In 1599, during the period when the Portuguese crown was united to the crowns of Castile and Aragon, a Portuguese master called Domingo Luis Godinho wrote a manuscript in Spanish entitled Arte de Esgrima (The Art of Fencing). The book was never published, and almost nothing is known about its author’s life beyond him being born in Santarém. However, the text is of utmost relevance in the study of Iberian schools of fencing, since it is the single complete treatise discovered so far describing the old style, the one to be displaced by the apogee of Verdadeira Destreza.
The work, originally written in 137 folios that we present as in 230 pages in this current edition, includes instructions for the single sword, sword and rotella, sword and buckler, twin swords, sword and dagger, sword and cape, plus the longest known text on the use of the iberian montante.
