Ascanio Centorio - Discorsi di guerra - 1562

The author: Ascanio Centorio degli Ortensi

Ascanio Centorio degli Ortensi was an Italian 16th-century letters and historian. His figure is particularly interesting because he stands at the crossroads of literature, historiography, and military culture.

Centorio initially devoted himself to poetry and literature as well, but his most important historical activity is linked to the collaboration with Giovanni Battista Castaldo, renowned military commander of the era. According to Treccani's reconstruction, Castaldo began in 1557 to dictate to Centorio observations on military technique matured from his long experience; these insights eventually flowed into the Discourses on War, published between 1558 and 1562.

This relationship is fundamental to understanding the work: Centorio is the author who organizes and writes down the material, while behind the military content emerges Castaldo's concrete experience.

Treccani itself emphasizes that the work was published under Centorio's name, but that the military observations largely came from Castaldo's experience.

3. Giovanni Battista Castaldo: the historical figure behind the work

A fundamental connection is therefore with Giovanni Battista Castaldo, Marquis of Cassano and Count of Piadena.

Castaldo was an important 16th-century military commander. He fought in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, and Hungary, and distinguished himself especially in the Transylvanian campaign of 1551. In 1562 he also commanded the Spanish troops in Piedmont against the French.

The relationship between the two men explains why the book is not merely a theoretical treatise. The text was born in an era in which the direct experience of commanders carried enormous importance in reflecting on the art of war.

It is significant that the page you photographed also dedicates the work to Giovanni Battista Castaldo, presenting him with his noble titles.

4. What the Fifth and Last Discourse Is About

The Discourses on War are structured into five parts, each dedicated to a different aspect of war and military leadership.

According to the bibliographic description of the work:
- the first discourse concerns the duties of a general of an army;
- the second addresses the conquest of a province;
- the third covers the qualities of the master-general of the field;
- the fourth concerns the defense of a city under siege;
- the fifth, that of photography, further broadens the military subject.

The fifth book is particularly important also for its size: the Folger Shakespeare Library records 285 pages, while the four preceding books are much shorter.

Thus the book should not be interpreted simply as a narrative of battles. It is above all a reflection on strategy, on command, on military decisions, and on the experience necessary to face war.

5. The meaning of the work

The meaning of the Discourses on War must be placed in the context of fifteenth-century Europe, a period characterized by frequent conflicts and by the transformation of military techniques.

In the sixteenth century war was changing profoundly. The spread of firearms, artillery, and new fortification techniques made the conduct of armies increasingly complex.

For this reason there was also a growing need to put military knowledge in writing.

Centorio's work thus represents an attempt to transform the concrete experience of commanders into organized and transmissible knowledge.

It is not only about knowing how to fight: the text also reflects on how a commander must reason, organize his forces, assess the enemy, and make decisions.

6. The connection with the Transylvania War

One of the most interesting historic connections concerns Transylvania.

Castaldo was a protagonist of the 1551 military campaign in Transylvania, and Centorio drew on information directly tied to the commander's experience. His later work, Commentarii della guerra di Transilvania, recounts the events in that area and represents an important source for understanding the military affairs of the time.

This allows linking the Discourses on War to one of the great geopolitical issues of the fifteenth century: the clash between the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire in Central-Eastern Europe.

A particularly significant episode is the siege of Timișoara in 1552, described by Centorio in his writings on the Transylvanian war. The city endured a long bombardment and ultimately came under Ottoman control, remaining so for more than a century and a half.

This episode helps to concretely understand why in the fifteenth century themes such as sieges, fortifications, city defense, and army organization were so important.

7. The connection with Charles V and the Habsburgs

Castaldo's career also allows linking the work to the great European politics of the Habsburgs.

Castaldo had fought in the service of Charles V and participated in military campaigns in various parts of Europe. His experience thus developed within conflicts involving the Habsburg world, France, and the Ottoman Empire.

Centorio's work can therefore be read as a document of the military culture of a Europe in which war was no longer limited to single local conflicts but involved great powers, multinational armies, and vast territories.

8. The printer: Gabriel Giolito de' Ferrari

Another fundamental protagonist is Gabriel Giolito de' Ferrari, the printer named in the title page.

Giolito operated in Venice, one of the most important European centers of printing in the sixteenth century. His workshop grew notably, and his editions were characterized by the use of new typefaces, ornaments, and initials, as well as a particular editorial care.

Giolito was thus not simply the person who physically printed the book: he was one of the protagonists of the great Renaissance book industry in Venice.

His activities included classical and contemporary works, often produced in collaboration with scholars, translators, correctors, and commentators.

It is also interesting that in the following years Giolito, together with Tommaso Porcacchi, developed an important editorial project devoted to history and war, the so-called “Collana historica.” The catalog included texts by ancient authors such as Polybius, Thucydides, and Plutarch, alongside contemporary military treatises.

This shows how Venetian printing was contributing to the diffusion of historical and military culture.

9. Why the book is important also as an object

The photograph you showed allows us to observe not only the content, but the book as a historical artifact.

The page presents:
- ancient and naturally deteriorated paper;
- sixteenth-century types;
- initials and woodcut ornaments;
- a large heraldic arms mark/illustration;
- the editorial formula “In Vinegia appresso Gabriel Giolito de' Ferrari”;
- the date MDLXII, i.e. 1562.

The bibliographic cataloging of the exemplar confirms the presence of italic, roman, initials, and woodcut ornaments.

This is important because the page itself becomes a testimony of the Renaissance typographic revolution: the book is no longer merely a container of information, but also an editorial product designed graphically and intended for relatively wide circulation.

10. The impact of the work

The impact of the Discourses on War must be considered mainly in the context of sixteenth-century military treatises.

Its importance stems from the attempt to collect and systematize contemporary military experience. The work enjoyed good editorial fortune and was reprinted several times after the first publications.

There is also concrete evidence of its circulation: the five Discourses on War are today preserved and cataloged in important historical collections, including the Folger Shakespeare Library, which records the various parts published between 1559 and 1567.

Thus the value of the work is twofold:
- historical, because it preserves information and reflections related to the war of the sixteenth century;
- cultural, because it shows how Renaissance military experience was transformed into knowledge written down and spread through printing.

11. A particularly interesting aspect: experience and memory

An element that makes the work interesting is the relationship between lived experience and written memory.

Castaldo was a fighting man who had directly participated in campaigns; Centorio, on the other hand, was a literary man and historian capable of transforming those experiences into a written work.

A sort of collaboration is thus created:
- military experience → memory and observations of Castaldo → literary elaboration by Centorio → Venetian printing by Giolito → diffusion of knowledge

This process is significant because it helps to understand how, in the Renaissance, knowledge did not necessarily remain confined to a commander’s personal experience but could become text, historical memory, and cultural heritage.

12. Conclusion

The fifth and last Discourse on War, published in Venice in 1562, is much more than an ancient book about war.

It is the result of the meeting between Ascanio Centorio degli Ortensi, man of letters and historian, Giovanni Battista Castaldo, a military commander with long battlefield experience, and Gabriel Giolito de' Ferrari, one of the most important Venetian printers of the sixteenth century.

The work testifies to a fundamental phase of European history, marked by wars among great powers, Ottoman presence in Eastern Europe, the Italian wars, and the transformation of military techniques.

Its value, however, is not only military. The book shows how the Renaissance transformed experience into knowledge, knowledge into text, and text into memory through printing.

Collation and preservation state
11pp, (20pp) - 14pp, (54pp) - 15pp, (62pp) - 19pp, (117pp) - 24pp, (285pp)
Preservation status: idyllic, pristine and untouched pages; maximum preservation state to emphasize; slight seven hundred-era trimming as shown in the photo due to posthumous binding and non-contemporary

Shipping
express shipping which will allow you to receive the book in only 24 working hours anywhere in Europe, while for non-EU countries 48 working hours will be necessary.