Luca Landucci was a Florentine citizen and owner of a small apothecary. He had been taught book-keeping before he started his shop, and began writing a diary. Most of his writings focus on the daily events in Florence, such as … Continue reading
In the following section, written by Francesco Matarazzo, a professor at the University of Perugia during this period, the exiles and their allies attempt to regain control of the city by force. Continue reading
Filippo Villani continued the Florentine chronicle of his brother Giovanni, and gives a description of the English mercenaries that plied their trade in Italy during the fourteenth-century. Continue reading
The ‘Autobiography’ of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (1316-1378), is a rare example of a personal memoir by a medieval ruler. Continue reading
One episode in the continuous warfare between the Holy Roman Empire, the Papacy and the Italian city-states was the siege of Florence by the forces of Emperor Henry VII in 1312. This account of the siege was recorded by the Florentine historian Giovanni Villani (d.1348) Continue reading
Although Giovanni Villani wrote his chronicle in the mid-14th century, he provides one of the best accounts of the battle of Campaldino, fought between Arezzo and Florence. Continue reading
Most of this section deals with a conflict between the cities of Gesso and Reggio. Early in 1287, the latter city had fallen under the control of Monaco of Canossa, ruler of Bianello. This would lead to a struggle for Reggio. Continue reading
Salimbene de Adam provides this account of a naval battle between Genoa and Pisa, followed by the sad fate of the Pisan prisoners. Continue reading
Salimbene de Adam, a Franciscan, produced his Chronicle in the 1280s. He left one of the most interesting and wide-ranging histories of the Middle Ages, in which he covers a variety of matters, from the political maneuvers of the Italian city-states to the practical jokes that his fellow monks played upon each other. Continue reading
Padua, a major Italian city during the Middle Ages, got caught up in the struggle between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire in the thirteenth century. Continue reading
Turkish Raids in Friuli at the End of the Fifteenth Century By Maria Pia Pedani Acta Viennensia Ottomanica, edited by Markus Kohbach, Gisela Prochaska-Eisl, and Claudia Romer (Vienna: Im Selbrstverlag des Instituts fur Orientalistik, 1999) Acta Viennensia Ottomanica is collection of … Continue reading
Frederick II and the Rebellion of the Muslims of Sicily, 1200-1224 By James M. Powell Uluslararasi Hacli Seferleri Sempozyumu (1999) In 1999 the Turkish Historical Society/Turk Tarifrh Kurumu published this volume which is devoted to the Crusades in the medieval Middle … Continue reading
The Venetian Crusade of 1122-1124 By Jonathan Riley-Smith I Comuni Italiani nel Regno Crociato di Gerusalemme / The Italian communes in the Crusading Kingdom of Jerusalem, edited by Gabriella Airaldi and Benjamin Z. Kedar (Genoa, 1986) We thank the author for his … Continue reading
From ‘Milites Christi’ to ‘Mali Christiani’: The Italian Communes in Western Historical Literature By Sylvia Schein I Comuni Italiani nel Regno Crociato di Gerusalemme / The Italian communes in the Crusading Kingdom of Jerusalem, edited by Gabriella Airaldi and Benjamin … Continue reading
Caste, Skill, and Training: The Evolution of Cohesion in European Armies from the Middle Ages to the Sixteenth Century Dennis E. Showalter The Journal of Military History: vol. 57 (1993) Abstract The Middle Ages were characterized by growing institutional sophistication, … Continue reading
The Military Revolutions of the Hundred Years’ War Clifford J. Rogers The Journal of Military History: v.57 (1993) The Military Revolution The concept of the “military revolution” first entered the historical literature with Michael Roberts’s famous inaugural lecture, “The Military … Continue reading
The recruitment of armies in the early middle ages: what can we know? Timothy Reuter Military Aspects of Scandinavian Society in a European Perspective, AD 1-1300 (Copenhagen, 1997) Abstract The study of medieval warfare has probably both benefitted and suffered from … Continue reading
Muslim pirates based in the Balearic islands were a major problem for Christian traders in the eleventh and twelfth century. In 113, Pope Pascal II issued a papal bull in favour of a crusade against the islands, and the Pisans, … Continue reading
Urban Castles in Medieval Siena: The Sources and Images of Power Edward D. English The Medieval Castle: Romance and Reality, ed. Kathryn Reyerson and Faye Powe (Medieval Studies in Minnesota, 1984) The legal, economic, archeological, political, social, architectural, demographic, institutional, … Continue reading
The Crusading Motivation of the Italian City Republics in the Latin East, c. 1096-1104 Christopher J. Marshall Rivista di Bizantinistica v.1 (1991) Throughout the 200 years of its existence, the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem was heavily reliant upon the Italian city … Continue reading
L’assedio di Ficarolo (maggio-giugno 1482) – [The Siege of Ficarolo (May-June 1482)] By Sergio Mantovani Tra terra acqua e terra – Storia materiale in Transpadana (2001) Nel giugno 1480 il duca Ercole I d’Este, informando Giovanni Bentivoglio dei tentativi di Venezia e … Continue reading
The Militarisation of Roman Society, 400 – 700 Edward James (University of Reading) Military Aspects of Scandinavian Society in a European Perspective AD 1 – 1300 Historians and archaeologists have lavished attention on the new kingdoms established by various barbarian … Continue reading
Robert Guiscard was one of several brothers who came to Italy from Normandy to work as mercenaries and gain their fortune. After arriving in Italy in 1046, he served in several campaigns before taking the place of his brother Humphrey … Continue reading
The Origin of the Second Crusade George Ferzoco The Second Crusade and the Cistercians (1992) In seeking to establish the formal origin of the Second Crusade, one finds that in Vetralla on December 1,1145, Pope Eugenius III issued the crusading … Continue reading
Horses and Crossbows: Two Important Warfare Advantages of the Teutonic Order in Prussia Sven Ekdahl The Military Orders, Volume 2: Welfare and Warfare (1998) The thirteenth-century conquest of Livonia and Prussia by the Order of the Swordbrothers and its successor, … Continue reading
Foundations of Venetian Naval Strategy from Pietro II Orseoto to the Battle of Zoncho, 1000-1500 John E. Dotson Viator: Medieval and Renaissance Studies v.32 (2001) For Venetians during the Middle Ages the sea was life. The prosperity, the very existence, … Continue reading
Machiavelli’s Art of War: A Reconsideration Marcia L. Colish Renaissance Quarterly: v.51 (1998) Among Niccolo Machiavelli’s works, the Art of War (published 1521) has received comparatively little scholarly attention. Students of Renaissance literature, finding its theme otiose, content themselves with … Continue reading
Italy and the companies of adventure in the fourteenth century William Caferro The Historian: Vol.58 (1996) Abstract A multitude of villains of various nations associated in arms by the greed to appropriate the fruits of labor of innocent and unarmed … Continue reading
A Norman-Italian Adventurer in the East: Richard of Salerno, 1097-1112 George T. Beech Anglo-Norman Studies: v.15 (1993) Abstract The adventures, hardships, and disappointments awaiting the Europeans who went on the crusades have long been well known; indeed enough information has … Continue reading
German bishops and archbishops were important military commanders in the Holy Roman Empire, often leading troops to battle. In the following account by Otto of Saint Blasien, the chronicler describes how a Roman army besieged Reinald, the archbishop of Cologne … Continue reading
Fleet Operations in the First Genoese-Venetian War, 1264-1266 John E. Dotson Viator: Medieval and Renaissance Studies v. 30 (1999) This brief article is not intended to review the history of the First Genoese-Venetian War over its whole length from 1257 … Continue reading
Saracen Archers in Southern Italy De Re Militari, June (2001) Giovanni Amatuccio During the first phase of their Southern Italian conquest, the Normans included archers in their troops; but such usage seems to have been sporadic and simple. The tactic … Continue reading
In this anonymous addition to the Chronicle of Marcellinus Comes, the events from 534 to 547 are described, with much of the text devoted to the conquest of Italy by the Byzantine general Belisarius. Continue reading
Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator, born c. 490, d. c. 585, was by turns statesman and monk, leaving behind a substantial and varied body of literary work. Continue reading
Charles VIII, attempting to seize control of southern Italy for use as a platform for war against the Ottoman Turks, lead the most powerful army in Europe at that time down through Italy, defeating one Italian province after another. Continue reading
The following is an account of the battle of Caravaggio, fought on September 15,1448, in which the Milanese army led by Francesco Sforza defeated the Venetians under Michele Attendolo. The text is from the Chronicle of Cristoforo da Soldo. Alli … Continue reading
Dino Compagni was a prominent silk merchant and an active member of the Florentine government until 1301. His chronicle, which deals mostly with the internal turmoil of Florence, contains an account of a battle between Arezzo and Florence in 1289. … Continue reading
Boncompagno da Signa (1168?-1240?) was an important Italian scholar who wrote several treatises and other works as he moved around between cities such as Ancona, Bologna and Venice. His account of the siege of Ancona, which he wrote around 1201, … Continue reading
The Chronicle of Ahimaaz is an epic genealogical work composed in Southern Italy in 1054 by Ahimaaz ben Paltiel. Although it intended merely to glorify his own immediate ancestors, this work gives much important information in regard to the history … Continue reading
