Pietro Monte's Levata - Mike Prendergast - International Montante Symposium 2023
Channel: Schildwache Potsdam
Date: 18/12/2023

Pietro Monte gives us a glimpse into the early development of two-handed sword fighting, in his Collectanea, written in the early 1490’s. As a Renaissance general and master of arms, he taught fighting skills to nobles and men-at-arms in the court of the Sforza’s in Milan, and is referenced as an authority by both Castiglione and Leonardo da Vinci. What is particularly interesting, is he lays out ‘the beginning teachings’ of the sword, which he calls the Levata (‘to raise up’). In this workshop you will learn these ‘first blows which we begin to teach or to learn', as well as some of Monte’s fundamental principles and tactics for fighting.



Mike Prendergast has been researching and practising historical European martial arts since 1999. His main focus is on the art of fencing of Renaissance Italy. He specialises in the system of Pietro Monte, whose 'Collectanea' (1509) he has published in English translation. Initially studying Bolognese fencing, he also teaches the rapier of Nicoletto Giganti (1606) and the style of Fiore dei Liberi (c. 1410).

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

Mike is founder and chief instructor of the Historical Combat Academy (HCA) and also instructs with SCA Dun in Mara, in Dublin, Ireland. He has instructed in Ireland, the UK, France, The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and the USA. He coordinates the annual International Rapier Seminar (IRS) which he hosted in 2015. He has presented his translation work at academic and public conferences in France and Belarus.

In historical fencing or HEMA (for Historical European Martial Arts) we reconstruct sword fighting systems from historical sources. Our club focuses on Italian medieval and renaissance sources, fencing with the Spadone (Two-Handed Sword), Spear, Sidesword (One-Handed Sword) together with Shield, Cape, Dagger, you name it!

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