The Greatness of the Sword
The Greatness of the Sword is a XVI century Spanish treatise on fencing written by Don Luis Pacheco de Narvaez, who is considered one of the founding fathers of Spanish fencing “Destreza”, the disciple of Jerónimo de Carranza. About the treatise. The treatise dedicates numerous pages on differentiation between two fencing arts, two destrezas which are in Destreza Verdadera (true fencing) and Destreza Vulgar (vulgar or common fencing). It has to be noted, that the treatise was not officially translated into English language. Treatise consists out of five chapters and starts with the title page  which tells: The Book about Greatness of the Sword, there are many secrets revealed that were composed by the General Jeronimo de Carranza. One may study the book without a maestro (teacher). Dedicated to the King of Spain and most part of the world Don Philip the third. The treatise was published in Madrid, Spain on June 17, 1599, before five chapters begin treatise includes text about official taxation, word for a King and the King's appeal. Contents. Prologue. Luis Pacheco de Narvaez persuasively discourses about the skill in general, the reason and animo providing evidence that Destreza is  considered a true science. Criticism. The treatise is considered by some to be a magnificent work not only about fencing, but also about the art of living for a noble men. Indeed, the treatise is written in a sophisticated language with examples from geometry, mathematics, logic, Aristotelian works, Pythagorus’, as well as explanation of types of human temperament and classification of them. On the other hand, certain fencing schools of past centuries considered the work of Luis Pacheco de Narvaez to be pedantic work, which is more about mathematics and calculations than about practical combat. Moreover, some people consider that  Pacheco simply rewrote the work of his maestro The treatise dedicates numerous pages on differentiation between two fencing arts, two destrezas which are in Destreza Verdadera (true fencing) and Destreza Vulgar (vulgar or common fencing) “A second edition of Carranza's book was published in 1600, in all respects similar to the former, together with the first of that long series of works, either by Don Luis Pacheco de Narvaez or about him, which forms nearly the while forms nearly the whole literature of fencing in Spain during the seventeenth century