Who was the foremost military commander in medieval Italy? It was an Englishman, John Hawkwood, who gained fame and fortune as the most sought-after mercenary commander. Medieval and Renaissance life was violent and unstable. Mercenary armies played a pivotal role in conflicts driven by power and political ambitions. Commanders attained riches and enjoyed hero status.
Fourteenth century Italy was composed of different city-states with autonomous rulers, different from medieval Europe. Unlike the landed nobility of Europe, some city-states were ruled by merchants, bankers, and retailers. Leaders of Florence, for example the Medici, came to power as successful merchant-bankers who became involved in politics and city administration. Some city-states were republics with councils of prominent men who ruled the city and its territories. Others, like Milan and the Papal States, were oligarchies.
Each Italian city valued its independence. Most city-states had well-established banking and trade routes specializing in high-end textiles and luxury goods. Italian cities were considerably larger in population than their counterparts in Germany or France. In 1300 Florence had about the same population as Paris, around 50,000. Cities like Florence, Milan, or Venice were revenue rich, more so than cities in other countries.
City-states banded together to raise large armies to thwart invaders from Germany or France. However, the Italian city-states were often in conflict with each other: Florence warring against Pisa or Siena, or Milan encroaching on Florentine or Venetian territory. No city-state could maintain large armies for protection on a regular basis. What they could not do themselves, they hired out. Mercenaries, or soldiers of fortune, were paid armies. They were under the control of a commander, called the condottiere (plural condottieri). Condottieri were feared and highly valued. Mercenaries were hired to battle other city-states or foreign invaders. The condottiere was a strange breed, mercurial, switching sides, and fought for whoever paid the most. These professional soldiers commanded their own hand-picked foreign troops as well local troops.
There were two types of condottieri, foreign, or native born. Fourteenth century Italy hired foreign condottieri to command and run their conflicts: Germans, Hungarians, or British. By the next century native born commanders were common, and few were hired from outside Italy. Commanders were given or awarded land and towns as part of their payment. Fifteenth century Italian born commanders were wealthy and patrons of the arts. They frequently ruled smaller territories in addition to their duties as condottiere, like Federigo da Montefeltro who ruled the city of Urbino. Non-native commanders were more the rule than exception in the fourteenth century, and were in it for themselves, seldom acting as patrons of the arts.
John Hawkwood, Mercenary Commander
John Hawkwood was one of the most famous mercenaries of the 1300s. Born in Essex in 1323, he lived much of his life in Italy, warring on behalf of various cities and rulers. He learned about combat in France fighting for the English crown, and received a knighthood for his efforts. With that conflict concluded he became an ex-pat mercenary who always remained loyal to the English crown. When he set foot in Italy in 1361, he could not have imagined what fame and fortune awaited.
Paulo Uccello painted a fresco of Hawkwood on horseback, carrying a baton. The Florentine government commissioned his portrait in the city’s Duomo as public thanks for his services after his death. Depicting a warrior on horseback harks back to Roman statues of emperors who celebrate victory after a battle. This is the only surviving portrait of Hawkwood. To be remembered in the city’s principal place of worship was a high honor. How did the Englishman come to such success?
Hawkwood’s military career reflects the turmoil and political realities of fourteenth century Italian city-states. Hawkwood and a band of unemployed ex-English army men began raiding and harassing Pope Innocent VI, residing in Avignon, France. A corporal at the time, Hawkwood served in a large band under a German mercenary. Innocent – perhaps aware of Hawkwood’s superior skills – created a job opportunity between Hawkwood and an ally of Innocent’s in Italy who was at war with Bernabò Visconti. The Visconti controlled Milan and Northern Italy for centuries. Hawkwood agreed to the job, attacked the Visconti in Italy, and was victorious. Pisa next employed Hawkwood. Pisa was a staunch ally of Milan. Mercenaries apparently had no problems switching sides nor did their employers care if the mercenary they hired was previously fighting against them.
For some time, Hawkwood served Pisa, who, along with Siena, were continuously battling Florence. He also worked directly for Milan, the pope, then Florence. Florence was constantly trying to gain advantage by attacking neighboring smaller towns, like Lucca, Pisa, and Volterra. Florentine control of these territories kept Milan in check from gaining a foothold in strategic cities west and north of Florence. Florence and Milan were sometimes allies, and sometimes enemies. Hawkwood served his own interests first, working for whoever would offer him the most lucrative deal: money, control of small towns, or an annual pension.
What made the English different was their tactics and battle readiness. Willing to attack in bad weather, or in winter, gave them advantages as well as their skill. Lances, longbow archers, and dismounting to fight on foot were English style techniques. They were particularly known for their expertise as longbow archers. Contracts often stipulated English fighters of good reputation, and skilled in using the longbow. For mercenaries, few engagements lasted more than six months. Contracts stipulated the number of lances or archers, with payment of about 18 florins a lance. Archers earned slightly less.
Battles were rarely hundreds or thousands of armored men opposing each other in open fields. Hawkwood specialized in what were typical tactics for the 1300s. With the intent of weakening the enemy, they preferred striking when least expected: nighttime raids, skirmishes, and provocations. Inflicting mass causalities on as many enemies as possible was not the point. Yes, there were sieges, but most commonly the point of conflict was to force capitulation of the opponent. Mercenaries achieved this by disrupting trade, destroying crops, seizing agricultural land and destroying infrastructure. Kidnapping key rulers or family members happened frequently. A handsome ransom would free the prisoner, signal a loss, and end the conflict. Hawkwood even captured and ransomed an English mercenary commander. Burning villages, rape, and pillage, were of course, all too common, and Hawkwood and his men participated in violence.
Hawkwood was a master of deceit in and out of battle. Connections throughout Italy allowed him to spy on movements of principal rulers and their security detail. He sought safe-conduct routes to pass through territories and duchies from local rulers he never intended to take, knowing word would travel fast that he would be passing through. He even used a local scribe for letter dictation instead of one of his men, knowing full well what he dictated would be repeated be elsewhere, especially his travel plans. Willfully passing on disinformation kept his opponents on guard and unsure of his whereabouts.
Always politically aware of how to make circumstances work in his favor, he married a Visconti daughter while serving the Duke of Milan. His bride was one of the duke’s many illegitimate offspring. He married Donnina Visconti in 1377 when Milan was a short-lived ally of Florence. The marriage offered Hawkwood additional opportunities for employment in Tuscany. In 1385 he severed his mercenary relationship with Milan when a rival Visconti took power. Until his death nine years later he worked primarily for Florence. A few years before he died, he commanded Florentine troops as they tried to defeat Milan. There was little hope of victory against Milan. Hawkwood and his men were surrounded and cut off from supplies. Instead of surrender, he craftily retreated. He snuck his men out at night but tied their banner flags high up in trees to appear as if they were still there. Campfires were left burning. At dawn he sent trumpeters to sound daybreak. Hawkwood and his band escaped to Florence.
The Business of War
Conflicts impacted the flow of money and posed direct threat to the lives of those in disputed territories. Few artisans profited from making weapons of war; it was the condottiere that benefitted the most. Economic impacts caused by war and conflict were devastating. Armies destroyed crops to exact hardships, which led to famine. Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s Allegory of Good Government cast the Sienese government in stark terms of evil and prosperity. His frescoes depict fourteenth century reality in the city and countryside. The Sienese ruling body of the Council of Nine Governors and Defenders of the Commune would meet and make decisions surrounded by these frescoes. The three walls feature Good Government, Bad Government, and Tyranny. Peace, commerce, harmony, and crops thrive with Good Government. Citizens suffer under Bad Government with violence, disrupted commerce, and famine. Citizens thrive in the Good Government fresco with plentiful food brought in from the countryside, dancing, and overall well-being.
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Allegory of Good Government, c. 1338-40, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, photo Gerriann Brower. The countryside in peace and the effects of good government.
Hawkwood, like most foreign mercenaries, sent money home. He was wealthy. With his riches he purchased land in England and supported family in England and Italy. He planned to retire in England. He owned multiple towns and properties in Lombardy and Tuscany. His annual pension alone from Lucca was 400 florins and 1200 florins annually from Florence. He had amassed a small fortune by procuring ransoms, pillaging, and contracts with other cities. One source claimed Hawkwood had 10,000 florins on deposit in Venice. (A tax survey one hundred years later revealed a Florentine family with 800 florins would struggle to live; a family with 3,000 florins annually would be considered wealthy.)
The monetary flow of money from mercenaries to their homeland was considerable. An estimated 10,000 German mercenaries resided in Italy during the fourteenth century, necessitating money transfers to their families, signifying less money was spent in Italy. When the Papal States were at war with Florence from 1375-78, they banned Florentine bankers and seized their goods. The Medici made their fortune as papal bankers and a disruption in economy impacted their wealth and the economy of Florence. Although they regained their status as papal bankers, this disruption was solely intended to weaken the opponent, and as punishment.
Some artisans profited from war and conflict, especially manufacturers of weapons. From 1000 CE Milan was a major manufacturer of armor. German and Milanese armor was considered the highest quality. Most soldiers had one set of armor which they repaired and refitted over their career. Nobles, dukes, kings, and princes had specialty armor for every occasion. They had armor for fighting in battle, for parade, or decorative armor for show. Venice, famous for its arsenale ship building and galleys, produced merchant and war galleys in record pre-industrial time. Venice was also known for canon and gunpowder production. Most cities had artisans who crafted swords, lances, shields, arrows, and bows. Few specialized only in weaponry. A lance or arrow maker’s main source of income would be as a woodworker fashioning chests and cabinetry. Except for armorers, weapons of war supplemented the incomes of blacksmiths, woodworkers, or stonemasons.
Stonemasons were essential workers in building construction and were skilled in making fortifications around city walls. They also carved stone balls used in throwing devices (trebuchet) to batter city defenses. Trebuchets launched a large stone ball aided by a counterweight that flung the object towards its target – probably without great accuracy. Mainly used as a siege weapon, this figure from a fourteenth century chronicle depicts the stone ball heading towards a castle. Men with lances, shields, and bows await the result of the trebuchet, ready to attack.
The town depicted is Nocera. The men are trying to free Pope Urban VI, who is imprisoned in the town. A miniature portrait of Urban VI is visible at the top of the fortress. Nocera, in southern Italy by the Amalfi coast, was Urban’s homeland. The conflict depicted in this chronicle, known as the War of Eight Saints, revolved around a papal schism – two popes elected by different bodies, each claiming to be the legitimate ruler. Opposing sides fought over who they believed was the legitimate pope.
During the War of Eight Saints Florence was directly involved in revolts against Urban’s opponent, Pope Gregory XI. Hawkwood was contracted to Gregory, who was slow to pay him and his men. As a result, Hawkwood began raiding towns, looting, and pillaging in lieu of pay. Florence entered into an agreement with Hawkwood not to attack Tuscan towns and paid him well for non-aggression. Hawkwood eventually left Gregory's employment and worked for Florence and other city-states. Hawkwood’s role in the War of Eight Saints and his non-aggression pact with Florence earned him his portrait in the Duomo.
Hawkwood died in1394. He never returned to England. Florence honored him with a state funeral and buried him in the Duomo. King Richard II of England requested his body be returned to his ancestral home, and Florence obliged. Uccello’s fresco honors his service, and pays tribute to the fourteenth century condottiere.
Sources
Bohmann, Nick. “The Dilemma: Why did City-States Hire Mercenaries?” Medieval Warfare 8, no. 1 (2018): 20–24.
Caferro, William. John Hawkwood: An English Mercenary in Fourteenth-Century Italy. Johns Hopkins University Press. 2006.
Caferro, William P. “Warfare and Economy in Renaissance Italy, 1350-1450.” The Journal of Interdisciplinary History 39, no. 2 (2008): 167–209.
Caferro, William. “The Career of John Hawkwood: An English Mercenary in Italy.” Medieval Warfare 8, no. 1 (2018): 6–12.
Fowler, Kenneth. “Sir John Hawkwood and the English Condottieri in Trecento Italy.” Renaissance Studies 12, no. 1 (1998): 131–48.
Le Croniche di Giovanni Sercambi, Salvatore Bongi, editor, Istituto Storico Italiano, Rome, 1892.
Sobek, David. “Regime Type, Preferences, and War in Renaissance Italy.” The Journal of Conflict Resolution 47, no. 2 (2003): 204–25.
Comments