Mercenaries and their masters;: Warfare in renaissance Italy

by Michael Edward Mallett

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.

Genres: History, Renaissance, Nonfiction, Italy, Military History, Military Fiction, War

284 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Michael Burnam-Fink · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mallett apparently wrote one of best works on this topic, and one that has not been surpassed since. Italian mercenaries have a bad reputation: plumed cowards who refused to close to battle, who switched sides at will, and who ravaged the countryside. Mallett goes beyond the ideological commentators (Machiavelli and various 19th century Italian historians with axes to grind), to get at the mercenaries as they were.

What he reveals is the creation of one of first standing armies in Europe, a disciplined combined arms military system that influenced the continent and was only defeated through political division. Italian mercenaries went from barely organized bandit groups in the 12th century, to independent sovereign powers in the 13th, to key assets of Italian city states in the 14th. They were couragous and vile in turn, but also dedicated and trained professionals with an advanced grasp of tactics, logistics, and weaponry.

Mallett writes exceptionally clearly for an academic, avoiding many of the worst tropes of high theory. His historical account is leavened with descriptions of battles and characters, and while it may be difficult to keep all the characters apart in-mind, I can think of no superior work for this topic.

[Rindis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally written in English in 1974, this is apparently still one of the basic studies of Italian Renaissance warfare in English or Italian. Mallett spent some time studying the original sources and came to what were at the time non-traditional conclusions.

It's a moderately-sized book split up into nine massive chapters. (Plus a very short tenth chapter that might as well be an afterword.) The relatively 'flat' presentation seems like it would be hard to use as reference to look up particular points later, but just reading through it is fine. Individual battles aren't given a lot of attention, though every once in a while one comes up for discussion, and a couple campaigns are discussed when he looks at just how mobile Italian armies were.

The fact is, this is a very general book that looks at a bit of everything, mercenaries and militia, pay rates, the changes towards more permanent contracts/standing armies, and much more. So there's no room for any one thing to be concentrated on. It is a very good introduction to the period, though having some minimal knowledge of the period going in would probably help.

I'm very glad that Pen and Sword has brought this to ebook format, and the text was in very good shape. (There were a few errors scattered about, but over this is one of the best conversions I've seen.)

[Igor Veloso · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mallett gives us an account of warfare in Italy at the height of mercenary application in Italian warfare. It does something I always love, which is addressing the logistics and minucia of warfare such as payment, horse and weapons economics, soldier behaviour and leadership behaviour of captains, relationships between armies and the people, etc...

The author also does it having in mind the two opposing views at the time and that still deserve comments from TV News on this day: mercenaries are bad vs. mercenaries are benign. It challenges the hyperbolic bad views that Machiavelli had about merceneries. Mallet agrees and recognizes the disadvantages of mercenaries, but it's also a fact that Machiavelli, who is from Florence, was weak at inspiring order, and the state of Florence had something of a bad reputation for not paying on time. States in general were not the most conscienscious contract payers, but some states were better at dealing with their mercenaries than others. Florence and Venice, being some of the most powerful italian states with frequent use of mercenaries, were also the ones who got many problems with them. Bad pay leads to demoralization of soldiers, internal quarrels and desertion, and that has been always true in any army, including a professional one.

This is just one of the issues the book tackles, and it also makes for an easy read. I took pages of notes. Has just the right ammount of depth for a layman, and we are left with suggestions for further readings if one is inclined. Should be an interesting read for those following the current wave of mercenary deployment around the world.

[Koeneman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book about the late medieval warfare (revolution), especially about the Italian wars.

Some things are a little outdated and have been proven otherwise but for the most part a solid book.

I would give it a 3,5 but not a 4 star though.

7/10

[Peter C Lyon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting storylines of the various captains- esp Hawkwood. Instead, the book showed itself to be an academic overview of, well, warfare in renaissance Italy. The editors seemed to have transposed the title and subtitle.

That isn't a criticism however. It's chalk-full of information on this subject. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Somewhere, there must be a solid political history of Renaissance Italy.

[Alexandru Constantin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed overview of the Italian Condottiere in the 15th century. The focus is less on individuals, battles, or social histories, but more on the administrative interaction between mercenary captains and the Italian city-states.

A good read for anyone interested in the topic but a bit dry for dabblers.

[Angela Boord · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic history of Italian condottierre, very much directed at those who want to know the nuts and bolts of how the system worked.

[Daniel B-G · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent summary of the era in question, seriously challenging the prejudice crafted by none other than Florence's devious son Machiavelli. Ironically, he was probably telling the truth about Florence, whilst completely missing the reality in Venice and Milan. The myths in question, 1) that reliance on the condottierre weakened the states and 2) Italian warfare was anachronistic and failed to pay attention to developments north of the alps. In it's place we have two replacements, 1) the individual states were able to field individually competent armies, but lacked experience piecing them together into a larger army and 2) the strategies employed were geared towards maintenance of status quo ante bellum, and not against troops bent on total war.

[Peter S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very detailed, fantastic account of the role of mercenaries in renaissance era warfare. It was eye opening to learn the real organization of warfare, as well as the evolution of it at the time. The lack of use, or at least primary use of gunpowder in besieging was astounding, and that it took much more of a role in siege defense. The general organization into lances, the appearances of gigantic characters as John Hawkwood, and the totality of the depth and drama outpaced a fantasy novel in its breadth.

[S. D. Howarth · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative and well structured book which I came across when searching military warfare in the middle ages. While I could almost hear the voice of Nicomo Coska in the back of my mind, it is a well set-out volume that is well organised and a straightforward read.

For anyone with an interest in medieval warfare, or writing historical/fantasy fiction I'd recommend this book as solid reference material for real and imagined periods of conflict.

[Reko Ukko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still a stone cold classic, really the basics of italian medieval warfare, goes beyond the ”useless cowards” angle and shows how the medieval armies fought and developed across the decades, and why the end came quite suddenly.

For a book written in 1974, it’s interesting that this is still the one to read, from this particular era of medieval warfare.

[H. Wood · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very broad overview of all aspects of Italian warfare. Even though it is a bit outdated it is still very much worth reading. Only the rather long chapters without sub-headings can pose a challenge when you are looking for specific information.

[Horhe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting book, written for laymen and striking the appropriate balance between the amount of information and the ease of reading. Learned a lot of interesting things from it.

[Al Lock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid overview of warfare in Italy during the century or so that the Condottierri and the "free companies" were a dominant part of warfare there. Well done and researched, and a good, solid start for those interested in the ideas of militias, private armies, etc. Makes a good hash of demonstrating that Machiavelli's "The Art of War" and its emphasis on militias was not to be a workable strategy.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good overview of a super complicated (imo) subject. Seriously, you need charts and bullet points and color coded maps to figure out which Italian states were allies or enemies with each other and which condottieri armies were fighting for whom at any given time in the 14-15th century, because it was always changing. While this book doesn't really help with any of that, it does clear up at least the organization and military practices of that time, which is mostly what i was looking for.

[Valentina Camera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molto interessante! Talvolta mi sono un po’ persa tra le varie battaglie e ho trovato meno coinvolgenti queste parti, ma è un approfondimento che permette di vedere in maniera più completa l’epoca rinascimentale italiana, data la presenza costante e crescente degli eserciti in Italia tra ‘300 e ‘400.

[Federico Campagna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, rich and clear analysis. One of the best books on the topic.

[Alessandro Nicolai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molto interessante e fluido, si fa leggere, entra nei dettagli il giusto con notizie storiche e buoni riferimenti alla storia dei comuni,

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear, well researched and a wealth of information.