The Military Exploits of John Beltoft in 14th Century Italy
John Beltoft was an English condottiero in 14th-century Italy, serving various states and reflecting the shifting alliances of mercenary warfare.
John Beltoft (Giovanni Beltot, Giovanni Beltotto, Bellotto, Belthost, Beltorth, Bietot). From the parish of Betton, in the Diocese of Lincoln.
Death: 1392
| Year, Month | State, Mercenary Company | Opponent | Command | Area of Activity | Actions Undertaken and Other Salient Facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| … | France | He fights in the Hundred Years’ War. | |||
| 1380 | |||||
| Mar. | Florence | Mercenary Company | 50 lances | Tuscany | In Italy. He is hired by the Florentines. |
| 1382 | |||||
| Jan. | Florence | Mercenary Company | 65 lances | Tuscany | He follows John Hawkwood (Giovanni Acuto) in opposing the Company of Saint George led by Alberico da Barbiano and the Company of the Hook commanded by Villanuccio da Villafranca. |
| 1384 | |||||
| July Aug. | Florence | Tuscany | He is sent with Ugo di Monforte (50 lances) to assist the Sienese troubled by mercenary companies. In August, he is recalled by the Florentines due to the arrival in Tuscany of Enguerrand de Coucy. | ||
| 1385 | |||||
| … | Church | Antipope | Lazio | Under the pay of Pope Urban VI against the troops of Antipope Clement VII. He is defeated near Viterbo by the Breton captain Bernardon de la Salle (Bernardo della Sala) and Rinaldo Orsini. | |
| July | Mercenary Company | Emilia | He penetrates into the Bolognese territory with the companies of Giovanni Acuto and Giovanni degli Ubaldini, causing serious damage. The Bolognese are forced to pay 30,000 florins to these companies to be left in peace. | ||
| Aug. | Mercenary Company | Perugia, Siena | Umbria and Tuscany | He joins with Boldrino da Panicale and Taddeo Pepoli; accepts 2,000 florins to spare Perugia from devastations for a year. Then raids the Sienese territory with Everardo Lando, Taddeo Pepoli, and Giovanni Acuto. He ravages the Val d’Arbia, bringing his depredations up to the gates of the capital. To the three condottieri are given 15,000 florins. | |
| Sept. | Mercenary Company | Perugia | Umbria | He reappears in the Perugian territory with Boldrino da Panicale, Taddeo Pepoli, Everardo della Campana, and Acuto: he extorts Cerqueto, Papiano (a district of Marsciano), and Spina Nuova, until a certain sum of money is handed over to them. | |
| Nov. | He is hired along with Pepoli and Everardo della Campana by Florentines, Bolognese, and Sienese (overall command of 300 lances) to fight the mercenary companies (evidently the smaller ones). | ||||
| 1386 | |||||
| Jan. | He is dismissed by the Florentines. | ||||
| … | Mercenary Company | Florence | Romagna and Marche | He joins with Giovanni degli Ubaldini and Giovanni Acuto to move to Romagna and force Florence to make peace with Antonio da Montefeltro; he devastates Montefeltro, moves to Colbordolo and Talacchio. | |
| … | Mercenary Company | Rimini | Marche | He threatens the territory of Fano whose inhabitants have to pay his company 5,000 ducats. | |
| … | Milan | Lombardy | |||
| … | Church | 200 lances | |||
| 1387 | |||||
| … | Tuscany | He is stationed in the Sienese territory. In Perugia, there is fear that he may make incursions into their own territory. | |||
| … | Church | Vico, Antipope | Lazio | He follows with 300 lances and many infantry the Cardinal of Manoppello Tommaso Orsini against Francesco di Vico: he besieges the Prefect of Rome in Viterbo following the failure of a treaty aimed at allowing the papal forces to enter the city. | |
| June | Church | Umbria and Lazio | He links up with the Count of Manoppello Niccolò Orsini. At the head of 200 lances and many troops from Perugia, he attacks in Orvieto Rinaldo Orsini with Ugolino da Montemarte and Simonetto da Castel di Piero. He moves with 8,000 sappers to Petroio del Sassotagliato, transfers to San Paolo and San Giorgio al Campo because the rival captain is occupied at Amelia, and in Orvieto there are only Bernardo della Sala and Giovanni da Cremona. John Beltoft obtains San Lorenzo in Vigna, where he builds a bastion. His foragers are attacked by opponents; the English condottiero intervenes with his troops and is defeated. He retreats to Viterbo; among his men, 30 corporals are killed while many others are captured. Recovering, he attacks Torre Alfina, devastates its territory, destroys its mills, and breaks the aqueduct supplying the castle with water. | ||
| July | Umbria | He besieges in Orvieto the supporters of Antipope Clement VII. He repels an attempt by Rinaldo Orsini who came to aid the defenders. Orvieto continues to resist. | |||
| Aug. Sept. | Mercenary Company | Rimini | 200 lances | Tuscany, Umbria, Marche | He escorts Pope Urban VI from Lucca to Perugia with his company; another 400 lances are provided by the commune of Perugia (100), by the Gonfaloniere of the Papal State and lord of Rimini Carlo Malatesta (present), and by troops sent by the lords of Camerino, Faenza, and Forlì. The papal cortege, which includes 8 cardinals, takes the Maremma route to avoid enemy Florence. The pontiff is unable to meet his debts. John Beltoft threatens to abandon his post. To appease him, he is granted a lifetime annuity of 300 marks of silver. Meanwhile, during the same journey, he secretly signs a contract with the Florentines. He then reaches Giovanni Acuto in the vicariate of Mondavio, helps the Petrucci against the Malatesta, and with the English condottiero, Ubertinello, and Boccaccino Petrucci, ambushes Carlo Malatesta at Fratte Rosa. |
| Oct. | Church | Antipope | Umbria | He returns to the Orvieto area, still in the service of Urban VI. He is surprised with 150 horsemen at the bridge of San Luminato over the Paglia River while escorting a convoy of supplies: attacked by Bernardo della Sala and Giovanni da Cremona, with a superior number of horsemen, he is forced to flee to Viterbo with the loss of 20 horsemen. | |
| … | Umbria and Lazio | He is sent with Cardinal Giacomo Fieschi, Archbishop of Genoa, and 100 horsemen to Viterbo to arrest Cardinal Legate Tommaso Orsini; he captures the prelate on the road between Viterbo and Perugia and has him imprisoned, according to the instructions received, in the fortress of Amelia. John Beltoft heads towards Rieti while the prelate is taken by Pope Urban VI to Perugia. | |||
| 1388 | |||||
| Apr. | Church | Mercenary Company | Umbria | With the lord of Foligno Ugolino Trinci, he has the task of driving the Company of the Bretons out of Cannara. | |
| May June | Mercenary Company | Siena, Pisa, Lucca | Tuscany, Umbria, Marche | He joins with Rinaldo Orsini to invade Tuscany. He penetrates into the Sienese territory with 3,000 horsemen and devastates the area: damages are estimated at 100,000 florins; the spoils are sold in Florentine territory. He makes an agreement with the commune under papal pressure. He is immediately granted 9,000 florins as a ransom to be paid in cash; the total ransom amounts to 10,350 florins (10,285 according to other sources). Additional gifts include a charger, 2 pack mules, and 10 pieces of velvet. Having finally obtained new gifts worth 300 florins, he moves into Pisan and Lucchese territories, from which communes he extracts new ransoms. He also receives a Florentine ambassador and the commissioner Vieri Cavicciuli, who convince him not to march on Florence. He leaves the Pisan territory and returns to Umbria with 1,500 horsemen; he demands from the papal authorities the payment of arrears amounting to 30,000 florins. He attacks at Umbertide 800 Bolognese horsemen led by Pandolfo Malatesta, who from Romagna are heading towards Tuscany: 300 horsemen are taken prisoner. With this victory, he devastates the lands of Bartolomeo da Pietramala and those of Pandolfo Malatesta; he raids up to the gates of Borgo San Sepolcro (Sansepolcro). The troops of Everardo della Campana also join him; in defense of Sansepolcro is Giovanni da Barbiano. John Beltoft lodges not far from Anghiari and at Citerna. He then decides to accept the offer of Città di Castello, which asks him to hurl his forces against the territory of Apecchio. The devastations caused by his men are such that the people of Città di Castello themselves beg him to stop his action. They thus pay him 500 florins, to which are added another 650 to buy back the booty and release the prisoners. | |
| Aug. | Church | Umbria | The Florentines wish to hire him: they offer him a monthly salary of 500 florins for three years. He declines the offer, preferring to serve under the pay of the Papal State. He leaves Perugia with Guido d’Asciano and Gherardo Aldighieri to escort Pope Urban VI from Todi to Narni; in the plain of Orvieto, he defeats the Company of the Bretons, capturing 40 horsemen. He forces the opponents to withdraw to Rocca Ripesena. At Narni, he clashes with the pontiff; he leaves the camp with 3,000 horsemen and accepts the pay of the Florentines (contract duration: eight months) with the aim of defending Montepulciano from the Sienese. In retaliation, the papal forces imprison in Perugia the Florentine ambassador Vieri Cavicciuli, who had convinced him to take such a step. | ||
| … | Florence | Siena | 1,000 horsemen | Tuscany | On the advice of Giovanni Acuto, he is abandoned by many English captains, so that only 200 horsemen remain under his command. Finally, the Count of Virtù Gian Galeazzo Visconti intervenes to mediate between the parties. |
| Nov. | Perugia | Mercenary Company | Umbria | With Corrado Lando, he forces Bernardo della Sala to abandon Cannara. | |
| 1389 | |||||
| Mar. | Antipope | Church | Umbria | With Everardo della Campana (2,500 horsemen), he again confronts near Umbertide the papal captain Pandolfo Malatesta coming from Perugia with 2,000 horsemen. John Beltoft is put to flight with the capture of 50 horsemen and 200 infantry, as well as the loss of all the baggage; among his men, 20 horsemen are killed. | |
| Autumn | Mercenary Company | Pisa | Tuscany | He sacks the Pisan territory. He withdraws only after being given 13,000 florins. | |
| 1390 | |||||
| May | Florence | Milan, Siena | 600 lances | Tuscany | He is hired for one year. He is granted a monthly salary of 500 florins. |
| Sept. | Captain of War | Tuscany | Appointed captain of war, he goes on campaign in mid-month; he aims at Val d’Elsa where he raids livestock and captures prisoners. He sets fire to Talamone and sacks two castles: Monte Piccini and the fortress of Due Torri at Bagni di Petriolo. He installs a garrison there and returns to the Sienese territory, always sowing devastation. | ||
| Oct. | Tuscany | He pillages the Sienese territory with 600 lances and 3,000 men among infantry and crossbowmen: after twelve days, he is forced to return to Florentine territory due to lack of supplies. He places some men-at-arms in the castles of the Malavolti, allies of the Florentines, so that they damage the roads that connect Siena with the Maremma. Upon his return to Florence in mid-month, he asks for reinforcements for his troops. Many crossbowmen are assigned to him. | |||
| 1391 | |||||
| Dec. | Tuscany | He is tasked with 200 lances and 500 infantry to protect a convoy of 500 mules loaded with grain and other merchandise such as wool and leather (estimated value 15,000 florins). He joins with Ugo di Monforte (100 horsemen). At Cascina, he is attacked by 2,000 horsemen of Jacopo dal Verme and Jacopo d’Appiano. John Beltoft flees without putting up any resistance; Ugo di Monforte, on the contrary, fights, tries to oppose the adversaries, and is captured with weapons in hand. For his cowardice, the English condottiero is dismissed by the Florentines. | |||
| 1392 | |||||
| July Aug. | Perugia | Mercenary Company | Umbria | With Azzo da Castello, he defends Perugia from the attack by 6,000 horsemen and many infantry, led by Biordo dei Michelotti, Ceccolo Broglia, Brandolino Brandolini, Giovanni da Barbiano, as well as the exiles from Perugia and Assisi, including Guglielmino d’Assisi, former gonfaloniere of the same city. The Perugians give 6,000 florins to the mercenaries upon the promise of peace until August of the following year and their departure towards Tuscany. | |
| … | Mercenary Company | Lazio | He heads towards Rome; he stops with few men in the castle La Villa, twenty miles from the capital. Unaware that the fortress belongs to a brother of Cardinal Tommaso Orsini, he is surprised by peasants, captured, and beheaded. He will be avenged shortly after by Paolo Orsini who, having seized the castle, will have it demolished from the foundations. |
Sources
-“Uno dei condottieri più richiesti d’Italia.” WALKER
-“Anglicum magnum Capitaneum.” NIEM
-Con Ugo di Monforte “Uomini di provata onestà ed esperienza d’armi.” PROFESSIONE
Featured image: Wikimedia
