Giovanni degli Obizzi and the Mercenary Reality of 14th-Century Italy
A native of Lucca. An exile. Son of Alamanno degli Obizzi, and father of Antonio degli Obizzi and Niccolò degli Obizzi.
Death: 1395 ca.
| Year, Month | State, Comp. ventura | Opponent | Command | Area of Activity | Actions Undertaken and Other Salient Facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1355 | |||||
| July, Aug. | Exiles | Lucca | Tuscany and Emilia | Guelphs and Ghibellines of Lucca decide to ally to drive the Pisans from their city. He connects with Orlando Salamoncelli; moves against Lucca at the head of the exiles. A first attempt to seize the city by surprise fails due to the delay of Valeriano and Arrigo Castracani. In August the reunion of the exiles takes place. Together they besiege Castiglione di Garfagnana with 400 horses and 2000 infantry. Pisans and Sienese come against them, strong with 6000 infantry and 700 cavalry. Confident in the advantage of position, Giovanni degli Obizzi and the other commanders realize too late that the opposing captain, Biordo degli Ubertini, has circled the height on which the besiegers have positioned themselves and has seized the pass through which supplies transit to his troops. He leaves the camp at night and takes refuge in Frignano. | |
| 1363 | |||||
| Oct. | Florence | Pisa | Tuscany | With Ranuccio Farnese he is defeated and captured in the battle of Incisa by the White Company of Albrecht Sterz (Alberto Sterz): the Florentines, between dead and prisoners, lose more than 400 men. | |
| 1365 | |||||
| Sept. | Padua | Austria | Trentino | He wages war in Valsugana against the troops of Duke Rudolf of Austria. He besieges Biagio di Grigno in Castel Ivano. The latter is forced, after a month and a half, to surrender on terms to the adversaries for lack of provisions: the hoped-for aid from Duke Rudolf of Austria does not arrive within the established term of eight days. The militias coming from Trento are blocked by the Carraresi so Biagio di Grigno must leave the fortress. At the end of the month Biagio di Grigno leaves free with wife, children and supporters. Cecco Leone receives the fortress in the name of the lord of Padua Francesco da Carrara. | |
| 1368 | |||||
| June | Church | Perugia | Tuscany | He surprises and captures Giovanni Acuto (John Hawkwood) near Arezzo. The combat lasts 4 hours. | |
| 1369 | |||||
| Mar. | Tuscany | He returns to Lucca following Emperor Charles of Bohemia. | |||
| Apr. | Empire | Pisa | Tuscany | With Orlando Salamoncelli and other exiles from Lucca (300 horses) he supports the imperials against the Pisans. He moves to Val di Serchio and infests the territory with raids, fires and capture of prisoners. He assaults Motrone: the castellan Bruto da Camaiore surrenders following the threat of hanging under the walls of his brother and other relatives captured previously. | |
| Summer | Lucca | Castracani | Tuscany | He collaborates in driving from Lucca the militias that Bernabò Visconti has sent to the city to support the pro-imperial party. He is given the task of imprisoning Alderigo Castracani. | |
| 1370 | Tuscany | He defends Lucca from attacks carried out by Alderigo, Giovanni and Orlando Castracani who are backed by the Visconti. He moves to Garfagnana, reconquers the castle of Camporgiano. | |||
| 1371 | |||||
| ……………. | Tuscany | He also recovers Gallicano on terms with the podestà of Lucca Ugolino Galluzzi: this fortress too, like that of Camporgiano, is dismantled by the commune. | |||
| ……………. | Tuscany | In Lucca the Obizzi are prevented from holding public offices; in particular Giovanni is forbidden to return to the capital. The condottiero despises the order and raises the inhabitants in his favor. He enters the city secretly through the Porta di San Gervaso; rings the bell of the people. The inhabitants take up arms. The Obizzi is arrested by the podestà and condemned to exile as well as the payment of 10,000 florins for not having respected the previous order: among his guarantors are Tommaso degli Obizzi and Niccolò Diversi who must pay the entire sum for his disobedience. | |||
| Dec. | Comp. ventura | Lucca | Tuscany | He goes to Florence and instigates the republic to wage war against Lucca. He bursts into the Lucchese territory with Konrad Von Weitingen (Corrado Lando): in the city a conspiracy is discovered which concludes with the execution of some accomplices. For his part he devastates the countryside and obtains Moriano from the castellan, il Basselotto. | |
| 1372 | |||||
| Jan. | Tuscany | He continues in his raids: all his family members are driven from Lucca and their goods are confiscated. The arrival in the region of Count Amedeo di Savoia and Enguerrand de Coucy force him to move away from Moriano and transfer to Lunigiana with Corrado Lando and Giannichino Bottigler. | |||
| Autumn | Padua | Venice | Veneto | He passes to the pay of the Carraresi against the Venetians. He is stationed at Cittadella. | |
| 1373 | |||||
| Feb. | Padua | Venice | Veneto | Giovanni da Peraga calls him for an assault on the borgo of San Tomaso at Treviso. Taking the mountain road the Carraresi and Hungarians devastate the countryside of Pederobba and Cornuda. They descend to the plain, cross the Piave and sack all the localities that present themselves on their path. Many Hungarians, part of the expedition, remain wounded and refuse to share the booty with other soldiers. | |
| July, Aug. | General Captain | Veneto | He is named general captain following the rout suffered by the Carraresi at the hands of the Venetians at the bastia del Buon Conforto. On the last day of the month Giovanni degli Obizzi assaults the bastia of Medicina, recently built by Francesco Ordelaffi, with Giovanni da Peraga, Arcuano Buzzaccarini, Francesco da Carrara and Giovanni di Polisna. From the fortress they respond against the attackers with crossbows and bombards. A stone launched by a bombard hits Rizzardo di San Bonifacio in the leg, a bolt hits Antonio Dotto in the right hand, Niccolò da Carrara is also wounded in the right arm. Giovanni degli Obizzi with Giovanni da Peraga throws a bridge over the moat, climbs it with the cavalry and initially overcomes the resistance of the adversaries. The combat ends with the victory of the Venetians commanded by Giberto da Correggio. Always in the same days he is informed of the conspiracy of Marsilio da Carrara against his brother Francesco. | ||
| Dec. | Comp. ventura | Lucca | Tuscany | With some Guelph exiles he connects in Tuscany with the company of Corrado di Altinberg (1000 horses and 1000 infantry recently dismissed by the Florentines) directed to Lombardy to pass to the pay of the Visconti. Giovanni degli Obizzi joins for some time with these to bring damage to the Lucchese territory. Lucca reacts and the mercenaries leave him alone continuing their journey toward Sarzana, controlled by the Visconti. | |
| 1375 | Naples | Abruzzi | He serves Queen Joanna I of Naples (Giovanna d’Angiò). He is named captain of L’Aquila in place of his relative Tommaso degli Obizzi. | ||
| 1376 | L’Aquila | Rieti | Abruzzi and Lazio | He has command of the citizen militias of L’Aquila (15,000 men) to fight Rieti and Cittaducale: the 2 localities are forced to negotiate with the people of L’Aquila. | |
| 1377 | Abruzzi | He leaves command to the returning Tommaso degli Obizzi. | |||
| 1378 | |||||
| May | Padua | Venice | General Captain | Veneto | The Carraresi re-elect him their general captain in the war against the Venetians. |
| June | Veneto | At the head of 16,000 men, including Hungarians and troops of the patriarch of Aquileia, he enters the Trevigiano and terrorizes the territory with fires and raids; he moves to Oriago where he has the bastia rebuilt with the moat and builds a castle; he reinforces Castelcarro despite continuous attacks coming from Chioggia. | |||
| July | Veneto | He leaves Padua with banners displayed; he stops at Carpanedo and attacks Mestre where he seizes the borgo of San Lorenzo in whose defense many Venetians fall. After the clash Sicco da Caldonazzo is knighted; all prisoners are led to Padua. He sets fire to the borgo and begins to strike Mestre with bombards; he attempts to seize the castle guarded by 300 infantry. There are multiple assaults that conclude with numerous losses for the attackers. An assault is carried directly by Francesco Novello da Carrara; it is equally repulsed after four hours of combat. Among the Paduans 25 men are killed and another 500 are wounded, among whom are Simone Lupo and Giacomo di Porcia; among the Venetians 28 deaths and 100 wounded are recorded overall. Giovanni degli Obizzi is spoken ill of by Francesco Novello da Carrara; he is also criticized by Gerardo da Monteloro who, uselessly, during the battle exhorted him to let the soldiers rest. Only Giovanni da Peraga and Antonio Lupo support Giovanni degli Obizzi in the dispute. | |||
| Aug. | Veneto | He is suspected of having been corrupted by the Venetians and of not having exercised his abilities to the best: he is deprived of his office by Francesco da Carrara. The Paduans abandon the siege due to plague entering the camp. | |||
| 1384 | |||||
| Oct. | Florence | Comp. ventura | General Captain | Tuscany | He is sent to the Aretino following the entry into the capital of Enguerrand de Coucy, the Tarlati with Carlo da Pietramala and the Visconti with Ruggero Cane. He conquers Castiglion Fiorentino; he camps near Arezzo: he makes daily sorties against the French forcing de Coucy to realize the precariousness of his situation. He also threatens the Lucchese territory; the commune has the garrisons of Lucca and the 40 fortresses and castles controlled reinforced. |
| Nov., Dec. | Tuscany | Enguerrand de Coucy sells Arezzo to the Florentines for 45,000 florins, a sum that rises to 60,000 with the cession of the city castle. Giovanni degli Obizzi enters Arezzo; in December he returns to Florence and delivers the insignia of command to the Ten of War. He is received with great honors and bell ringing (also double) after many nobles of the city have gone to meet him. | |||
| 1385 | |||||
| ……………. | Tuscany | At the death of Francesco Guinigi he tries to return to Lucca: two citizens (Matteo Gigli and Biagio Averardi) who have made contact with him through two Carmelite friars are immediately beheaded. | |||
| Mar., Apr. | Florence | Comp. ventura | Emilia | He is sent to aid the Bolognese, defeated by Giovanni degli Ubaldini. In April he returns to Florence. | |
| May | Florence | Pietramala | General Captain | Tuscany | He rides in the Aretino against the Pietramala. He replaces Vanni Cavalieri in command of the troops. |
| June | Florence | Cortona, Pietramala | Tuscany | He enters the territory of Cortona; he raids livestock there because the lord of Cortona Francesco Casali is trying to hinder the Florentines in possession of the castle of Penna. He continues in the Aretino his action against the da Pietramala; he seizes the fortress of Anghiari; he besieges Sorci and enters Chiusi. He has 5 bastias built and besieges Pietramala with war machines and bombards. | |
| Aug. | Tuscany | After two months of siege he forces Marco da Pietramala to abandon Pietramala in exchange for 2,000 florins: the castle is destroyed from the foundations. He returns to Florence where he is received with all honors by the authorities and the Guelph party. | |||
| 1386 | |||||
| Mar., June | Florence | Urbino | Captain of War | Umbria and Marche | He fights Antonio da Montefeltro. From Città di Castello he heads into the territory of the lord of Urbino; he camps near the walls of Gubbio with 2,000 horses and 200 infantry. Assaulted by adversaries, he pushes toward Cagli, Colbordolo and Talacchio bringing grave damage everywhere to the countryside. In June he returns to Florence to deliver the insignia of command. To celebrate the victory in Florence it is established to run for the day of San Giovanni a palio with a prize of 100 florins and a mount covered with a vermillion cloth worth, also, as many florins. |
| July | Tuscany | The Florentines come to terms with Antonio da Montefeltro. Giovanni degli Obizzi returns to Florence. | |||
| ……………. | Tuscany | Called back to Lucca, he is assigned an honorable provision. | |||
| 1388 | |||||
| Apr. | Tuscany | At Florence. In the church of San Giovanni he attends the ceremony in which Giovanni Panciatichi is knighted by the captain of the people Gabriele Emo. | |||
| 1395 | Emilia | He dies at Ferrara. Portrayed in a hall of the castle of Catajo at Battaglia Terme, near Padua, in which the deeds of some members of the Obizzi family are depicted. |
Sources
-“Capitano valoroso de’ Fiorentini et in loro più molte honorate imprese.” ZABARELLA
-“Gran soldato e huomo di guerra.” SANSOVINO
-“Cavaliere di molto valore.” CHINAZZI
-“Valoroso Capitano.” GAMURRINI
-Capitano dell’Aquila al posto di Tommaso degli Obizzi “E questo capetano fu molto celebrato,/ E per sconzare el nostro stato illu sone bene adorno:/ Poiché forno el tenpo per lu antro fu mandato,/ Quili, che vi gero, questo abero confermato.” A. DI BUCCIO
-“Fu uomo di guerra.” ARGEGNI
Featured image: wikimedia
