Braccio da Montone
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Braccio da Montone | |
---|---|
Prince of Capua | |
Prince of Capua | |
Coat of arms | |
Reign | July 1421 – 5 June 1424 |
Predecessor | Rinaldo d'Angiò-Durazzo |
Successor | Sergianni Caracciolo |
Born | Andrea Fortebraccio Perugia |
Died | 5 June 1424 L'Aquila | (aged 55)
Buried | Chiesa di San Francesco al Prato, Perugia |
Noble family | Fortebraccio |
Spouse(s) | Elisabetta Armanni Nicolina da Varano |
Issue | Oddo Fortebraccio Lucrezia Fortebraccio Carlotta Fortebraccio Carlo Fortebraccio (legitimate) |
Father | Oddo Fortebraccio |
Mother | Giacoma Montemelini |
Braccio da Montone (1 July 1368 – 5 June 1424), born Andrea Fortebraccio, was an Italian condottiero.
Biography
He was born to the nobleman Oddo Fortebraccio and Giacoma Montemelini at Perugia.[a] He married Elisabetta Ermanni with whom he had three daughters. After her death in 1419, he married Niccolina Varano, who bore his first son Carlo in 1421. He later had a son out of wedlock, Oddo, who also became a condottiero.
He began his military career as a page in Guido d'Asciano's company. When his family was exiled from Perugia and he lost the castle of Montone, he entered Alberico da Barbiano’s "Company of St. George", in which he would make friends with Muzio Attendolo Sforza. At the head of 150 knights, Braccio performed some guerrilla actions which foreshadowed the tactics that his own company would later adopt.
After a short return to Montone, he fought for the Montefeltro and the Malatesta in Romagna, being slightly crippled during the siege of the Castle of Fossombrone (1391). In 1394 Braccio was briefly held prisoner in the Rocca of Umbertide, and released after the payment of a ransom.[1] In 1395 he fought again for Barbiano in the Kingdom of Naples, and two years later he was hired by the Republic of Florence. In 1398 he fought for the Pope in the war against Perugia.
In 1402, at the death of
Later Braccio entered the service of King Ladislaus of Naples, who was at war with Florence and the Pope: at the time he had 1,200 cavalry and 1,000 infantry under him. He ravaged the lands of the Trinci of Foligno but, when Perugia accepted Ladislaus' suzerainty, Braccio sided against him and moved to Ancona, capturing Jesi.
In 1409 Braccio fought at
The following year the
In the next August Ladislaus died, and Braccio freed Bologna after receiving a payment of 180,000 gold
Sometime later the Pope excommunicated Joanna II, Queen of Naples, appointing Louis III of Anjou as heir to the crown in her stead. Joan appointed king Alfonso of Aragon as her heir, and called Braccio da Montone to fight for her. Once again Braccio found himself facing Sforza, who was at the head of the Angevine army. There was not an open battle, though Braccio's army moved all over Abruzzo. Joan gave him the lordship of Teramo, and soon after Braccio started his 13-month-long siege of L'Aquila. Meanwhile, on 3 February 1424 Braccio was appointed Gran Conestabile of the Kingdom and received the fiefdoms of Capua and Foggia. However, when the Queen of Naples abandoned the Aragonese and passed to the side of the Angevins under Louis, Braccio remained loyal to Alfonso.
The final clash between the two contenders was just below the walls of Aquila, which still resisted the siege, near the hamlet today called Bazzano.
On 2 June the battle was fought between some of the most celebrated condottieri of the time; Braccio, mortally wounded in the neck, was made prisoner and transported to L'Aquila, where he died three days later, on 5 June 1424. The Pope had him buried in unconsecrated ground because Braccio died excommunicated, in which his corpse remained until 1432 when his nephew Niccolò Fortebraccio[b] moved it to the church of San Francesco al Prato in Perugia.
Footnotes
References
- ^ Rocca di Umbertide, Umbria tourism. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
Bibliography
- Rendina, Claudio (1994). I capitani di ventura. Rome: Newton Compton.
External links
- Page at www.condottieridiventura.it (in Italian)