Italian mercenaries 65438+Italian mercenaries after the 4th century.

14th century to16th century, there were many mercenary teams in Italy who took their ancestral spears or crossbows and tried their luck in western Europe. The largest multinational company is compagnie di ventura, and the soldiers they hired were condottieri, which later became synonymous with mercenaries. The word originally comes from the Latin word condotta, which refers to the contracts signed by mercenary companies with dignitaries of various countries. Businessmen from Genoa, Venice and Milan can be seen everywhere. They not only provide soldiers, but also include retinue, equipment, horses and funds, as long as they can get more benefits.

Condottieri is slightly different from other companies. Their boss is a mercenary himself. The founders were German knight von Urslingen, Provence priest Piero Della Francescan Framoriale and an English adventurer Hawkwood (he was originally a tailor in London but was later knighted). Gossip aside, they first worked for the Pope and fought a battle in northern Italy, defeating the mercenary troops of the nobles of Gasconi and Brittany (both French places) and gaining a certain reputation. Interested friends can look up the books themselves. The battle took place in Mariano, Coda Barbiano, Alberi at 1380, which was very embarrassing. It is said that it is to recover some bad debts.

/kloc-In the first half of the 4th century, Emperor henry vii of the Holy Roman Empire, King Louis Vig of Bavaria and King Louis I of Hungary successively led troops to invade Italy, which led to a surge in foreign mercenaries. Germans, Flanders and Hungarians can be seen everywhere in the Italian army. Dante once thought that henry vii was the savior of Italy and that he led the divided Italy towards reunification. Unexpectedly, henry vii died suddenly in Siena in 13 13. During this period, many famous mercenary legions were produced, and most of the commanders (Condotti) were not Italian. 1339, Rodrigo of Milan's visconti family founded the San Giorgio company with the support of Verona people, which was the first mercenary led by an Italian. 1342, Werner von Uslingen formed the German Corps, the main arms of which were heavy knights. At its strongest, there were 10000 soldiers and 20000 army personnel. Uslingen is famous for his ferocity, and his breastplate is engraved with "enemies of God, no mercy and no mercy".

The signing of the Bradini Peace Treaty marked the end of the first stage of the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France (1337- 1360). A large number of unemployed mercenaries from Britain, Germany, Burgundy and Provence crossed the Alps to Italy, including Sir john Hawkwood, an Englishman. Founded in 1362, it is composed of British, Germans and Hungarians who joined later. At first, it was led by Albert Steinz, a German. At the most, there are about five or six thousand people, and at the worst, there are more than 200 people. Hawkwood served as the commander of the White Army for a long time, and was employed by Pisa, Perugia, Milan, Pope, Naples, Padua and Florence. He is one of the most famous mercenary generals in Italian history.