Learn from Monte how to slay your enemies ‘like a furious wind that knocks down the plants and the trees with his flail’!

Weapon: Greatsword (spagsword.done, montante, etc.) or longsword

Source: Pietro Monte’s ‘Collectanea’ – ‘Exercitiorum atque artis militaris collectanea In tris libros distincta’, Milano, per Giovanni Angelo Scinzenzeler, impensa Giovanni Giacomo & fratres da Legnano, 1509.

In his ‘Collectanea’ (pub. 1509) Renaissance Italian general and master of arms, Pietro Monte reveals his ‘Levata of the Sword’, ‘the first blows which we learn or which we teach’, when training professional military troops in the late 15th century. In this workshop you will learn the same techniques as taught to the retainers of the Sforza Dukes of Milan and elsewhere, and through these gain an insight into this legendary Renaissance general’s philosophy and tactics for fighting.

Skill level of Participants: Any skill level
Needed Equipment:
MINIMUM: Greatsword or longsword simulator. Fencing mask, gloves.

RECOMMENDED: Gorget.

OPTIONAL: Full longsword sparring gear, to allow you to explore the techniques more interactively.

About the trainer – Mike Prendergast

Mike Prendergast has been researching and practising historical European martial arts since 1999. He is founder and chief instructor of the Historical Combat Academy (HCA) and also instructs with SCA Dun in Mara, in Dublin, Ireland. He has co-translated and teaches from Pietro Monte’s martial omnibus, ‘The Collectanea’ (1509). Mike has a wide interest in Italian Renaissance fencing styles, initially studying Bolognese fencing, he also teaches the rapier of Nicoletto Giganti (1606) and the system of Fiore dei Liberi (c. 1410).

As a competitor, Mike has medaled in international tournaments in longsword, rapier, rapier & dagger, sword & buckler and montante. He was delegate (team captain) and rapier & dagger competitor on Team UK and Ireland for the HEMA tournament at the European Games in Minsk in 2019.

Mike has taught HEMA in Ireland, the UK, France, The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Serbia, Switzerland, Lithuania and the USA. He is a member of the committee for the International Rapier Seminar (IRS) which he hosted in 2015. He has presented on his translation work at academic and public conferences in France and Belarus.