The Sword of the People. Roberto Laura

than the rest of the army. Their raids came abruptly, but were also often accompanied by large losses. After the end of the First World War, the Arditi dissolved, and split in two directions: part of the troop supported the still young Fascist Movement in the 1920s, and another part was devoted to Communism or, in some cases, to the Anarchist Movement.⁶⁴

      What made the Arditi military unit largely different from the rest of the armies of their time was the additional and systematic use of the dagger in military operations. They were a fencing trained troop. The fencing method of the Arditi was rather simple compared to the southern Italian systems of duel and defense. Melee in a ditch poses very different requirements for man than a conventional duel in a (fencing) hall, for example.

      There was a left and a right lead, and the knife could be held in the saber grip or in the icepick grip (the knife is held with the tip pointing downwards). Since the dagger was attached to the front right side of the belt, it often happened that the Ardito first pulled the dagger in the ice pick grip. In doing so, the soldier was in left guard, while the forearm of his left arm formed a kind of shield in front of his body. Apart from kicks and a few actions on the ground, the core of his training was mainly left-handed parries with obligatory counter-thrusts (also the fencing lunge) – and of course, everything in accordance with a fencer’s footwork. But the tradition also contained fencing elements, such as the passata sotto⁶⁵ and the inquartata,66 which seem very unlikely for trench warfare.

      Further historical and/or technical components of this military training would not be in the scope of this book. The Arditi are not really relevant to the history of the southern Italian folk schools. But the presence of such a fencing method even in the military, at least shows clearly how much knives and the dagger were anchored in Italy’s mentality until the beginning of the 20th century. If you would like to delve deeper into the history and methodology of the Arditi, I recommend the book L'arte italiana del maneggio delle lame corte, dal 1350 al 1943, Storia e tecnica67 by Antonio G.G. Merendoni.

       1.8 Recapitulation

      The fencing arts of Italy and Europe have a common denominator, a teaching doctrine – basic fencing. The schools of Italy are also to be identified by the increased use of the straight-ahead thrust. Now and then this tactic was already found in a systematic developed form in the Roman Italy of antiquity, in the case of short bladed weapons, as it is a matter of course with the spear.

      In the knife fencing schools of the Renaissance and the Baroque periods, the straight-ahead thrust was the cornerstone of the Italian masters who developed the concept in Italy. The similarity of ancient and medieval fencing, as well as the subsequent knife fencing schools, to the folk traditions of 19th century Italy could be an indication of a direct influence. However, no reliable or written evidence can be provided.

      So what remains here is for us to create our own hypotheses through comparisons and reflection, and to question them critically. We can also continue to research, so to perhaps one day come across sources that can confirm a direct link between both developments. And even if no written evidence appears to be present, the apparent similarities and principles of both lines are so closely related that it seems likely that one tradition may have influenced the other. This is the big question mark that remains.

      ¹ At least this applies to the fencing traditions that are subject to dueling conventions.

      ² Fencing positions or guards

      ³ Ital. figure or lezioni

      ⁴ One thinks of Chivalry, of the proud Hidalgos, or of the flowery Ballet.

      ⁵ Robert N. Charrette, Fiore dei Liberi’s Armizare: The Chivalric Martial Arts System of Il Fior di Battaglia (2012)

      Tom Leoni, The Complete Renaissance Swordman (2010)

      Tom Leoni, Venetian Rapier: Nicoletto Giganti’s 1606 Rapier Fencing Curriculum (2010)

      Tom Leoni, Ridolfo Capoferro’s Art and Practice of Fencing: A Translation for the Modern Swordsman (2012)

      Guy Windsor, The Swordsman’s Companion: A Modern Training Manual for the Medieval Swordsman (2002)

      Guy Windsor, The Duelist’s Companion: A training manual for 17th c rapier fencing (2005)

      Guy Windsor, Mastering the Art of Arms: The Medieval Dagger (2012)

      Guy Windsor, The Medieval Longsword: Volume Two (2014)

      Luca Porzio und Gregory Mele, Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi: 15th Century Swordsmanship of Master Fillipo Vadi translated (2010).

      Antonio Merendoni G.G. Merendoni and Baravex Manuel, L'arma e il cavaliere. L'arte della scherma medievale (2000).

      Antonio Merendoni G.G. Merendoni, Scherma storica: il metodo di spada italiano (2014)

      ⁶ Ital. scuola

      ⁷ Gladiators, Life and Death Fighting Games, Chapter III – Living and Dying in the Arena

      ⁸ For the figures and related didactics refer to section 1.1, in the third paragraph of the introduction of this chapter. You can also compare Chapters 5 and 6.

      ⁹ See also chapter 4.4 – The One Great Commonality.

      ¹⁰ For the sake of understanding, we agree on the terminology used today.

      ¹¹ One might think of the Figura serpentìna by Giovanni da Bologna.

      ¹² See this chapter, subsection 1.5.2

      ¹³ The Divine Comedy; 1307-1321

      ¹⁴ One can compare this to the English term: Gentleman.

      ¹⁵ The re-conquest of the Iberian Peninsula by the Christian descendants of the Visigoths.

      ¹⁶ In the course of the conquest of Byzantium by the Turks, Greek scholars increasingly fled to Italy.

      ¹⁷ Scholastic is literally understood as “school-by-word”. This refers to the scientific method of reasoning, as it was developed and applied in the Latinized world of the Middle Ages among scholars.

      ¹⁸ For example, the abolition of the medieval interest ban or the bracteates (a kind of coin used at the time), as well as the rise of the banks of the Fugger and the Medici, or even the introduction of a unified language in accounting. This development also caused a financial and social imbalance between urban and rural populations.

      ¹⁹ The depiction of the central perspective on a canvas also begins with a point.

      ²⁰ Flos Duellatorum, circa 1410

      ²¹ De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi, circa 1485

      ²² In Italy at that time the term sword, spada, was the only common one. Nowadays, we might call this type of sword: two-handed, spada a due mani or spadone.

      ²³ Eng. embrace

      ²⁴ Ital. daga, daghetta, or pugnale

      ²⁵ Ital. brocchiero, boccoliere

      ²⁶ See Chapter 6

      ²⁷ As already mentioned, the generic name for sword was spada; our ancestors were far from being as selective about the terminology as we are today.

      ²⁸ Franz. Rapière; epeé

      ²⁹ Ropera, in the sense of belonging to the wardrobe, is in turn derived from the Spanish word ropa, clothing; and here, one would have referred to the clothes worn at court.

      ³⁰ In tempo stands for: at the same time as the opponent’s attack or at the time (of the offset).

      ³¹ This concept of pure preparatory