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Vincentio Saviolo

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The title page fromVincentio Saviolo, His Practise,Saviolo's fencing handbook published in 1595.

Fencing masterVincentio Saviolo(d. 1598/9), thoughItalianborn and raised, authored one of the first books on fencing to be available in the English language.

Saviolo was born in Padua.[1]He arrived in London at an unknown date and is first noted as being in England in 1589 when Richard Jones obtained a licence to publish his "Book of Honour".[2]In 1591John Floriodescribed Saviolo's fencing school as being "in the little street where the well is...at the sign of the red Lyon."[3]It was described by the English gentleman and fencing writerGeorge Silveras being "within a bow shot" of what was later theBell Savageorla Belle Sauvage,at this time "Savage's inn,otherwise called theBell on the Hoop"(Inns and Taverns of Old Londonby Henry C. Shelley, 1909), on Ludgate Hill. Saviolo's particular nemesis was this George Silver, who wrote his own book in 1599 to defend traditional English Swordsmanship against the encroachment of Italian rapier fencing and in doing so launched a vociferous attack on Saviolo and his system.[4]Silver recounts how Saviolo's associate Jeronimo was killed in a sword fight by an Englishman known only as Cheese, but omits details of Saviolo's death (merely stating that he was dead by the time his own book was published in 1599).[5]This suggests that Saviolo did not die at the hands of another swordsman.

Throughout the 16th century, handbooks became increasingly popular. In 1595, John Wolfe printedVincentio Saviolo, his practise, in two bookes, the first intreating of the use of the Rapier and Dagger, the second of Honor and honorable quarrelsin London.The first part of this work was written as a conversation between Saviolo and an imaginary student (a structure common in 16th-century handbooks). This part undertakes to instruct in therapierand daggerfencingtechniques of Saviolo's day. Saviolo did not teach thelunge,rather recommending circular movement around the opponent in the manner of contemporary Spanish rapier fencers.[6]The second part,Of Honor and Honorable Quarrels,deals with dueling etiquette.Much of the material comes from the works ofGirolamo Muzio,written in 1558.[7]

Modern Reconstruction

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Despite being written in English, Saviolo's system has not proved as popular to those reconstructing historical rapier fencing as some other systems (such as the Italian rapier fencing systems ofSalvator Fabris,Nicoletto GigantiandRidolfo Capo Ferro.An early exponent of Saviolo's system was Stephen Hand of theStoccata School of Defencein Australia who published annotated transcriptions of Saviolo's first book in the periodicalHammerterz Forumin the late 1990s[8]and a paper outlining the cultural influences on Saviolo's system in 2002. Other notable practitioners of Saviolo's system include Cecil Longino ofAcademia Della Spadain Seattle, USA and Chris Chatfield ofthe 1595 Clubin London and Brighton, U.K., Henry Walker and James Wran of Brisbane Swords, Australia.

References

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  1. ^Saviolo writes, “At Padua where I was borne”Vincentio Saviolo his Practise.(London 1595) p.152R
  2. ^Sir Leslie Stephen and Sir Sidney Lee.The Dictionary of National Biography. Volume 17,, 1967-68 p. 866.
  3. ^John Florio,Second Frutes.New York, 1977 (originally published 1591) p. 117
  4. ^George Silver,Paradoxes of Defence( 1599)
  5. ^George Silver,Paradoxes of Defence( 1599) p.72
  6. ^Stephen Hand and Ramon Martinez,Spanish Influence in the rapier play of Vincentio Savioloin Stephen Hand (editor) SPADA Vol I (San Francisco 2002)
  7. ^Ferington, Esther.Infinite Variety.2002. Pp. 113.
  8. ^Hand, Stephen 1997,Saviolo, His Annotated PracticeinHammerterz Forum - Association for Renaissance Martial Arts,Vol. 3 (4) & Vol. 4 (1) pp. 32-36 , Hand, Stephen 1998,The Practical Saviolo, Part IIin Hammerterz Forum Vol. 4 (2) pp. 15-19 , Hand, Stephen 1998,The Practical Saviolo, Part IIIin Hammerterz Forum Vol. 4 (3&4) pp. 13-18 , Hand, Stephen 1998,The Practical Saviolo, Part IVin Hammerterz Forum Vol. 5 (1) pp. 15-20 , Hand, Stephen 1999,The Annotated Saviolo: Who is this Guy Anywayin Hammerterz Forum Vol. 5 (2&3) pp. 15-21
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  • Jared Kirby (ed.),A Gentleman's Guide to Duelling: Of Honour and Honourable Quarrels,Frontline Books (2014),ISBN978-1848325272.
  • An annotated version of Saviolo at ARMA.
  • A non-annotated version,with an attached article explaining some of the terms used.
  • An article on Saviolo in London
  • A factual story out of Saviolo'shttps://web.archive.org/web/20060108152646/http:// swordhistory /home.html
  • 'the 1595', A UK fencing club studying Saviolo's techniques
  • Stoccata School of Defence,An Australian fencing club studying Saviolo's system
  • Academia Della Spada,a US fencing club studying Saviolo's system
  • A demonstration of Saviolo's techniques by Chris Chatfield and Gray Morris of the 1595 club
  • A video discussing Silver's comments about Saviolo by Stephen Hand of the Stoccata School of Defence
  • Saviolo's rapier vs Silver's backsword with Stephen and Lewis Hand of the Stoccata School of Defence
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