at the height of the knees, the arm naturally outstretched.

Ferdinando Masiello (1887):

In the assault, however, the guard of second is more useful, which entails holding the hand at the height of the breast and the point directed at the opponent’s flank.

Whereas Luigi Barbasetti (1936) held the guard at shoulder height, albeit with a slight forward lean:

For the guard of Seconde, direct the point toward your opponent's hip, the sabre in line as an extension of the arm, the cutting edge of the blade in a diagonal line to the right.

With Salvatore Pecoraro and Carlo Pessina (1912) we see a similar case to that of Del Frate, with the photo showing the hand at around shoulder height, but the description instead stating for it to be at the height of the breast:

The guard of second differs from that of third in the position of the hand, which is held at the height of the breast with the point of the sabre directed at the opponent's flank, the edge diagonally up and to the right.

The fact that this is an actual photo instead of an illustration most likely removes the possibility that the depiction doesn't match up due to the fault of an illustrator. Therefore it may be that the images are more accurate than the descriptions in this case.

If we look at an example of a contemporary system outside of Italy, for example John Musgrave Waite (1880), his depiction seems to match Del Frate's, and the description he gives matches his own image well:

Move the sword-arm to the front until the hand is directly opposite the hollow of the right shoulder, bend the elbow slightly and raise it, sink the wrist, and turn up the middle knuckles and edge of the sword. Advance, and lower the point until it is nearly opposite and level with the left hip. [...] When this guard is properly formed, the upper knuckles and elbow are level and in line with the shoulder.

Assuming the fencer has a good, upright posture when on guard, Waite's description of the right hand being 'opposite the hollow of the right shoulder' seems analogous to Del Frate's 1868 description of being in the direction of the chin. I will leave it up to the reader to decide how they believe Radaelli intended the guard to be held, but from comparing all these examples, my personal conclusion is that Radaelli's guard of 2nd most likely had the hand around the height of the shoulder and opposite or slightly to the left of it, with the point opposite or just outside of the opponent's flank.

Bibliography

Barbasetti, Luigi. The Art of the Sabre and the Épée. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1936.

Del Frate, Settimo. Istruzione per maneggio e scherma della sciabola. Florence: Tip. lit. e calcografia La Venezia, 1868.

Del Frate, Settimo. Istruzione per la scherma di sciabola e di spada del professore Giuseppe Radaelli scritta d’ordine del Ministero della Guerra. Milan: Litografia Gaetano Baroffio, 1876.

Masiello, Ferdinando. La scherma italiana di spada e di sciabola. Florence: G. Civelli, 1887.

Pecoraro, Salvatore, and Carlo Pessina. La Scherma di Sciabola. Viterbo: G. Agnesotti, 1912.

Rossi, Giordano. Manuale Teorico-Pratico per la Scherma di Spada e Sciabola. Milan: Fratelli Dumolard Editori, 1885.

Waite, John Musgrave. Lessons in Sabre, Singlestick, Sabre & Bayonet, and Sword Feats. London: Weldon, 1880.

Translation - Istruzione per maneggio e scherma della sciabola del Capitano Settimo Del Frate

In the link below you will find my complete translation for Settimo Del Frate's 1868 book Istruzione per maneggio e scherma della sciabola ('Instruction for handling and fencing with the sabre'), the first treatise published on Radaelli's sabre method. As Del Frate states in the treatise, the book was written on the request of his regiment's commander, Colonel Gerolamo Avogadro di Collobiano, who had been implementing Radaelli's cavalry sabre method in his regiment, the Monferrato light cavalry.

Translation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G2EKG6PVrhyGZN950aar3JepAoS8vEs6/view?usp=sharing


The scans that were used to make this translation may be found here.