Radaelli Under Fire: Introduction

To the followers of Giuseppe Radaelli's method, it should not have been too great a surprise that they would be met by fervent opponents even off the piste. The fact that this new method directly challenged established traditions, and even boasted that this lack of tradition was one of its virtues, could only be more confronting when combined with the national authority Radaelli's school was given in 1874, becoming the centre of fencing education for the Italian military. Due to the privileged position this school occupied, from 1874 onward its graduates and the method they propagated came under ever greater scrutiny: the success or failure of the Radaellian method had now become a matter of national pride.

After the fencing competition at the 1875 Siena Gymnastics Congress, we saw how one commentator was left with a poor impression of the Radaellians' foil fencing but saw good potential in their sabre, albeit 'not devoid of certain flaws'. It was the subsequent year, though, when criticism towards Radaelli's method appeared more frequently from those in military circles, appearing in the military journals Esercito and Italia Militare, followed by four booklets published over four years criticising all aspects of Radaellian fencing, both theory and practice. The booklets, written by Achille Angelini, Luigi Forte, Giuseppe Perez, and Giovanni Pagliuca, caused significant damage to the reputation of the Milan fencing master's school and ultimately contributed to its downfall after the treatise competition of the 1880s.

In this series, 'Radaelli Under Fire', over several months I will be publishing translations of each of these fascinating booklets along with some contextual background on the work and its author where possible. We will see exactly what it was about Radaelli's teachings that some found so objectionable and what their suggested alternatives were, as well as to what degree the critics agreed with each other in these areas. Links to each article in the series will be posted below as they are released on the blog.

Part 1: Achille Angelini

Part 2: Masiello on Defence

Part 3: Luigi Forte

Part 4: Masiello's Final Word

Part 5: Urciuoli Stokes the Flames

Part 6: Giuseppe Perez

Part 7: Giovanni Pagliuca