The Sword of Combat or The Use of Fighting With Weapons

In the 17th century Italy was the place to learn the art of the sword. Travellers visited training salles and across Europe Italian works on fencing were translated and Italian schools sprang up. France was no exception. Francois Dancies 1623 treatise LEspee de Combat (The Sword of Combat) is therefore an anomaly. Dancies views are blunt and acidic. He says that many who teach fencing are a bunch of libertines. He has no truck with the geometry that had crept into fencing since Agrippas work of 1553 and had contempt for that authors use of illustration. Dancies style follows an Italian form, but rather than following other authors by providing an explanation of tempo and measure, Dancie prefers to concentrate on what temperament is required in a confrontation. His is a direct, fighters treatise, dedicated to a military man of similar temperament, his methods and descriptions speak more of the street than the salle.