(draft version--still some problems with getting the italics to
show up) C. Deily, Schola Saint George - Boston Area Guy
Windsor, in his essay “Half full? Meza and Tuta in Fior
Battaglia”,1 looks at poste (guards), volte (turns), ligadure
(binds) and grips, coming to the conclusion that in Fiore dei
Liberi’s work the word meza (or mezza) generally means half, and
tutta means full.2 In his exhaustive coverage of the words, he
pins down for interpreters exactly why this obvious translation
can be used consistently in Fiore’s manuscripts. This essay
should not be seen as a challenge to his work or to change our
physical interpretations, but to suggest a possible reason why
these terms are used to describe the volte (plural of volta, a
turn) of the feet and the sword. The paragraph containing the
definitions of footwork is given in the Getty version of Fiore’s
manuscript as: “… Volta stabile che stando fermo po zugar
denanci e di dredo de una parte. Meza volta si e quando uno fa
un passo o inanzi o indredo, e cho