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Awards
Overview"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." Full Product DetailsAuthor: William Caferro (Vanderbilt University)Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press Imprint: Johns Hopkins University Press Edition: annotated edition Dimensions: Width: 15.60cm , Height: 3.10cm , Length: 23.50cm Weight: 0.816kg ISBN: 9780801883231ISBN 10: 0801883237 Pages: 480 Publication Date: 19 June 2006 Recommended Age: From 17 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational , Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In Print  This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us. Table of ContentsList of Figures and Maps Preface Hawkwood Chronology Introduction 1. John Hawkwood in Perspective Part I 2. Essex Lad, King's Soldier, and Member of the White Company, 1323–1363 3. Italy and the Profession of Arms Part II 4. The Fox and the Lion 5. John Hawkwood of Pisa and Milan, 1365–1372 6. In the Service of God and Mammon, 1372–1375 Part III 7. John Hawkwood and the War of Eight Saints, 1375–1377 8. Love and Diplomacy, 1377–1379 9. At Home in the Romagna, 1379–1381 10. Neapolitan Soldier and Tuscan Lord, 1381–1384 Part IV 11. The Deal with the Devil, the Birth of a Son, and a Victory at Castagnaro, 1385–1387 12. At the Center of the Storm 13. The War against Milan, 1390–1392 14. Two Weddings, a Funeral, and a Disputed Legacy, 1392–1394–1412 Conclusion Appendixes Notes References IndexReviewsA useful read for anyone interested in Renaissance Italy, the evolution of the practice of war, and even the interrelationship of art and society. -- NYMAS Review Author InformationWilliam Caferro is an associate professor of history at Vanderbilt University. He is the author of Mercenary Companies and the Decline of Siena (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998). Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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