John Hawkwood – why is his famous fresco by Paulo Uccello in Florence’s Duomo?
More of this to come because this is a fascinating story but question for today is- what has this Essex thug gone to the bad done to deserve such an honour? – Why is Giovanni Acuto being celebrated on the walls on one of the most famous religious buildings in the world?
To put it simply – as a younger son John Hawkwood received only a very small inheritance from his tailor father – therefore he had to make his own way in the world.
Like many other third sons he went to the army!
He served with the English army in France in the first stages of the Hundred Years’ War under Edward III – although enlisted as a soldier his payment was – as was usual at the time – only the spoils of war – ie whatever he could steal from the opposition! Er – Not exactly chivalrous – in fact they were as much to be feared as the Vandals who first sacked Rome!!
According to tradition Hawkwood fought in the battle of Crécy and tradition maintains that the King or Edward, the Black Prince knighted him for bravery as a bowman in battle. However, given that he did not return to England to assume his title, it has it has also been suggested that he took the title with the support of his soldiers when his service ended after the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360 and made the most of it as an overlord in Europe.
Returning home virtually empty handed after the battles had been won would have involved a serious loss of face – and most of the soldiers decided that they were better off in France – continuing a life of plunder, rape and pillage! And thus the White Company was formed !
In 1362 Hawkwood’s men were commissioned by the Pope at Avignon to form part of the companies that the marquis of Montferrat hired and led over the Alps to fight first against the Green Count at Lanzo Torinese and then against Milan in the areas of Alessandria, Tortona and Novara – their ultimate goal being to bring down the rival Papal Court in Rome!
In fact soon after this they developed a tripartite papacy in Europe as shown in the exciting diagram below – the Medici supported the pirate Pope Baldazarre Cossa – in history also seen as an Anti-Pope John XXIII – very sensibly as it turned out , as the Curia Account that he awarded them earned them the money that kept the family, more or less, in charge of Florence for over 300 years -the Council for the Church finally elected a third Pope –Martin V!
Mercenaries fought for the side that paid best and Hawkswood was certainly not a man to have scruples over leaving previous paymasters – whilst in the service of Pisa he famously destroyed, amongst others, the Florence defence castle at Vincigliata
In pursuit of a higher pay-check in the 1390s Hawkwood became a commander-in-chief of the army of Florence in the war against the expansion of Gian Galeazzo Visconti of Milan. Hawkwood’s army invaded Lombardy and was within ten miles of Milan before he had to retreat over Adige river.
Later in the year, forces under his command defended Florence and then defeated the Milanese force of Jacopo dal Verme. Eventually Visconti sued for peace.
Contemporary opinion in Florence regards Hawkwood as a saviour of Florence’s independence against Milanese expansion. and therefore his exploits were celebrated in the Cathedral in Florence – against serious contention from much nobler – and surely more worthy contemporaries such as Dante and Petrarch – and there he is -large as life but largely unnoticed by most visitors to the Duomo on the wall of such a Holy Place.
What next? We have the promise (or threat?) of Russell Brand playing the part of Hawkswood in a forthcoming flim – it might not be pretty but I guess it , for me, it has got to be watched?.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks