Oplosophia e Verdadeira Destreza das Armas

Written by Diogo Gomes de Figueiredo, author of the shorter «Memorial da Práctica do Montante», in 1628, the book develops along more than 300 pages notes on the Verdadeira Destreza approach to single rapier and rapier with dagger, buckler, rotella, armguard, gauntlet and cape, as well as presenting a view on twin rapier play; how men of different sizes should fence; theory and advice ond stepping and wounding; notes on how to distinguish true («Verdadeira») from false Destreza; particularly tricky questions regarding «Verdadeira Destreza» for the Masters to use in their examinations and how to carry these; how Masters should use a staff to separate the opponents in a fencing bout; what are the differences between live and blunt weapons in fencing… Everything seasoned with not a small gathering of sonnets and diverse poems.

The critical work carried by the AGEA Editora team for this book, comprising this time Manuel Valle Ortiz and Francisco Castro Nieto, adds another hundred pages to the volume: extensive annotations as both footnotes and endnotes to the text, introductory small essays on the linguistic, military and librarian aspects of the book, consolidated criteria regarding the transcription as well as an extensive bibliography citing the references the original author used.