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Michael Edward Mallett
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Mercenaries and Their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy Reprint Edition, Kindle Edition

by Michael Mallett (Author), William Caferro (Foreword, Contributor) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 98 ratings
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The eminent Renaissance historian’s classic study of warfare between Italian city-states between the 13th and 16th centuries.

Michael Mallett’s lucid account of the age of the condottieri—or mercenary captains of fortune—and of the soldiers who fought under them is set in the wider context of the Italian society of the time and of the warring city-states who employed them. Mallett presents a colorful portrait of the mercenaries themselves, as well as their commanders and their campaigns, while also exploring how war was practiced in the Renaissance world.

Mallett puts special focus on the 15th century, a confused period of turbulence and transition when standing armies were formed in Italy and more modern types of military organization took hold across Europe. But it also looks back to the middle ages, and forward to the Italian wars of the sixteenth century when foreign armies disputed the European balance of power on Italian soil.

First published I 1974, Mallett’s pioneering study remains an essential text on the subject of warfare in the late medieval period and the Renaissance.
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  1. ISBN-13
    978-1526765543
  2. Edition
    Reprint
  3. Publisher
    Pen & Sword Military
  4. Publication date
    August 19, 2009
  5. Language
    English
  6. File size
    3.3 MB
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The late Michael Mallett was professor of history at the University of Warwick. He is best known for his outstanding books on Renaissance Italy, in particular The Florentine Galleys in the Fifteenth Century and The Borgias.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B014JXFKLM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pen & Sword Military; Reprint edition (August 19, 2009)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 19, 2009
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.3 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 343 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 98 ratings

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Michael Edward Mallett

Michael Edward Mallett

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4.3 out of 5 stars
98 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book provides an excellent account of Italian warfare in the Renaissance. It offers a detailed overview of the Condottiere in the 15th century. Readers describe the book as an interesting read, well-written, and a solid start for those interested in the topic. They mention it's a serious academic study but reads like a good novel.

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Renaissance warfareReadabilityPacing
9 customers mention "Renaissance warfare"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the book an excellent account of Italian warfare in the Renaissance. They appreciate the good analysis and detailed overview of the Italian Condottiere in the 15th century. The book is described as a serious academic study yet reads like a good novel.

"This is simply the best book about warfare in Renaissance Italy. It is a serious academic study, but trust me, it reads as a good novel...." Read more

"A solid overview of warfare in Italy during the century or so that the Condottierri and the "free companies" were a dominant part of warfare there...." Read more

"Very good analysis of a complex topic. It was a pleasure to read. More detail in descriptions of battles would have been helpful." Read more

"Full of facts, but only mildly interesting. Unless I were doing research on that or a related subject, it's not very interesting to read at all." Read more

8 customers mention "Readability"8 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging and well-written. However, some find it too detailed and research-intensive for a light read.

"...It is a serious academic study, but trust me, it reads as a good novel...." Read more

"...Well done and researched, and a good, solid start for those interested in the ideas of militias, private armies, etc...." Read more

"Very good analysis of a complex topic. It was a pleasure to read. More detail in descriptions of battles would have been helpful." Read more

"...said, the rest of the book holds up excellently, and it's totally worth a read for anyone interested in the subject." Read more

5 customers mention "Pacing"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging with its story of condottieri and Renaissance Italy. They say it's a solid start for those interested in the subject, though some details may be inaccurate. However, most readers consider the book worth reading.

"...of condottieri, tyrans and heroes of Renaissance Italy, world of enormous passions, ambitions, lust for power and money, chivalry, violence and war...." Read more

"...Well done and researched, and a good, solid start for those interested in the ideas of militias, private armies, etc...." Read more

"...That said, the rest of the book holds up excellently, and it's totally worth a read for anyone interested in the subject." Read more

"Interesting, but some detail may not be correct...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Anton Tomsinov
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating story of condottieri
    Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2010
    Verified Purchase
    This is simply the best book about warfare in Renaissance Italy. It is a serious academic study, but trust me, it reads as a good novel. The author opens for us a bright window into the world of condottieri, tyrans and heroes of Renaissance Italy, world of enormous passions, ambitions, lust for power and money, chivalry, violence and war. One of my favourite books on Renaissance warfare!
    17 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars Italy in the 15th Century
    Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    A solid overview of warfare in Italy during the century or so that the Condottierri and the "free companies" were a dominant part of warfare there. Well done and researched, and a good, solid start for those interested in the ideas of militias, private armies, etc. Makes a good hash of demonstrating that Machiavelli's "The Art of War" and its emphasis on militias was not to be a workable strategy.
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  • Bobcat
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good read.
    Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Very good analysis of a complex topic.

    It was a pleasure to read. More detail in descriptions of battles would have been helpful.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Sudi
    3.0 out of 5 stars Boring for a fun read
    Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Full of facts, but only mildly interesting. Unless I were doing research on that or a related subject, it's not very interesting to read at all.
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  • Amazon Customer nutbutter
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good book
    Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Inrteresting,just shows world got bigger,people dont
    One person found this helpful
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  • Becky
    4.0 out of 5 stars This book is an excellent account of Italian warfare in the Renaissance
    Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    This book is an excellent account of Italian warfare in the Renaissance. It can get a bit dry in a few places, but Mr. Mallett does a good job of keeping things moving along. Clarity is another strong point of this book: I never had trouble understanding what the book was trying to tell me. This should be commended, since this kind of subject matter is easy to render painful to read.

    This book is quite old at this point by scholarly standards, and its age is starting to show in some places. Most notably, its account of the Battle of Castagnaro is almost completely wrong. (The battle's Wikipedia article was, at the time of writing, much more accurate. It's also worth a look, since it's one of the more famous condottiere battles.) That said, the rest of the book holds up excellently, and it's totally worth a read for anyone interested in the subject.
    15 people found this helpful
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  • BOB
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    well researched and fairly easy read
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Alexandru Constantin
    4.0 out of 5 stars Condottiere in the 15th century.
    Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Detailed overview of the Italian Condottiere in the 15th century. The focus is less on individuals, battles, or social histories, but more on the administrative interaction between mercenary capitans and the Italian city states.

    Good read for anyone interested in the topic but a bit dry for dabblers.
    6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Henrique
    5.0 out of 5 stars Ótimo livro
    Reviewed in Brazil on March 24, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Este livro tem como maior foco a Itália renascentista do século XV. Apesar de conter inúmeros detalhes esse livro é uma ótima porta de entrada para o tema em questão.
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  • JPS
    5.0 out of 5 stars Still the starting point and a major reference
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 31, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    First published in 1974, this book remains an excellent starting and a major reference on warfare in Renaissance Italy and on mercenaries in the 14th and 15th centuries in the same country – the so-called “condottiere”, as William Caferro states so aptly in his foreword.

    Michael Mallett’s purpose at the time was to investigate and to disprove a number of commonly-held assumptions regarding these mercenary forces, accused of being at the root of all of Italy’s woes and, in particular, of being largely responsible for Italy’s inability to withstand French and Spanish conquerors during the first three decades of the 16th century.

    Contrary to what another reviewer mentions, the book does not start in the middle of the 14th century. Instead, it begins a good century before and shows how changes, including the demise of imperial forces after the death of Frederic II and the move of the papacy to Avignon, changed the political landscape. It also shows that, throughout the whole period, mercenaries in general, and foreign mercenaries in particular, were rarely more than a minority in the armies of the time. Alongside them, at least initially, fought Italian nobles and their retinues with civic militias providing the infantry.

    The author also shows that the first contingents of foreign mercenaries were Germans and Angevins, well before English, Gascons, Bretons and other French companies turned up in Italy looking for employment during the second half of the 14th century. He also shows how and why the use of professional soldiers developed, and the advantages that the use of such soldiers represented over local native troops for their employers. Interestingly, and especially for the 14th century, the exactions committed by mercenaries for which they have become so infamous often originated in abuses committed by their employers, in particular their inability to pay them or provide sufficient and good quality food. They also originated from the facts that initial “condottas” – their employment contracts, were often typically short-term and for a few months only after which the mercenaries, left to their own devices, either had to find another employer and transformed themselves into bandits, living on “protection money”, and on the countryside more generally.

    Potential readers should note that this book is NOT a narrative history of warfare in Italy between 1250 and 1530. It is not either supposed to be a comprehensive history of all mercenaries that served in Italy during this period, whether foreign or Italian, even if it does include a number of fascinating vignettes on some of the most notorious ones, such as John Hawkwood, but also a good number of his 15th century Italian successors. What it is, however, is a comprehensive, although limited, overview of mercenaries, and of how their evolved, responded and fitted in to Italian society, and how warfare in Italy was considerably influenced by them.

    One of the particularly interesting sections of the book is the one describing how warfare evolved so that by the fifteenth century mercenaries and their Captains were essentially Italians. A related feature shows that these condottiere captains initially came in several types but mostly originated either from noble clans or from wealthy landed “middle classes”. A number of them were mercenary princes which had, or acquired, their own bases and lordships such as the Malatestas of Rimini or the Gonzaga of Mantua.

    In fact, Mallett uncovers a bit of a trend with some among the most successful among the mercenary Captains creating landed aristocratic dynasties over time while still remaining warlords and swords for hire. Another evidenced trend was the gradual move of the five most powerful Italian states (Milan, Venice, Florence, the Papal States and Naples) towards permanent armies made up of mercenary professional (i.e. full time) soldiers which could be rapidly increased during wartime. A third element that the author finally demonstrates in a very convincing way is that Italian warfare and armies were neither ‘backward” and isolated nor incapable of matching German, Swiss or French opponents.

    In fact, Mallett provides multiple evidence of the contrary, including an interesting description of the campaign leading to the battle of Fornova where an outnumbered French army barely escaped destruction because the Italian commander’s strategy – while sound - was rather too complicated to execute. Another battle fought by Venice against the French some fifteen years later exhibited a similar feature. The French won because they were able to take advantage of the composite nature and lack of coordination between the components of the Italian contingents.

    Five stars for what remains a key reference and a seminal book.
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  • Sean
    4.0 out of 5 stars Nice book on this time in history
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 27, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Very well written and in a slightly odd style as it is written as though he is refuting something that you might not be aware of.
    Good detail and a good read
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  • Colin
    5.0 out of 5 stars Mercenaries and their Masters - Michael Mallett
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 3, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Lover of history and historical fiction. Thoroughly enjoyed this book.
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  • Hideyoshi Darrol
    4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 28, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Excellent source material
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