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Condottieri were Italian military leaders during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. The definition originally applied only to commanders of mercenary companies, condottiero in medieval Italian meaning 'contractor' and condotta being the contract by which the condottieri put themselves in the service of a city or lord. The term, however, came to refer to all the famed Italian military leaders of the Renaissance and Reformation era. Notable condottieri include Prospero Colonna, Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, Cesare Borgia, the Marquis of Pescara, Andrea Doria, and the Duke of Parma. They served Popes and other European monarchs and states during the Italian Wars and the European Wars of Religion.
Sir John Hawkwood was an English soldier who served as a mercenary leader or condottiero in Italy. As his name was difficult to pronounce for non-English-speaking contemporaries, there are many variations of it in the historical record. He often referred to himself as Haukevvod and in Italy, he was known as Giovanni Acuto, literally meaning "John Sharp" in reference to his "cleverness or cunning". His name was Latinised as Johannes Acutus. Other recorded forms are Aucgunctur, Haughd, Hauvod, Hankelvode, Augudh, Auchevud, Haukwode and Haucod. His exploits made him a man shrouded in myth in both England and Italy. Much of his enduring fame results from the surviving large and prominent fresco portrait of him in the Duomo, Florence, made in 1436 by Paolo Uccello, seen every year by 4½ million tourists.
Braccio da Montone, born Andrea Fortebraccio, was an Italian condottiero.
Werner von Urslingen from German-speaking origins in the Holy Roman Empire was a mercenary serving mostly in Italy, and also known as the founder of the Great Company (German).
Alberico da Barbiano was the first of the Italian condottieri. His master in military matters was the English mercenary John Hawkwood, known in Italy as Giovanni Acuto. Alberico's compagnia fought under the banner of Saint George, as the compagnia San Giorgio.
Malatesta II Malatesta, best known as Guastafamiglia was an Italian condottiero and lord of Rimini.
The Battle of Parabiago was fought in February 1339 near Parabiago, in Lombardy, northern Italy, between the Milanese army and the St. George's Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti. A renowned condottiero, the latter was an exiled member of the Visconti family then in power in Milan with a kind of triumvirate formed by Azzone and his uncles, Luchino and Archbishop Giovanni Visconti. Aiming to return victoriously to his city, he hired some 2,500 knights, mainly from Germany, and 1,000 Swiss infantry which had fought in the unsuccessful war of Mastino II della Scala for the hegemony in northern Italy. These units were led by Werner von Urslingen and Konrad von Landau.
Lodrisio Visconti was an Italian condottiero.
Galeotto I Malatesta (1299–1385) was an Italian condottiero from the House of Malatesta who was lord of Rimini, Fano, Ascoli Piceno, Cesena and Fossombrone.
The Neapolitan campaigns of Louis the Great, also called the Neapolitan Adventure, was a war between the Kingdom of Hungary, led by Louis the Great, and the Kingdom of Naples. It was fought from 1347 until 1352.
A free company was an army of mercenaries between the 12th and 14th centuries recruited by private employers during wars. They acted independently of any government, and were thus "free". They regularly made a living by plunder when they were not employed; in France they were called routiers and écorcheurs and operated outside the highly structured law of arms. The term "free company" is most often applied to those companies of soldiers which formed after the Peace of Brétigny during the Hundred Years' War and were active mainly in France, but it has been applied to other companies, such as the Catalan Company and companies that operated elsewhere, such as in Italy and the Holy Roman Empire.
The Battle of Canturino was a clash of two condottiere companies, the long-established Great Company under Konrad von Landau and the newer White Company under Albert Sterz and John Hawkwood near Novara, north-west of Milan.
Jean Montréal du Bar, also known as Fra Moriale or Montréal de Albarno, was a Provençal mercenary and condottiero.
The Compagnia di San Giorgio was the name of several companies of mercenaries in Italy during the 14th century.
Konrad Wirtinger von Landau, known in Italy as Conte Lando, was a German military adventurer and condottiero who was active in north and central Italy.
Albert Sterz was a German noble who was a leader of mercenary Free companies, primarily operating in Italy.
The Battle of Campo delle Mosche took place on 23 July 1359 in the district of Pontedera in the state of Pisa, Italy between the forces of Florence and those of the mercenary Great Company. It resulted in a victory for the Florentine forces.
Paolo Savelli was an Italian condottiero who served under Alberico da Barbiano in the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples, before entering the service of the Duchy of Milan in its wars with Florence. He finally served the Republic of Venice as its commander-in-chief during the War of Padua, dying of the plague during the final siege of Padua.
Rinaldo Giver, known as Malerba, died 1345, was a German or Swiss condottiero.
References
- ↑ For example, see Nolan, Cathal J (2006). The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650, Volume 1: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 166. ISBN 9780313330452.
- ↑ Mallet, Michael: Mercenaries and their Masters, Bodley Head, London, 1974 ISBN 0370105028 pp31-2
- ↑ Mallett (1974), pp32-33
- ↑ Mallett (1974), pp33-6
- ↑ Caferro, William (2006). John Hawkwood: An English Mercenary in Fourteenth Century Italy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. pp. 59–60. ISBN 0-8018-8323-7.