Download or read book John Hawkwood written by William Caferro and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2006-03-21 with total page 492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Hawkwood was fourteenth-century Italy's most notorious and successful soldier. A man known for cleverness and daring, he was the most feared mercenary in Renaissance Italy. Born in England, Hawkood began his career in France during the Hundred Years' War and crossed into Italy with the famed White Company in 1361. From that time until his death in 1394, Hawkwood fought throughout the peninsula as a captain of armies in times of war and as a commander of marauding bands during times of peace. He achieved international fame, and his acquaintances included such prominent people as Geoffrey Chaucer, Catherine of Siena, Jean Froissart, and Francis Petrarch. City-states constantly tried to outbid each other for his services, for which he received money, land, and in the case of Florence, citizenship -- a most unusual honor for an Englishman. When Hawkwood died, the Florentines buried him with great ceremony in their cathedral, an honor denied their greatest poet, Dante. His final resting place, however, is disputed. Historian William Caferro's ambitious account of Hawkwood is both a biography and a study of warfare and statecraft. Caferro has mined more than twenty archives in England and Italy, creating an authoritative portrait of Hawkwood as an extraordinary military leader, if not always an admirable human being. Caferro's Hawkwood possessed a talent for dissimulation and craft both on the battlefield and at the negotiating table, and, ironically, managed to gain a reputation for "honesty" while beating his Italian hosts at their own game of duplicity and manipulation. In addition to a thorough account of Hawkwood's life and career, Caferro's study offers a fundamental reassessment of the Italian military situation and of the mercenary system. Hawkwood's career is treated not in isolation but firmly within the context of Italian society, against the backdrop of unfolding crises: famine, plague, popular unrest, and religious schism. Indeed, Hawkwood's life and career offer a unique vantage point from which we can study the economic, social, and political impacts of war. -- John France

Download or read book John Hawkwood written by William Caferro and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2006-04-24 with total page 492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner, 2008 Otto Gründler Book Prize, The Medieval Institute Winner, 2008 Otto Gründler Book Prize, The Medieval Institute Notorious for his cleverness and daring, John Hawkwood was the most feared mercenary in early Renaissance Italy. Born in England, Hawkwood began his career in France during the Hundred Years' War and crossed into Italy with the famed White Company in 1361. From that time until his death in 1394, Hawkwood fought throughout the peninsula as a captain of armies in times of war and as a commander of marauding bands during times of peace. He achieved international fame, and city-states constantly tried to outbid each other for his services, for which he received money, land, and, in the case of Florence, citizenship—a most unusual honor for an Englishman. When Hawkwood died, the Florentines buried him with great ceremony in their cathedral, an honor denied their greatest poet, Dante. William Caferro's ambitious account of Hawkwood is both a biography and a study of warfare and statecraft. Caferro has mined more than twenty archives in Britain and Italy, creating an authoritative portrait of Hawkwood as an extraordinary military leader, if not always an admirable human being.

Download or read book The Devil s Broker written by Frances Stonor Saunders and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2006-06-27 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the story of an age when everything had a price and mercenary companies were vastly rich corporations. By alternately besieging and protecting the richest pickings in Europe--Florence, Milan, Siena, and Pisa--John Hawkwood became the most wily, reliable, and successful mercenary leader of his time, leading the Italians to conclude that Rthe Devil is an Englishman.

Download or read book Sir John Hawkwood written by John Temple Leader and published by Leonaur Limited. This book was released on 2020-08-12 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most notorious captain of mercenaries of the early Renaissance John Hawkwood was an Essex born Englishman, the son of a landowner. He began his military career during the Hundred Years' War serving in France as a longbowman under Edward III, possibly fighting at both Crecy and Poitiers. Thereafter he joined the infamous 'White Company' band of mercenaries, operating in France before crossing into Italy. Such was Hawkwood's talent for his occupation that before long he became the leader of the company. Italy, during this time, was in a constant state of factional flux, so Hawkwood and his men found ready employment for their talents. Selling their swords to the highest bidder proved a profitable business and Hawkwood amassed an astonishing fortune and earned himself abiding fame. This book chronicles Hawkwood's life and campaigns, particularly during his time in Italy, in some detail and is recommended. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.

Download or read book The Woman Who Shot Mussolini written by Frances Stonor Saunders and published by Metropolitan Books. This book was released on 2011-03-29 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The astonishing untold story of a woman who tried to stop the rise of Fascism and change the course of history At 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 7, 1926, a woman stepped out of the crowd on Rome's Campidoglio Square. Less than a foot in front of her stood Benito Mussolini. As he raised his arm to give the Fascist salute, the woman raised hers and shot him at point-blank range. Mussolini escaped virtually unscathed, cheered on by practically the whole world. Violet Gibson, who expected to be thanked for her action, was arrested, labeled a "crazy Irish spinster" and a "half-mad mystic"—and promptly forgotten. Now, in an elegant work of reconstruction, Frances Stonor Saunders retrieves this remarkable figure from the lost historical record. She examines Gibson's aristocratic childhood in the Dublin elite, with its debutante balls and presentations at court; her engagement with the critical ideas of the era—pacifism, mysticism, and socialism; her completely overlooked role in the unfolding drama of Fascism and the cult of Mussolini; and her response to a new and dangerous age when anything seemed possible but everything was at stake. In a grand tragic narrative, full of suspense and mystery, conspiracy and backroom diplomacy, Stonor Saunders vividly resurrects the life and times of a woman who sought to forestall catastrophe, whatever the cost.

Download or read book Hawkwood written by Frances Stonor Saunders and published by Faber & Faber. This book was released on 2014-04-17 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The hugely acclaimed, best-selling life of Hawkwood, one of the outstanding figures of English and European history. John Hawkwood was an Essex man who became the greatest mercenary in an age when soldiers of fortune flourished - an age that also witnessed the first stirrings of the Renaissance. When England made a peace treaty with the French in 1360, during a pause in the Hundred Years War, John Hawkwood, instead of going home, travelled south to Avignon, where the papacy was based during its exile from Rome. He and his fellow mercenaries held the pope to ransom and were paid off. Hawkwood then crossed the Alps into Italy and found himself in a promised land: he made and lost fortunes extorting money from city states like Florence, Siena, and Milan, who were fighting vicious wars between themselves and against the popes. This man of war husbanded his use of violence, but for all his caution he committed one of the most notorious massacres of his time - an atrocity that still clouds his name.

Download or read book The White Company written by Arthur Conan Doyle and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 616 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Hawkwood s Sword written by Christian Cameron and published by Orion. This book was released on 2021-07-08 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'One of the finest writers of historical fiction in the world' BEN KANE THE BRAND NEW MEDIEVAL ADVENTURE FROM THE MASTER OF HISTORICAL FICTION 1368. France, Spain and England prepare for war. In Italy, the Pope and the Visconti princes are battling for bloody supremacy. The worst years of Sir William Gold's life are about to begin. Leaving the side of his commander, Sir John Hawkwood, William embarks on a new journey that will bring him fame and favour - until a heart-breaking personal tragedy leads him to put down his sword. But men of war can't stay out of battle for long. Gold yearns to return to Italy and rejoin Hawkwood. Only now the game of the Italian Princes is changing and, as chaos descends, Gold must finally decide who he stands for... * * * * * * * Praise for Christian Cameron: 'The master of historical fiction' SUNDAY TIMES 'A storyteller at the height of his powers' HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY 'Superb' THE TIMES 'A sword-slash above the rest' IRISH EXAMINER

Download or read book Sir John Hawkwood written by Stephen Cooper and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2008-10-30 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Florence cathedral hangs a remarkable portrait by Uccello of Sir John Hawkwood, the English soldier of fortune who commanded the Florentine army at the age of 70 and earned a formidable reputation as one of the foremost mercenaries of the late middle ages. His life is an amazing story. He rose from modest beginnings in an Essex village, fought through the French campaigns of Edward III, went to Italy when he was 40 and played a leading role in ceaseless strife of the city-states that dominated that country. His success over so many years in such a brutal and uncertain age was founded on his exceptional skill as a soldier and commander, and it is this side of his career that Stephen Cooper explores in this perceptive and highly readable study.

Download or read book Hawkwood written by Jack Ludlow and published by Allison & Busby. This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Hundred Year's War is over and newly-knighted Sir John Hawkswood is headed for France to make his fortune as a freebooter. Italy beckons, and with it, yet more battles against rival mercenaries, powerful cities and the Papal State.

Download or read book Genealogical Memoirs of the Extinct Family of Chester of Chicheley written by Robert Edmond Chester Waters and published by . This book was released on 1878 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book SIR JOHN HAWKWOOD L ACUTO written by JOHN. TEMPLE-LEADER and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Sir John Hawkwood L Acuto written by John Temple Leader and published by . This book was released on 1889 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Burnable Book written by Bruce Holsinger and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-01-30 with total page 437 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A stunning debut historical thriller set in the turbulent 14th Century for fans of CJ Sansom, The Name of the Rose and An Instance of the Fingerpost.

Download or read book Memoirs of Sir John Hawkwood written by John Hawkwood (Sir. [from old catalogue].) and published by . This book was released on 1782 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Mercenary Companies and the Decline of Siena written by William Caferro and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 1998-05-29 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The raids, therefore, were more than an exotic nuisance, but a key factor in Siena's decision to abandon independence in 1399.

Download or read book Castagnaro 1387 written by Kelly DeVries and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-07-25 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The battle of Castagnaro, fought on 11 March 1387 between the Veronese and the Paduans, is one of the most famous Italian medieval conflicts in the English-speaking world. This is thanks in no small part to the exploits of the renowned English mercenary (or condottiero) captain, Sir John Hawkwood. Commanding the Paduan army, he led them to a stunning victory. This new study challenges the conventional story of the battle, relocating it to the other side of the Adige River, and showing that Hawkwood was no mere disciple of his previous commander, the Black Prince–he was a highly talented and intelligent general in his own right. Using specially commissioned full-colour artwork, this fascinating book shows how Hawkwood used his own acumen, and the training, skills, and discipline of his very experienced condottieri, to defeat his opponents at Castagnaro.