The Gladiatory Art

Readers today are familiar with the gladiators of ancient Rome who fought to the death in the Coliseum. Very few, however, are aware of the resurgence of bloody gladiatorial combat which took place in 18th century Britain, in which the so-called "Masters of the Noble Science of Defence", full of fire and bravado, demonstrated their expertise with sharp broadswords, daggers, shields, quarterstaffs, flails, two-handed swords, and other antiquated weapons before rabid audiences, while risking brutal mutilation and sometimes death for fame, glory, and prize money. Despite the immense popularity they enjoyed during their heyday-which lasted for almost a century-the gladiators have received little attention from scholars and historians, confined instead to a mere chapter in the back of Victorian-era fencing histories.

This, then-the product of nearly two decades of research-is the first book devoted to the lives, writings, and techniques of the 18th century stage gladiators, whose ranks included a number of women (the "Mistresses of the Science of Defence"), fighters of African descent, Native Americans, as well as numerous Irish, Scots, Welsh, and English. Central to this world was the redoubtable James Figg, the most famous of all the gladiators, who managed the infamous "Bear-Garden" amphitheater, and who played a major role in the popularization and dissemination of gladiatorial combat. Joining Figg in his endeavors, and also featured in this book, are a number of other colorful and legendary gladiators, such as the extraordinary Donald McBane of Scotland, Captain James Miller (who penned a treatise on gladiatorial combat), Edward "Ned" Sutton (one of the few men to ever defeat Figg), the "Invincible City Championess" Elizabeth Stokes, and Thomas Barrett, an Irishman said to have fought "600 and odd Battles" before finally meeting his gruesome demise on the stage.

Presented as a primary sourcebook rather than a dense narrative history, this text not only contains the largest number of firsthand accounts and challenges pertaining to the gladiators ever compiled, but also includes the writings of the gladiators themselves (including treatises on technique), a selection of essays, poetry, and songs from the period, a chapter on bare-knuckle boxing (a deadly form which finally superseded gladiatorial combat during the mid eighteenth century), obscure accounts of gladiatorial combat in New England and South America, as well as more than sixty engravings, sketches, and paintings relating to the gladiators from between the years 1680 and 1770. As one author of the period observed,

"Look you, the Bear-Garden is preparing, and the Gladiators coming out to entertain the People. And here every thing is dull without Mischief, the Blood must run about to give satisfaction; and all the Pleasure lies in slashing and cutting of Throats...Thus Men are stabbed to divert those of their own Kind; and to kill handsomely goes for Skill, Commendation, and Improvement. Thus Barbarities are not only practised, but taught as a Science: It is an Art to be well prepared, and a Glory to execute the Murder..."