Condottieri

Condottieri were mercenary leaders employed by Italian city-states from the late Middle Ages until the mid-sixteenth century.

Related Topics:
Mercenary - City-states

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In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries Italian city-states were becoming enriched by their trade with the Orient. These cities, such as Venice, Florence, and Genoa had woefully small armies and were increasingly becoming targets of attack by foreign powers as well as envious neighbors. The noblemen ruling the cities soon resorted to hiring companies of mercenaries known as "condotta" to defend their territories. Each condotta was led by a "condottiere."

Related Topics:
Thirteenth - Fourteenth centuries - City-state - Venice - Florence - Genoa

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Often the administration of the cities was also in the hands of a foreign podestà hired for one year.

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The bands of condottieri became notorious for their caprice. They would often change sides to a higher paying rival before and even during battle. The condottieri soon realized that they held a monopoly on military power in Italy and began dictating terms to their former employers. Many, such as Braccio da Montone and Muzio Sforza, became powerful political figures in the fourteenth century. The condottieri also became lethargic in regards to the changing nature of warfare and began fighting each other in grandiose but often pointless and nearly bloodless "battles." The condottieri still retained grand armored knights and medieval weapons and tactics long after the rest of Europe had converted to more modern armies composed of pikemen and musketeers.

Related Topics:
Muzio Sforza - Pikemen - Musketeer

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In the 16th century, with the French invasion of Italy and the Papal States's plea to the Spanish for help, the lavishly adorned but ineffective condottieri were defeated by wave after wave of invasions from the armies of almost every nation in Western Europe. The condottieri were no match for the Swiss pikemen, English musketeers, French cavalry, and Spanish tercios, and the condotta had disappeared by 1550.

Related Topics:
16th century - Italy - Papal States - Spanish - Western Europe - Tercio

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