In a similar fashion to the aforementioned 1881 tournament, the 1889 International Fencing Tournament in Rome was not short of drama relating to this fierce rivalry. In an 1889 article from the magazine Caccia e Corse (1889/12/05), the pseudonymous writer "Cartoccio" gives their account of this tournament, with all its ups and downs. Below you may find my translation of this article and regulations for the tournament, which were found in the 1889/10/19 and 1889/11/16 issues of the magazine Tiro a Segno. The illustration of the tournament below is by Dante Paolocci, taken from an issue of L'Illustrazione Italiana from 1889/12/08.
The scandal at this tournament was due to the fact that the Radaellian faction in the tournament's jury felt that several of the other jurors were giving unjust scores to famous Radaellian fencers such as Salvatore Pecoraro and Carlo Guasti. The dispute boiled over until the Radaellian faction resigned from their positions in the jury, almost causing the end of the tournament. Nonetheless the remaining jurors continued on with the tournament, but certainly not with smooth sailing.
A year later in his article Italian Fencing in the Army, Jacopo Gelli opens with his judgement of 1889 tournament:
"The national fencing tournament of November 1889, in Rome, has proven once more that the teaching of fencing is far from being uniform in Italy. In fact, that tournament has clearly proven that a powerful trend opposes and rejects the official method imparted at the Scuola Magistrale in Rome. It confirms the cry viva Radaelli uttered by the audience during a solemn exhibition at the aforementioned tournament, in front of a jury nominated more to prop up the staggering Scuola Magistrale (with its method), than to judge the skill of the fencers."
It is important to note here that Jacopo Gelli was in the jury for this tournament, and was one of the 10 members that resigned in protest.
No comments:
Post a Comment