Osprey - General Military - Knight - The Warrior and ... - Brego-weard

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Paolo Uccello's fresco of Sir John Hawkwood, the most successful of
the English conclottiere. (Bridgeman Art Library)
armies in 1390, his victories there
earning him a heroic reputation as the
city's saviour. Every new contract
ensured greater profit and honours.
Hawkwood's success netted him a
huge income and extensive property.
In 1381, for example, he earned
67,533 florins, only about 3,000 less
than that generated by the city of
Lucca, with its population of 30,000
people, in the same year. The money
was lent to his comrades, spent on
supplies, but also invested in the cities
for whom he served and the properties
he owned in both Italy and England.
Hawkwood never ceased to be a
servant of the English crown.
Throughout his Italian career he
maintained close contacts with
England. His contracts invariably
included clauses barring him from
being engaged against the allies of the
English crown, he participated in
the arrangements for the marriage of
Lionel, Duke of Clarence, Edward Ill's
son, to the daughter of Bernabo
Visconti, the ruler of Milan, and he
acted as Richard ll's ambassador in
the region, negotiating with almost all
the major players in the area. In the
last years of his life he prepared to
return to England, but died before he
could do so. Richard II tried to have
his body returned, but in the end he
was buried in Florence beneath
Uccello's famous painting. Looking
at it there is little to suggest the
Englishman who had started life as a
tailor; Uccello's Hawkwood is every
inch the Italian captain.