Francesco Alfieri (1644) (Part II)

Fight at Rapier and Dagger

 This plate depicts two different variations of the ward seconda of rapier and dagger. 38 has his rapier arm extended and his dagger close to his body. 39 has his rapier arm bent and his dagger arm extended. Lines A and B offer other options; line A is a terza ward for the rapier for 38, line B is a terza ward for the rapier for 39. 39’s position is similar to what Swetnam advises for his ward at rapier and dagger, except that the foot position is different. Swetnam’s ward advises that the off-hand foot is placed forward rather than that of the sword. 38’s position is similar to that found in the Spanish school with the rapier extended and threatening the face. Both combatants have their rapier hands in pronation, and dagger hands in the vertical position and, both have their sword foot forward 

 The ward of terza of rapier and dagger is depicted in this plate; both combatants are in a “double fence” ward, keeping both the rapier and dagger close together in front of the body. Lines A, B, C and D offer other options. Line A is a prima or seconda for the rapier for 40, line B is a prima or seconda for the rapier for 41, line C is a low terza for the rapier of 40, and line D is a low terza for the rapier of 41. The low terza could also be the ward known as spada solo. Both combatants have their sword foot forward; the bend in the body moves the body away but brings the head closer to the opponent. 40 has his arms less extended than that of his opponent. 

 This plate depicts a lunge attack and failed dagger defense. 43 lunges and 42 attempts to parry with the dagger and mistimes, the attack of 43 passes on the inside of the dagger and strikes the upper body or throat. 43 could also be using a punta mandritta due to the angle of the feet. 43’s dagger is held back to facilitate defense. Lines A and B offer other attacks. Line A is a straight thrust to the head, this line has been interpreted by Alfred Hutton in Old Sword Play as a feint to open the opponent, and line B is a stoccata to the chest.

Using Hutton’s interpretation, 43 feints to the head, and disengages under from 42’s dagger and then completes the lunge to the throat. Both combatants have their sword foot forward. 43’s hand is in supination; this suggests some possible vertical movement of the blade before it strikes. 43 watches his attack. 

 A lunge attack with offensive parry and failed “double fence” defense is shown in this particular picture. 44 simultaneously offensively parries with the dagger and thrusts with the rapier, and passes the rapier blade between 45’s rapier and dagger striking the chest. The offensive parry would have opened a hole in 45’s defense, which he tries to recover, unsuccessfully, by moving the dagger and withdrawing. Lines A, B and C offer other options. Line A is a high attack, line B is a stoccata to the lower body, and line C is an attack to the lower leg.

44 also has moved forward in his attack, extending his rapier and dagger and keeping his body back from his opponent, his rapier and dagger in their high position provide some defense for his head, and is watching his attack. Both combatants have their sword foot forward.

 This plate shows the execution of a stesso tempo attack involving a lunge parried by the dagger and an imbrocatta outside the enemy’s rapier, using a traverse to place the body in the correct position. 47 lunges, 46 parries with the dagger and moves it upward and outward, while doing a single traverse step, and then thrusts imbrocatta on the outside of 47’s rapier striking the chest, it is the traverse that positions 46 in the position to execute the attack. 47’s lunge, and the traverse by 46 positions the body for the attack. Lines A and B show other options. Line A is a high attack and line B is a stoccata to the lower leg.

Both have their sword foot forward. 46 looks under the parry to watch his opponent. This could also be interpreted as a “double fence” defense turned into an attack. 46’s hand is pronated for the imbrocatta, 47’s hand is vertical. 

 This picture depicts a stesso tempo attack, the traverse beats the thrust and a punta mandritta imbrocatta is used to execute the attack. 48 thrusts, 49 traverses passing the blade under the arm, and then punta mandrittas imbrocatta to the chest, the dagger is used to guide the blade under the arm. The traverse and the dagger guiding the blade ensure that the attack is defeated, the punta mandritta imbrocatta passes on the inside of the opponent’s dagger to defeat the defense. Lines A and B offer other options; line A is a thrust to the head passing on the outside of the dagger, and line B is a thrust to the upper leg, possibly passing through the wrist.

48 has is sword foot forward, 49 has used his offhand foot for the traverse. 48’s attack is a thrust rather than a lunge because the front foot does not seem to have been moved, or it could be a punta sopramano, the body may have been leaned toward the opponent in the attack. 48’s hand is vertical, 49’s hand is pronated, 49 watches his opponent and point of attack. 

 The execution of a stesso tempo attack using a close dagger parry and stoccata on the lunge is shown in this plate. 50 lunges, 51 parries with the dagger directing it over his right shoulder and delivers his stoccata to the body. The dagger is used to parry and control the opponent’s blade over the right shoulder, the stoccata is delivered under the weapons toward an the open target. Lines A and B give other options; line A is a thrust to the head on the inside of the opponent’s hilt, and line B is a thrust to the lower leg.

Both have their sword foot forward and are in execution of a lunge. The attacks are lunges as can be seen by the position of their feet and the angle of the body. 50’s sword hand is in a vertical position, 51’s sword hand is pronated. 51 is watching the opponent 

 This plate depicts the execution of a stesso tempo attack using a dagger parry and failed dagger parry by the opponent. 53 lunges, 52 parries with the dagger and forces it up and outwards, and then thrusts mandritta to the throat, 53 fails to parry with the dagger. The dagger is used to catch and control the opponent’s blade and force it outwards, the thrust comes in at an angle to defeat the dagger defense of the opponent, moving the blade up and out also opens the opponent’s defense. Lines A, B and C give other options. Line A is a high attack, line B is a stoccata to the chest and line C is a thrust to the foot.

The combatants both have their sword foot forward, 53’s sword hand is in a vertical position, and 52’s sword hand is pronated. 52 watches his opponent and ensures that his dagger parry has been successful. 

 The execution of a stesso tempo attack on the lunge using a diagonal step is shown in this picture. Both combatants lunge, 55 uses the hilt of his rapier to defend himself and the diagonal step and thrusts at the head, 54 has failed to catch the attack on his dagger, 55’s dagger is not in use. The diagonal step along with the hilt parry allows 55 to defend himself and attack simultaneously; the blade has passed on the inside of the opponent’s blade. There could also be some movement in 55’s arm to force the attack across to clear it from the target. Lines A and B give other options; line A is an attack to the offhand and line B is a stoccata to the body.

Both of the combatants have their sword foot forward, and are in a lunge position. 55’s hand is supinated, while 54’s hand is vertical. 55 watches his opponent and target. 

 This is a simple attack defeating a defensive ward. 57 lunges aiming at the opponent’s armpit, which is exposed by the position of his dagger, he also attempts to block the opponent’s rapier with his hilt. The body of 57 is twisted to be more side on to give less of a target and to gain more reach from his attack. It could be interpreted that 56 has attempted to lunge with his dagger, but his bent rear leg makes this unlikely. This could be Alfieri’s description of how to beat a particular ward, as the ward itself is very reminiscent of Swetnam. Lines A and B offer other options. Line A is a high attack possibly aimed at the head and line B is a thrust to the lower leg. 57 has his sword foot forward for his lunge, 56’s offhand foot is forward. 57’s hand is supinated in the attack. 

 The execution of a double stesso tempo attack in response to a high attack with the rapier is depicted in this plate. 58 lunges and keeps his dagger high, 59 lunges under the attack, attacking with both rapier and dagger for a simultaneous attack. Lines A and B offer other options; line A is directed at the throat of the opponent and line B is directed at the lower leg of the opponent.

58 has his sword foot forward, 59 has his offhand foot forward. 59 has used a void in defense so that he is able to attack with both weapons, the body is tilted far over his front foot so that he gets better reach and also goes under the attack.

Fight at Rapier and Cloak

 This picture depicts two different versions of the terza ward at rapier and cloak. 60 has his cloak extended towards the opponent and the rapier withdrawn back to the hip, he is in a semi-crouched position. 61 has his rapier extended towards the opponent and the cloak kept close to the body, the rapier is horizontal to the ground. Both combatants have their cloaks wrapped around their arm and their sword foot forward. Both combatants also have their hands in pronation. Lines A, B, C and D offer other options. Lines A and B are the prima version of the guard for the combatants and lines C and D are a low ward version, possibly similar to spada solo. 60 seems to have his rapier arm cocked in preparation for a thrust, and 61 keeps his rapier and cloak together to hide more of the target and the obscure the sword arm. 

 The execution of a stesso tempo attack both on the lunge, using the cloak to parry is depicted in this plate. Both combatants lunge, 62 parries with the cloak and directs the attack over himself and then directs his point in between 63’s cloak and rapier, passing the blade close to the hilt to strike the throat. Lines A, B and C offer other options; line A is a thrust to the head, or other high attack, line B is a stoccata to the body, and line C is an attack to the lower leg.

Both combatants have their sword foot forward and hands in a vertical position. 62 watches both his target and his opponent’s blade. 62’s step could also be an oblique step to the left, making the attack a punta riversa, and opening the guard of his opponent further. 

 This plate depicts the execution of a stesso tempo attack on the lunge using the cloak to parry. Both combatants lunge, 65 parries with the cloak upwards and delivers a thrust to the chest of 64 on the inside line of the cloak. Lines A and B offer other options; line A is a high attack, and line B is an attack to the lower leg. Both combatants have their sword foot forward. 65’s hand is in a vertical position, 64’s hand is pronated. 65 is watching his target. 

 This picture shows the execution of a stesso tempo attack on the lunge using the cloak to parry. Both combatants lunge, 66 simultaneously parries with the cloak upwards and outwards and thrusts to the upper chest, 66’s footwork implies that he may be executing a punta riversa. Both combatants seem to have been thrusting on the same line. 66’s punta riversa evades the attack and opens his opponent’s defences up. Lines A and B offer other options. Line A is a stoccata to the head, or cut to the sword arm and line B is an attack to the lower leg. Both combatants have their sword foot forward and hand in a vertical position. 66 is watching his opponent. 

 The execution of a dui tempo attack involving a feint and throwing of the cloak is depicted in this picture. 69 thrusts (line A), 68 moves the cloak in defense, 69 throws the cloak on to 68’s weapon and simultaneously thrusts to the body, this maneuver would take great amounts of timing to be done properly. 69 has thrown the cloak and attacked from the opposite line, an oblique step to the right with the thrust, or punta mandritta opens the target once the opponent’s cloak has been cleared. The weight of the cloak would make the opponent’s weapon very difficult to control.

Lines A and B offer other options; line A could be a feint as described, and/or the option of a thrust to the head or cut to the left arm and line B is a cut or thrust to the sword arm. Both have their sword foot forward, 69’s hand is pronated, and the cloak obscures 68’s. 69 is watching his target