Chronicle of a journey to Lisbon – November 2016 Thursday November 24th, 2016 – Posted in: AGEA Editora – Tags: , , ,

Our comrades Manuel Valle Ortiz and Ton Puey were invited by HEMA-Portugal to give a lecture and a practical lesson at the annual meeting of the Portuguese federation of western martial arts that took place on 4, 5 and 6 November in Lisbon. Taking advantage of the trip, they made several visits to institutions with which AGEA Editora collaborates in the recovery of historical treaties of Portuguese fencing. Here follows a small chronicle of this trip:

by Ton Puey & Manuel Valle Ortiz.

We left Galicia on Thursday afternoon, heavy with orders of AGEA Editora books and greetings and hugs to the Portuguese friends from the Galician companions who unfortunately could not accompany us. We arrived in Lisbon at night, right to bed, ready to rest and start the new day with energy.

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A entregar o «Oplosophia» na Academia das Ciências.

Friday morning we visited the Academia de Ciências de Lisboa, located in Bairro Alto, near Rua do Século, named after the newspaper that was published there. There we were received by a kind librarian to whom we delivered a copy of the Oplosophia by Figueiredo, receiving in return profuse congratulations and compliments on the work done.

pombalIn this same Rua do Século is the house where the Marquês de Pombal was born, previous owner of the copy of Godinho’s Arte de Esgrima that now resides in the Spanish National Library.

In Largo do Calhariz, also in Bairro Alto, we visited an antiquarian bookstore that has given us interesting titles in the past: it is always nice to put a face on customers and booksellers. Right afterwards we took the Bica ascensor (this time down to go to Cais do Sodré, in Ribeira do Tejo).

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We continued our trip to Paço da Ajuda, admiring the neo-classical architecture and the surrounding sculptures. Between these, somewhat hidden from sight, is the Biblioteca da Ajuda, behind the doors of which one can find an incomparable space.

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We were greeted by a librarian and the principal, who gratefully accepted our copies of the Lições de Marte and the Manuscrito da Espada, again congratulating us on the work we had done.

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We got back on the tram line 13, the only one that continues to serve the Ajuda neighborhood and is not just a tourist attraction. We went down to Belém (no change in the usual electric route) and took a train back to the center of the Cais do Sodré station. We stopped to have a snack in a traditional place (A Estrela da Sé) and on the way back down the road we stopped to taste the typical Ginjinha – yet another Galician contribution to Portuguese culture.

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In the afternoon we went to the HEMA-Portugal gathering, where Manuel Valle conferred on the history of Verdadeira Destreza in the Iberian Peninsula. Other lectors dealt with themes ranging from Portuguese military fortifications to the Art of War in classical Greek and Roman times, through tarecenas, weapons caches and provisions for the navy.

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And the next day was the time for practical classes. Ton Puey presented an interpretation of the Destreza Comum style, described in Godinho’s Fencing Art – the only book preserved from this Iberian tradition of fighting which predates Verdadeira Destreza. Other classes were about the use of the military saber, the Kunst des Fechtens for the longsword, and about the Galician-Portuguese traditional martial art, Jogo do Pau.

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In brief — they were days of socializing, of intense formation and exchange of ideas that formed a perfect complement to the previous “cultural embassy”.

Here, the full team late at night, exploring the finer points of HEMA research & interpretation: David Galve, Eugenio Garcia-Salmones, Manuel Valle Ortiz, Ton Puey & Andreas Klingelmayer.

Here, the full team of instructors late at night, exploring the finer points of HEMA research & interpretation: David Galve, Eugenio Garcia-Salmones, Manuel Valle Ortiz, Ton Puey & Andreas Klingelmayer.