Pasteggio and Radaelli's Sabre Grip

In Jacopo Gelli's 1888 publication Resurrectio, he quotes one of Radaelli's supposedly famous phrases:

"Pasteggiare la sciabola."

To try and translate this phrase, we should first consult the dictionary definition of the verb pasteggiare, which is "to eat/drink something slowly and savouring". Simplifying this as "to savour", would thus give us a literal translation of "Savour the sabre".

The related word pasteggio is also mentioned in two other Radaellian texts (to my knowledge) as being a concept that describes Radaelli's particular manner of gripping the sabre. The most notable mention of this word being in Luigi Barbasetti's sabre treatise, in the English version (1932) giving a possible translation of pasteggio as "fingering".

This certainly does not make the task of interpreting Radaelli's phrase much easier, but it does seem to imply a sense of control and moderation, not "devouring" the grip in the entire hand with too much force. Perhaps this terminology was used as a response to a misconception of Radaelli's system, exemplified in Achille Angelini's 1877 and 1888 essays criticising Radaelli’s system where he states that Radaelli supposedly taught to grip the sabre with "great and incessant force".

As there does not seem to be any existent in-depth explanation of Radaelli's pasteggio, our only option is to look at how Radaelli said to grip the sabre to perhaps inform our interpretation of this concept. In Del Frate's 1876 text we get the following explanation of how to grip the sabre:

"The sabre must be held such that the grip is embedded in the palm of the hand, the first four fingers enclosed around it, with the thumb along the back of the grip, the end of the grip somewhat protruding from the hand, finding there a point of support when one strikes a blow with the edge."

This seems to be describing a fairly standard sabre grip for the time, and does not really give much to go on in deciphering pasteggio. If we refer to his earlier 1868 manual however, we get a slightly wording:

"The sabre is always gripped such that the grip is embedded in the palm of the hand, always shut firmly by the first four fingers, with the thumb stretched to its full length along the back of the grip, and with the end of backstrap somewhat protruding from the grassello of the little finger, serving as a point of secondary support when striking a blow."

What is meant by "the grassello of the little finger" ("dal grassello del mignolo") is uncertain. The word grassello translates literally as "a small piece of meat", but it seems clear that it is referring to a fleshy or soft part of the little finger. This same word is used in Rossi's 1885 description of how to grip the sabre (which is extremely similar to Del Frate's 1868 description):

"The sabre must be gripped in a way such that the grip lies encased in the palm of the hand, always enclosed by the first four fingers, with the thumb extended along the spine of the grip, the lower end of which protruding from the hand, in order to find there a point of resistant support against the grassello of the little finger when one strikes a blow with the edge."

We also see it used in the 1873 Cavalry Regulations, which taught a distilled version of Radaelli's sabre system for cavalry troopers:

"The sabre will be gripped such that the grip is embedded in the palm of the hand, always enclosed by the first four fingers, with the thumb extended along the spine of the grip and with the end of the thumb against the shell of the guard (and for the new sabre model, with the end of the thumb inside the shell’s chamber) so that the hand is brought as close as possible to the sabre’s centre of gravity. The end of the grip will protrude somewhat under the left grassello of the hand for important support when one strikes a blow."

Perhaps what the grassello del mignolo is referring to is actually the hypothenar eminence, the muscle group of the palm below the little finger. In fact in 1888 Salvatore Arista wrote an article in the magazine Don Giovanni where he describes Radaelli's sabre grip, referring to this very muscle group:

"[Radaelli] taught to grip the sabre not like a stick, but rather keeping the thumb and the index finger as close possible to the guard, the other fingers and the hand acting in such a way that the end of the grip rests permanently against the lower — hypothenar — eminence of the hand, with that one is able to stop the blow at the desired point on the target."

** EDIT: Since acquiring Poggio Vannucchi's 1915 treatise, detailing a Radaellian sabre method, I have noticed that Vannucchi himself equates the grassello del mignolo with the hypothenar eminence in the section where he describes how to grip the sabre. This seems to confirm my hypothesis. **

This description is much more specific than those previously mentioned, yet it is also consistent with how Radaelli's other students prescribed to grip the sabre.

Masiello (1887):

"The last four fingers are inserted together between the guard and the handle and they are adapted under the grip, such that the upper part of the last phalanx of the index finger lies against the shell. The thumb is placed on top of the backstrap and in contact with the shell. The backstrap must lean against the hypothenar eminence of the hand, such that the upper of which protrudes somewhat out of the hand, similar to having there a secure point of support in the act of cutting. The hand must grip the handle with force."

Barbasetti (1936 translation):

"Place the second phalanx of the four fingers opposing the thumb, directly against the interior of the grip, your index finger close to the guard; let the lower part of the back of the grip rest against the palm of your hand and apply the thumb against the flat part of the back of the grip near the guard."

Pecoraro & Pessina (1912):

"The sabre must be gripped in a way that the thumb extends along the spine of the grip and lightly contacts the guard, making a contrast with the other finger bending around the grip, placing the last phalanx of the index finger in contact with the guard and the extreme end of the grip rests against the hypothenar eminence of the hand and protrudes a little past the hand. This method allows gripping the sabre with the force and elasticity necessary, either for making effective and precise blows, or for opposing resistant parries to the opposing blade."

Nor does this seem to have been the standard sabre grip outside the Radaelli school. In both Arista's 1888 Don Giovanni article and his 1884 publication Del progresso della scherma in Italia he states that this gripping method was unique to the Radaelli school, and he laments over the fact that the new school run by Parise goes back to the old way of gripping the sabre "like a stick".

In saying all this though, there is still the large possibility that Radaelli introduced this gripping method after the publication of Del Frate's 1876 manual, which would explain the somewhat less precise description of gripping the sabre contained in his manuals, describing perhaps just the standard sabre grip. Nevertheless due to Arista's comments and the grip's prevalence in the manuals of Radaelli's students, it seems certain that Radaelli was advocating his own unique method of gripping the sabre by the time he died, and that this unique method somehow helped the fencer to grip the sabre with pasteggio, giving them "the possibility of giving the sabre at each moment the desired position, with full control and mastery of the blade", as Barbasetti put it.

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".

*** Click here to view ***

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.

***EDIT 2025/03/14: Scans of the can now be viewed here thanks to KU Leuven.***

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.