Smallridge: Federico Ghislieri's Rules of Many Knightly Exercises

To be published in March 2026 – pre-order now!

New English edition of a long overlooked fighting treatise from the Renaissance, edited by Mike Smallridge.

In 1587, a young military officer named Federico Ghislieri returned to the Medici court from the brutal religious wars of nothern Europe. The ambitious young captain published a collection on the principles of combat for his commander’s son, called The Rules of Many Knightly Exercises.

That book launched a remarkable career that would take Federico across Europe and the Mediterranean. Fighting against the Ottomans on land and sea, he corresponded with the Pope and Emperor, and even hosted Galileo. Though gravely wounded in battle, Federico nonetheless rose to the nobility and died peacefully, a courtier in Turin.

Now the long-overlooked Knightly Exercises is brought to light for the historical fencing community. A true student of the counter-Reformation, Ghislieri’s system explains fencing concepts with more detail and clarity than his contemporaries like Giganti (with whom he served) and Capoferro (who praised his tutor). Condensing rapier and dagger down to just four approaches, the businesslike method is practical and useful for students of swordplay today.

HC, 234 pp., w/ ill.