The equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni in Venice, Italy
Condottieri (Italian:[kondotˈtjɛːri]; sg.: condottiero or condottiere) were Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other European monarchs during the Italian Wars of the Renaissance and the European Wars of Religion. Notable condottieri include Prospero Colonna, Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, Cesare Borgia, the Marquis of Pescara, Andrea Doria, and the Duke of Parma.[1][2][3]
The term "condottiero" in medieval Italian originally meant "contractor" since the condotta was the contract by which the condottieri put themselves in the service of a city or of a lord. The term, however, became a synonym of "military leader" during the Renaissance and Reformation era. Some authors have described the legendary Alberto da Giussano as the "first condottiero" and Napoleon Bonaparte (in virtue of his Italian origins) as the "last condottiero". According to this view, the condottieri tradition would span a huge diverse period from the battle of Legnano in 1176 to the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.[4][5] Most historians would narrow it down to the years from c. 1350 to c. 1650, with a particular focus on the rise of the commanders of free companies (capitani di ventura) and their transformation into captain generals fighting for the major powers during the struggle for political and religious supremacy in Europe.
^Tomassini, Luciano; storico, Italy Esercito Corpo di stato maggiore Ufficio (1978). Raimondo Montecuccoli: capitano e scrittore (in Italian). Stato Maggiore dell'esercito, Ufficio storico.
^Pronti, Stefano; civici, Piacenza (Italy) Musei (1995). Alessandro Farnese: condottiero e duca (1545–1592) (in Italian). TipLeCo.
^Lenman, B., Anderson, T. Chambers Dictionary of World History, p. 200
^Thody, Philip (1989). French Caesarism from Napoleon I to Charles de Gaulle. Springer. ISBN 9781349200894.
^D'Epiro, Peter (2010). The Book of Firsts: 150 World-Changing People and Events, from Caesar Augustus to the Internet. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307476661.
Condottieri (Italian: [kondotˈtjɛːri]; sg.: condottiero or condottiere) were Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages...
(1452–1523), sometimes referred to as Prosper Colonna, was an Italian condottiero in the service of the Papal States, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Kingdom...
American museum in 1939. The painting portrays an unknown, aged Italian condottiero's bust, seen from three-quarters above a dark background. The basic influence...
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orders to gain power and take over the position Giovanni once held: a condottiero. He was finally married to French princess Charlotte d'Albret. After...
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Spaniards, and 3,000 Italians, and its command was exercised by an Italian Condottiero, the Marquis of Pescara, in conjunction with the German military leader...
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