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{{Short description|Mercenary soldier leader in medieval Italy}}
{{Italic title}}
[[File:Malpaga10.JPG|thumb|''Condottiero'' and his troops in a [[Renaissance-era]] fresco, influenced by Landsknecht mercenary fashion.]]
'''Condottieri''' ({{IPA|it|kondotˈtjɛːri|lang}}; singular: ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian military leaders active during the [[Middle Ages]] and the [[early modern period]]. The term originally referred specifically to commanders of [[mercenary]] companies, derived from the Italian word ''condotta''—the contract under which they served a [[Italian city-states|city-state]] or lord. The word ''condottiero'' thus meant 'contractor'. Over time, however, in Italian usage, ''condottiero'' came to mean any 'commander' or 'military leader'.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W-dVAAAAYAAJ&q=last+condottiere+Montecuccoli|title=Raimondo Montecuccoli: capitano e scrittore|last1=Tomassini|first1=Luciano|last2=storico|first2=Italy Esercito Corpo di stato maggiore Ufficio|date=1978|publisher=Stato Maggiore dell'esercito, Ufficio storico|language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WLNJAQAAIAAJ&q=Condottiere+Alessandro+Farnese|title=Alessandro Farnese: condottiero e duca (1545–1592)|last1=Pronti|first1=Stefano|last2=civici|first2=Piacenza (Italy) Musei|date=1995|publisher=TipLeCo|language=it}}</ref><ref>Lenman, B., Anderson, T. ''Chambers Dictionary of World History'', p. 200</ref>

==Mercenary captains==

===Background===
In the 13th and 14th centuries, the [[Italian city-state]]s of [[Republic of Venice|Venice]], [[Republic of Florence|Florence]], and [[republic of Genoa|Genoa]] were very rich from their trade with the [[Levant]], yet possessed woefully small armies. In the event that foreign powers and envious neighbours attacked, the ruling nobles hired foreign mercenaries to fight for them. The military-service terms and conditions were stipulated in a {{lang|it|condotta}} (contract) between the city-state and the soldiers (officer and enlisted man), thus, the "contracted" leader, the mercenary captain commanding, was titled the "Condottiere".

From the eleventh to the thirteenth century, European soldiers led by professional officers fought against the [[Muslims]] in [[crusades|the Crusades]] (1095–1291). These crusading officers provided large-scale warfare combat experience in the Holy Land. At the Crusades' conclusion, the first {{lang|it|masnada}} (bands of roving soldiers; {{plural form}}: {{lang|it|masnade}}) appeared in Italy. Given the profession, some {{lang|it|masnade}} were less mercenaries than bandits and desperate men. These {{lang|it|masnade}} were not Italian, but (mostly) [[Flemings]], from the [[Duchy of Brabant]] (hence, {{lang|it|Brabanzoni}}), and from [[Aragon]]. The latter were Spanish soldiers who had followed King [[Peter III of Aragon]] in the [[War of the Sicilian Vespers]] in Italy in October 1282, and, post-war, remained there, seeking military employment. By 1333 other mercenaries had arrived in Italy to fight with [[John of Bohemia]] as the {{lang|it|Compagnia della Colomba}} (Company of the Dove) in [[Perugia]]'s war against [[Arezzo]]. The first well-organised mercenaries in Italy were the Ventura Companies of [[Werner von Urslingen|Duke Werner von Urslingen]] and [[Konrad von Landau|Count Konrad von Landau]]. Werner's company differed from other mercenary companies because its code of military justice imposed discipline and an equal division of the contract's income. The Ventura Company increased in number until becoming the fearsome "[[The Great Company (German)|Great Company]]" of some 3,000 {{lang|it|barbute}} (each {{lang|it|barbuta}} comprised a knight and a sergeant).

===Rise===
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2018}}
{{multiple image
| direction         = vertical
| width             = 210
| footer            = 
| image1            = Visconti, Luchino (12.. 1349).jpg
| alt1              = 
| caption1          = [[Luchino Visconti (died 1349)|Luchino Visconti]] defeated the ''Company of Saint George'' of [[Werner von Urslingen]] at the [[Battle of Parabiago]] in [[Lombardy]] in 1339.
| image2            = Albericodabarbiano.jpg
| alt2              = 
| caption2          = [[Alberico da Barbiano]], a mercenary alongside [[John Hawkwood]], founded his own (all Italian) {{lang|it|condotta}}, the ''Company of St. George'', and reached acclaim by defeating the [[Breton people|Breton]] company of anti-pope [[Clement VII]] at {{ill|Battle of Marino|fr|Bataille de Marino|lt=Marino}} in 1379, as well as fostering notable other ''condottiere'' such as [[Facino Cane]] and [[Braccio da Montone]].
}}
The first mercenary company with an Italian as its chief was the "Company of St. George" formed in 1339 and led by [[Lodrisio Visconti]]. This company was defeated and destroyed by [[Luchino Visconti (died 1349)|Luchino Visconti]] of Milan (another ''condottiero'' and uncle of Lodrisio) in April 1339. Later, in 1377, a second "Company of St. George" was formed under the leadership of [[Alberico da Barbiano]], also an Italian and the Count of Conio, who later taught [[military science]] to ''condottieri'' such as [[Braccio da Montone]] and [[Muzio Sforza|Giacomuzzo Attendolo Sforza]], who also served in the company.<ref>{{cite book |last=Machiavelli|first=Niccolò|author-link=Niccolò Machiavelli|title=The Prince |title-link=The Prince|translator-last=Rebhorn|translator-first=Wayne A.|chapter=12|year=2004|page=57|publisher=Barnes & Noble Classics|isbn=1593083289}}</ref>

Once aware of their military power monopoly in Italy, the ''condottieri'' bands became notorious for their capriciousness and soon dictated terms to their ostensible employers. In turn, many condottieri, such as Braccio da Montone and Muzio Sforza, became powerful politicians. As most were educated men acquainted with Roman military science manuals (e.g. [[Vegetius]]'s ''[[De re militari|Epitoma rei militarii]]''), they began viewing warfare from the perspective of military science, rather than as a matter of valour or physical courage—a great, consequential departure from [[chivalry]], the traditional medieval model of soldiering. Consequently, the ''condottieri'' fought by outmanoeuvring the opponent and fighting his ability to wage war, rather than risking uncertain fortune—defeat, capture, death—in battlefield combat.

The earlier, medieval ''condottieri'' developed the "art of war" ([[military strategy]] and [[Military tactics|tactics]]) into military science more than any of their historical military predecessors—fighting indirectly, not directly—thus, only reluctantly endangering themselves and their enlisted men, avoiding battle when possible, also avoiding hard work and winter campaigns, as these all reduced the total number of trained soldiers available, and were detrimental to their political and economic interest.{{sfn|Mallett|1974|p=6}} [[Niccolò Machiavelli]] even said that ''condottieri'' fought each other in grandiose, but often pointless and near-bloodless battles. However, later in the Renaissance the ''condottieri'' line of battle still deployed the grand armoured knight and medieval weapons and tactics after most European powers had begun employing professional standing armies of [[pikemen]] and [[musketeer]]s; this helped to contribute to their eventual decline and destruction.{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}}

In 1347, [[Cola di Rienzo]] (Tribune and effective dictator of the city) had Werner von Urslingen executed in Rome, and Konrad von Landau assumed command of the Great Company. On the conclusion (1360) of the [[Treaty of Brétigny|Peace of Bretigny]] between England and France, Sir [[John Hawkwood]] led an army of English mercenaries, called the [[White Company]], into Italy, which took a prominent part in the confused wars of the next thirty years. Towards the end of the century, the Italians began to organize armies of the same description. This ended the reign of the purely mercenary company and began that of the semi-national mercenary army which endured in Europe till replaced by the national standing army system. In 1363, Count von Landau was betrayed by his Hungarian soldiers, and defeated in combat, by the White Company's more advanced tactics under commanders [[Albert Sterz]] and John Hawkwood. Strategically, the {{lang|it|barbuta}} was replaced with the three-soldier, mounted {{lang|it|lancia}} (a {{lang|it|capo-lancia}}, a groom, and a boy); five {{lang|it|lance}} composed a {{lang|it|posta}}, five {{lang|it|poste}} composed a {{lang|it|bandiera}} (flag). By that time, the campaigning ''condottieri'' companies were as much Italian as foreign: the [[Astorre I Manfredi]]'s {{lang|it|[[Compagnia della Stella]]}} (Company of the Star); a new {{lang|it|[[Compagnia di San Giorgio]]}} (Company of St. George) under Ambrogio Visconti; Niccolò da Montefeltro's {{lang|it|Compagnia del Cappelletto}} (Little Hat Company); and the {{lang|it|[[Compagnia della Rosa]]}} (Company of the Rose), commanded by Giovanni da Buscareto and Bartolomeo Gonzaga.

From the 15th century hence, most ''condottieri'' were landless Italian nobles who had chosen the profession of arms as a livelihood; the most famous of such mercenary captains was the son of [[Caterina Sforza]], [[Giovanni dalle Bande Nere]], from [[Forlì]], known as ''The Last Condottiere''; his son was [[Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany]]; besides noblemen, ''princes'' also fought as condottieri, given the sizable income to their estates, notably [[Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta]], Lord of [[Rimini]], and [[Federico da Montefeltro]], Duke of [[Urbino]]; despite war-time [[inflation]], soldier's pay was high:

* 1,900 monthly [[Italian coin florin|florins]] in 1432: [[Micheletto Attendolo]] (Florence)
* 6,600 monthly florins in 1448: [[William VIII of Montferrat]], from [[Francesco Sforza]] (Milan); the enlisted soldier's pay was 3,300 florins, half that of an officer's
* 33,000 yearly [[scudi]] for 250 men in 1505: [[Francesco II Gonzaga]] (Florence)
* 100,000 yearly scudi for 200 men in 1505: [[Francesco Maria I della Rovere]] (Florence)
[[File:Ermanno Stroiffi - Portrait of a Condottiero.jpg|thumb|''Portrait of a condottiero'' by [[Ermanno Stroiffi]]]]
The ''condottieri'' company commanders selected the soldiers to enlist; the {{lang|it|condotta}} was a consolidated contract, and, when the {{lang|it|ferma}} (service period) elapsed, the company entered an {{lang|it|aspetto}} (wait) period, wherein the contracting city-state considered its renewal. If the {{lang|it|condotta}} expired definitively, the ''condottiere'' could not declare war against the contracting city-state for two years. This military–business custom was respected because professional reputation (business credibility) was everything to the condottieri; a deceived employer was a reputation ruined; likewise, for maritime mercenaries, whose {{lang|it|contratto d'assento}} ({{literally|contract of assent}}) stipulated naval military-service terms and conditions; sea captains and sailors so-contracted were called {{lang|it|assentisti}}. Their principal employers were [[Genoa]] and the [[Papal States]], beginning in the fourteenth century, yet [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] considered it humiliating to so employ military sailors, and did not use naval mercenaries, even during the greatest danger in the city's history.

In 15th-century Italy, the ''condottieri'' were masterful lords of war; during the [[wars in Lombardy]], Machiavelli observed:

{{quote|None of the principal states were armed with their own proper forces. Thus the arms of Italy were either in the hands of the lesser princes, or of men who possessed no state; for the minor princes did not adopt the practice of arms from any desire of glory, but for the acquisition of either property or safety. The others (those who possessed no state) being bred to arms from their infancy, were acquainted with no other art, and pursued war for emolument, or to confer honour upon themselves.|''History'' I. vii.}}

In 1487, at [[Battle of Calliano (1487)|Calliano]], the [[Republic of Venice|Venetians]] successfully met and acquitted themselves against the German [[landsknechte]] and the Swiss infantry, the best soldiers in Europe at the time.

In 1494, the French king [[Charles VIII of France|Charles VIII]]'s royal army invaded the Italian Peninsula, initiating the [[Italian Wars]]. The most renowned ''condottieri'' fought in these conlicts. Since the mid-16th century, mercenary captains decline in importance. However, they continue to exist into the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries. The political practice of hiring foreign mercenaries also did not end. For example, the [[Vatican City|Vatican]]'s [[Swiss Guard]] are the modern remnants of a historically effective mercenary army.

===List===
{{Main|List of condottieri}}
[[File:Bellini, Giovanni - Giovanni Emo - NGA.jpg|thumb|[[Bartolomeo d'Alviano]], one of the ''condottieri'' who took part in the [[Battle of Garigliano (1503)|Battle of Garigliano]]]]
[[File:BartholomaeusColleoni1566-69.png|thumb|[[Bartolomeo Colleoni]] defeated the French at [[Battle of Bosco Marengo|Bosco Marengo]] (1447).]]
[[File:Velazquez-The Surrender of Breda.jpg|thumb|[[Ambrogio Spinola]], one of the last examples of the condottieri tradition]]
[[File:Farinata.jpg|thumb|[[Farinata degli Uberti]] by [[Andrea del Castagno]], showing a 15th-century condottiero's typical attire]]
The following is a list of famous Italian mercenary captains:

* [[Roger de Flor]] ({{circa|1268–1305}})
* [[Malatesta da Verucchio]] (1212–1312)
* [[Castruccio Castracani]], Lord of [[Lucca]] (1281–1328)
* [[Cangrande della Scala]] (1291–1329)
* [[Fra' Moriale|Montréal d'Albarno]] ({{circa|1315–1354}})
* [[Walter VI of Brienne]] ({{circa|1304–1356}})
* [[Konrad von Landau]] (died 22 April 1363)
* [[Albert Sterz]] (executed 1366)
* [[John Hawkwood]] (Giovanni Acuto, {{circa|1320–1394}})
* [[Giovanni Ordelaffi]] from [[Forlì]] (1355–1399)
* [[Astorre I Manfredi]] (1345–1405)
* [[Alberico da Barbiano]] (1344–1409)
* [[Johann II (Habsburg-Laufenburg)]] ({{circa|1330–1380}})
* [[Facino Cane|Facino Cane de Casale]] ({{circa|1360–1412}})
* [[Angelo Tartaglia|Angelo Broglio da Lavello]], also known as ''Tartaglia'' (1350 or 1370–1421)
* Andrea Fortebracci, better known as [[Braccio da Montone]] (1368–1424)
* [[Muzio Sforza|Muzio Attendolo]], also called [[Sforza]] (Strong) (1369–1424)
* [[Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola]] (1390–1432)
* [[Giovanni Vitelleschi]] (died 1440)
* [[Erasmo da Narni]], also known as ''Gattamelata'' (1370–1443)
* [[Niccolò Piccinino]] (1380–1444)
* [[Micheletto Attendolo]] (Muzio Attendolo's cousin or nephew, {{circa|1390}} – {{circa|1451}})
* [[Francesco Sforza]] (1401–1466)
* [[Onorata Rodiani]] (1403–1452)
* [[Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta]] (1417–1468)
* [[Bartolomeo Colleoni]] ({{circa|1400–1475}})
* [[Roberto Sanseverino d'Aragona]] (1418–1487)
* [[Federico III da Montefeltro]] (1422–1482)
* [[Francesco Alidosi]] (1455–1511)
* [[Vitellozzo Vitelli]] (1458–1502)
* [[Oliverotto Euffreducci]] (1475–1502)
* [[Niccolò di Pitigliano]] (died 1510)
* [[Ettore Fieramosca]] (1479–1515)
* [[Cesare Borgia]] (1475–1507)
* [[Prospero Colonna]] (1452–1523)
* [[Bartolomeo d'Alviano]] (1455–1515)
* [[Mercurio Bua]] (1478–1542)
* [[Gian Giacomo Trivulzio]] ({{circa|1441–1518}})
* [[Giovanni dalle Bande Nere]] (1498–1526)
* [[Piero Strozzi]] (c. 1510–1558)

Some of the most famous battles in which they were involved are:

* [[Battle of Montecatini]] (1315)
* [[Battle of Parabiago]] (1339) – [[Lodrisio Visconti]]'s "Company of St. George", for [[Verona]], against [[Luchino Visconti (died 1349)|Luchino Visconti]] and Ettore da Panigo for [[Duchy of Milan|Milan]]
* [[Battle of Cascina]] (1364)
* [[War of the Eight Saints]] (1375–1378)
** Cesena Bloodbath (1377) – [[Papal States|Papal]] and [[Duchy of Brittany|Breton]] mercenaries under [[John Hawkwood]] slaughtered more than 2,000 citizens of [[Cesena]]
* Battle of Marino (1379) – Papal mercenaries under Alberico da Barbiano defeat Breton and French mercenaries under the anti-Pope
* [[Battle of Castagnaro]] (1387) – [[Giovanni Ordelaffi]] for Verona, against John Hawkwood for [[Padova]]
* [[Battle of Casalecchio]] (1402) – [[Alberico da Barbiano]] for Milan against [[Muzio Attendolo]] and others for the Bolognese-Florentine League
* [[Battle of Motta (1412)]] 
* [[Battle of Sant'Egidio]] (1416) – [[Braccio da Montone]] for himself against [[Carlo I Malatesta]] for [[Perugia]]
* [[Battle of Maclodio]] (1427) – [[Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola|Count of Carmagnola]] for [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] against Carlo I Malatesta for Milan
* [[Battle of San Romano]] (1432) – [[Niccolò da Tolentino]] for [[Republic of Florence|Florence]] against [[Francesco Piccinino]] for [[Republic of Siena|Siena]]
* [[Battle of Anghiari (1440)]] – [[Niccolò Piccinino]] for Milan against Florence, the Papal States, and Venice under [[Micheletto Attendolo]]
* [[Battle of Bosco Marengo]] (1447) 
* [[Battle of Molinella]] (1467)
* [[Battle of Crevola]] (1487) 
* [[Battle of Calliano (1487)]]
* [[Battle of Agnadello]] (1509) – [[Bartolomeo d'Alviano]] for Venice against [[Kingdom of France|France]] and the Italian League
* [[Battle of Marciano]] (1554) – [[Gian Giacomo Medici]] for Florence and the Holy Roman Empire against [[Piero Strozzi]] for Siena and France
* [[Wars of Castro]] (1641–1649) – between Pope [[Pope Urban VIII|Urban VIII]] and his successor [[Pope Innocent X|Innocent X]], and the [[Duchy of Parma and Piacenza|Parma]]

==Evolution of the term==
While the military service {{lang|it|condotta}} gradually disappeared, the term {{lang|it|condottiere}} remained in use, denominating the great Italian generals fighting for European states, monarchs and Popes during the Italian wars and the [[European wars of religion]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W-dVAAAAYAAJ&q=last+condottiere+Montecuccoli|title=Raimondo Montecuccoli: capitano e scrittore|last1=Tomassini|first1=Luciano|last2=storico|first2=Italy Esercito Corpo di stato maggiore Ufficio|date=1978|publisher=Stato Maggiore dell'esercito, Ufficio storico|language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WLNJAQAAIAAJ&q=Condottiere+Alessandro+Farnese|title=Alessandro Farnese: condottiero e duca (1545–1592)|last1=Pronti|first1=Stefano|last2=civici|first2=Piacenza (Italy) Musei|date=1995|publisher=TipLeCo|language=it}}</ref><ref>Lenman, B., Anderson, T. ''Chambers Dictionary of World History'', p. 200</ref> Men referred to as 'condottieri' in this sense include the [[Marquis of Pescara]] (1489–1525), the [[Alfonso III d'Avalos|Marquis of Vasto]] (1502–1546), [[Ferrante Gonzaga]] (1507–1557), [[Marcantonio II Colonna]] (1535–1584), [[Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma|Alexander Farnese]] (1545–1592), [[Torquato Conti]] (1591–1636), [[Ambrogio Spinola]] (1569–1630), [[Ottavio Piccolomini]] (1599–1656), [[Raimondo Montecuccoli]] (1609–1680) and many others. Therefore, in Italian, the term 'condottiero' eventually became synonymous with 'military leader' or 'commander'.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* Machiavelli, Niccolò. ''History of Florence''. book I, ch. vii. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20060912030417/http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/m/machiavelli/niccolo/m149h/chapter7.html on-line text])
* Rendina, Claudio (1992). ''I Capitani di ventura''. Newton Compton.
* Ricotti, Ercole (1844–1845). ''Storia delle compagnie di ventura in Italia'', 4 vols.
* Lenman, B., Anderson, T., eds. (2000). ''Chambers Dictionary of World History'', Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. {{ISBN|0-550-13000-4}}.
* {{cite book|last=Mallett|year=1974|first=Michael|title=Mercenaries and their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy|publisher=The Bodley Head|place=London|isbn=0-370-10502-8|url={{googlebooks|B1FoAAAAMAAJ|plainurl=y}}}}
* Димов, Г. Войната в италийските земи през късното Средновековие: кондотиерите – В: сп. Алманах, I, 2015, 30–43.
* {{EB1911|wstitle=condottiere |volume=6|pages=854–855|ref=none}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Condottieri}}
{{Wikisource1911Enc|condottiere }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080828071932/http://paradoxplace.com/Insights/Equestrian/Equestrians.htm Adrian Fletcher's Paradoxplace Condottieri Statues & Paintings] {{in lang|en}}
* [http://www.condottieridiventura.it Condottieri di ventura – a complete database about Condottieri operating in Italy between 1300–1550] {{in lang|it}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Condottieri| ]]
[[Category:Mercenary units and formations of the Middle Ages]]
[[Category:16th century in Italy]]
[[Category:Medieval history of Italy]]