The Thirteen Sections
The treatise, section by section
The prefatory material: the Italian prose preface (biography, the five duels, the Este dedication), the Pisani Dossi prologues, and the Segno with the four animals.
Abrazare — the foundation of the art: four guards, sixteen plays, the holds, locks, breaks, and dislocations the whole system runs on.
The bastoncello: four plays with a small stick, two of them borrowed wholesale from the dagger Masters — the clearest proof of the one-art thesis.
The largest section: the five guards, the dagger’s blows, and the Nine Remedy Masters with their scholars and counters — including the three locks.
The short weapon against the long: closing from the Boar’s Tooth, and the three wagers of dagger and scabbard against the sword.
The sword alone against three players: covers, strikes, the middle lock, the under-hilt disarm, and the breaking of the thrust.
The central weapon: the three turns and four steps, six blows, twelve guards, the wide play, and the close play with its locks and sword-takings.
The swordsman in the Boar’s Tooth against spear-armed companions and thrown weapons.
Harness fencing: the six armored Masters, half-swording, thrusts to the gaps — and the prose/verse contradiction over the Middle Iron Gate.
The poleaxe in harness: beats, visor-work, the strong lower lock, the disarm — and the notorious powder-filled axe with its recipe.
Six spear Masters, three forehand and three backhand, each standing in a guard borrowed from the longsword system.
Staff-and-dagger and two staffs against spears, and the Master with the ghiavarina — filed by every manuscript with the cavalry material.
Lance against lance, sword against lance, mounted grappling, horse-throws, and the pursuit — with the richest Morgan coverage in the book.