Mercenaries and Their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy

by Michael Mallett, William Caferro (Contribution by)

Overview

The eminent Renaissance historian’s classic study of warfare between Italian city-states between the 13th and 16th centuries.

Michael Mallett’s lucid account of the age of the condottieri—or mercenary captains of fortune—and of the soldiers who fought under them is set in the wider context of the Italian society of the time and of the warring city-states who employed them. Mallett presents a colorful portrait of the mercenaries themselves, as well as their commanders and their campaigns, while also exploring how war was practiced in the Renaissance world.

Mallett puts special focus on the 15th century, a confused period of turbulence and transition when standing armies were formed in Italy and more modern types of military organization took hold across Europe. But it also looks back to the middle ages, and forward to the Italian wars of the sixteenth century when foreign armies disputed the European balance of power on Italian soil.

First published I 1974, Mallett’s pioneering study remains an essential text on the subject of warfare in the late medieval period and the Renaissance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781848849280
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Limited
Publication date:	01/31/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	744,102
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

The late Michael Mallett was professor of history at the University of Warwick. He is best known for his outstanding books on Renaissance Italy, in particular The Florentine Galleys in the Fifteenth Century and The Borgias.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Foreword xi

Introduction 1

1 Thirteenth-century Warfare 6

2 The Age of the Companies 25

3 Soldiers of Fortune 51

4 Condottieri and their Employers 76

5 The Organisation of War 107

6 The Art of War 146

7 The Practice of War 181

8 Soldiers and Society 207

9 Italy and European Warfare 231

10 Conclusion 257

Bibliographical Notes 261

Index 275