Get Free Shipping on orders over $79
Condottiere 1300â"1500 : Infamous medieval mercenaries - David Murphy

Condottiere 1300â"1500

Infamous medieval mercenaries

By: David Murphy, Mr Graham Turner (Illustrator)

Paperback | 20 May 2012 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback


RRP $38.99

$37.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $9.44 with

 or 

Ships in 25 to 30 business days

Originally hired by wealthy Italian city states to protect their assets during a time of ceaseless warring, the Condottiere of the Italian peninsula became famous for his wealth, venality and amorality during the 14th century.

The Condottieri's pursuit of profit meant they were prepared to change sides for the right price, even during battle, and they prospered, becoming both powerful and rich in the process. Leaders such as John Hawkwood, with his famous 'White Company', became major political figures.

Once at the peak of their power, they often worked together to protect their comfortable position by staging a number of visually impressive but almost bloodless battles, thereby avoiding the real thing. It was because of this, and their reliance on medieval tactics and weaponry, including grand armoured knights, that they were eventually wiped out or dispersed by the more modern armies.

Lavishly illustrated with contemporary depictions and original artwork, this title examines the complex military organization, recruitment, training and weaponry of the Condottieri. With insight into their origins and motivations, the author, Dr David Murphy, brings together the social, political and military history of these powerful and unscrupulous men who managed to influence Italian society and warfare for over two centuries.

Industry Reviews

"The author does a superlative job of telling the story of these men and the somewhat unusual life they led, for these mercenary armies were not common elsewhere in Europe at the time... Overall a book that covers a lesser known, but still important part of Western history and one that I'm sure you will enjoy reading." --Scott Van Aken, modelingmadness.com (August 2007)

"David Murphy's Condottiere 1300-1500 - Infamous Medieval Mercenaries surveys those early fighting men who were conscripted by wealthy Italian city states to protect assets during war, providing a blend of military and political history." --The Bookwatch (December 2007)

More in European History

How Women Became Poets : A Gender History of Greek Literature - Emily Hauser
The First King of England : Æthelstan and the Birth of a Kingdom - David Woodman
The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective - Sara Lodge
Henry V : The Astonishing Rise of England's Greatest Warrior King - Dan Jones
Armada : The Spanish Enterprise and England's Deliverance in 1588 - Colin Martin
Holbein : Renaissance Master - Elizabeth Goldring

RRP $82.95

$60.75

27%
OFF
The Glass Mountain : Escape and Discovery in Wartime Italy - Malcolm Gaskill
A Short History of Ancient Rome - Pascal Hughes

RRP $49.99

$47.75

The Voynich Manuscript - Raymond Clemens

RRP $82.95

$60.75

27%
OFF
The Catalpa Rescue - Peter FitzSimons

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF
Abandoned Women : Scottish Convicts Exiled Beyond the Seas - Lucy Frost
Letters from a Stoic : The Ancient Classic - Seneca

RRP $24.95

$21.75

13%
OFF
The English Soul : Faith of a Nation - Peter Ackroyd

RRP $22.99

$21.75

Bible of British Taste : Stories of Home, People and Place - Ruth Guilding
The Siege : The Remarkable Story of the Greatest SAS Hostage Drama - Ben Macintyre
Boudicca's Daughter : THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER - Elodie Harper
The Journals of Captain Cook : Penguin Classics - James Cook

RRP $27.99

$23.75

15%
OFF
Night : Penguin Modern Classics - Elie Wiesel

RRP $26.99

$20.75

23%
OFF
Kokoda : Updated Edition - Peter FitzSimons

RRP $39.99

$31.75

21%
OFF