Luigi Barbasetti. Ehren-Codex.

Luigi Barbasetti. Ehren-Codex.
Second edition.

Vienna-Leipzig. Wilhelm Braumuller. 1901 XVI, 151 p. Hardcover, painted edges, size 12 x 16.2 cm. Small scuffs of the binding, an ex-libris inside the cover, an owner's autograph on the title, notes in the text, emerging cracks of the block.

In 1879, a special government commission was created in Italy with the aim of identifying the only, most effective fencing school for its further implementation in all military schools and schools of the country.

Considering the main contenders, which were Giuseppe Radaeli and Masaniello Parise, the commission noticed more modern trends in Parise's technique, and also drew attention to the fact that the Radaelli school had been located for a long time in the territories occupied by France and, thus, fell into the category of "pro-French" and insufficiently patriotic.

As a result, in 1883, the school of the young master (he was 33 years old at that time), professor of the Neapolitan Academy Mazanielo Parise, won this competition. The Ministry of War closes the Milan Fencing School, and establishes the Main Roman School. The director of this school automatically became the winner of Parisse. Next year, in 1884, he publishes his own fencing textbook. The technique described in it, in many ways, formed the basis for the subsequent development of world sports fencing.

But Maestro Radaelli never found out about his only defeat: he died in 1882. The strongest students of his school – Salvatore Pecorare, Carlo Pessina, Luigi Barbazetti, Chiaveri were forced to find their own way in the world of fencing. Pecorare and Pessina applied to the new Roman school, and Mazanielo Parise willingly hired them. It is difficult to say how much they were able to influence the southern school (and whether they could at all). But Luigi Barbazetti, managed to preserve the main features (in particular, the main feature – elbow mulinets) of his "Alma mater". However, for this he had to leave Italy.

It is not known exactly where Barbazetti was and what he did for the first 12 years after the teacher's death. Perhaps it was during this period that he taught in Budapest, thus taking part in the creation of what would become known as the Hungarian Saber School in the future. But in 1894 we meet him in Vienna, in the famous fencing hall, in which, at one time, Blengini himself was fencing. The appearance of a new fighter made an indelible impression on the fencing community, and one of the oldest Viennese sports columnists, Mr. Silberer, left this entry: "he, Barbazetti, came, saw, won, and with him the Italian fencing art system won" ... "The best fighters of Vienna and even Austria saw that there was much to learn the young Italian, and his fencing hall in a short time gained great fame. It became fashionable to fence with Barbazetti and the best students of domestic teachers acquired the highest decoration from him. At present, Barbazetti has the entire aristocracy fencing, and the officers trained by him have shown such brilliant successes in practice that now his method is of great importance among our military authorities, and the best fencing teachers in the army are officially sent to his school."

Some time later, Silberer published the book "Luigi Barbazetti. Sabre fencing", in which the author defends the main ideas of Radaeli, and at the same time, rehabilitates his teacher in the matter of "profrantsuzness":"The Italian fencing artists created that school in France, which is now known as the French, but in fact it is nothing more than a change in the fencing art, which in the XIV and XV centuries passed over the Alps. This worthy ancient art acquired in later times, thanks to Radaeli, a new aspiration."

And while Luigi Barbazetti was introducing the Austrian aristocracy to the Radaelli school, another student and follower of the famous maestro, Chiaveri went to Russia, where, thanks to the efforts of Caesar Albert Blengini, the Italian saber was already well known. At about the same time as Mr. Silberer was publishing Barbazetti's textbook in Austria, Kiaveri got a job as a teacher at the St. Petersburg Officer Fencing Gym, one of the centers of fencing culture in the Russian capital. Of course, this was not enough for the full, total spread of "Radaellism" in Russia. But, fortunately for this school, Radaelli had ardent fans among several high-ranking officials of the Russian army. Two of them are Major General L. De Witt and Colonel A. K. Grekov set out to introduce Radaelli's technique everywhere in the troops. Relying on the assistance of the St. Petersburg Officer Fencing and Gymnasium, in 1909 they published a treatise by Barbazetti in Russian! This textbook became the second in Russia, according to the Italian sabre and the first in the Radaelli school, which, although it has undergone changes in the interpretation of the new author, has retained the main feature of the original source – the famous mulinets from the elbow and their division into three phases.

Apparently, this publication played a decisive role in the fate of the Italian saber schools. From that moment on, the Italian sabre was firmly registered in Russia, and an Italian fencing teacher could easily find a job in a good gym or a rich aristocratic family. Now Radaellism in Russia has become quite obvious, and it is the Italian saber that has firmly taken its place in the Russian military arsenal, clearly displacing the previously dominant French one. French fencing schools, however, have partially retained their importance, retaining their positions in the field of stabbing classics. But the chopping blow fell entirely under the influence of Italian specialists. And this influence turned out to be so noticeable that it even touched such "our" weapons as... the Cossack saber!