Arrogance and Steel: The Contradictory Character of Giovanni the Fearless
Giovanni Ordelaffi of Forlì. Called Giovanni the Fearless. Nephew of Francesco Ordelaffi, cousin of Pino Ordelaffi, and son-in-law of Malatesta Malatesta.
Born: 1349
Death: 1399
| Year, Month | State, Comp. ventura | Opponent | Command | Area of Activity | Actions Undertaken and Other Salient Facts |
| 1377 | |||||
| Sept. | Tuscany | In Florence with his uncle Sinibaldo. Citizenship of the commune is granted to both. | |||
| 1380 | |||||
| Feb. | Ferrara | Padua Genoa | Veneto | He is sent by the Marquis of Ferrara Niccolò d’Este to aid the Venetians engaged in the War of Chioggia against the Carraresi and Genoese. He commands the Company of the Star (Compagnia della Stella) with Francesco Inglese. | |
| 1381 | |||||
| Mar. Apr. | Exiles (Fuoriusciti) | Città di Castello | Umbria | He links up with Giovanni degli Ubaldini: bursts into the countryside of Città di Castello and damages the territory with local exiles. In early April, the 2 commanders return to the same zone for a raid lasting only one day: on this occasion too, much livestock is looted and numerous prisoners are taken. | |
| 1382 | |||||
| Mar. | Siena | Tuscany | He is appointed senator of Siena. During his tenure, he enters into a dispute with the podestà Luigi da Todi over a hunting dog: in the ensuing brawl among their retinues, there are 5 injured and one dead. Citizens intervene to pacify the two contenders: days later, Ordelaffi has a constable of the podestà killed at Sant’Agostino. He is dismissed before the expiration of his mandate. | ||
| ………….. | Rimini | On the payroll of Carlo Malatesta and Pandolfo Malatesta. | |||
| ………….. | Naples | Anjou (Angiò) | Fights in the Kingdom of Naples with his blood brother Giannino della Treccia. | ||
| 1384 | Marche | He is part of the Company of the Rose (Compagnia della Rosa). | |||
| 1385 | |||||
| Jan. | Free Company (Comp. ventura) | Bologna | Lombardy and Emilia | He leaves Lombardy with Guido da Correggio, Giovanni degli Ubaldini, and Richard Ramsey. Enters Bolognese territory. | |
| Feb. | Emilia | Defeats the Bolognese at San Prospero. Moves to Barbiano near Giovanni da Barbiano. Heads towards Zagonara. | |||
| Mar. | Free Company (Comp. ventura) | Forlì | Romagna and Marche | He fortifies himself in Barbiano following threats from the Bolognese and their allies. Besieged there, he abandons the castle and flees towards Forlì: his opponents move against him. Giovanni Ordelaffi moves with the other mercenaries to the mountains above Bertinoro. He descends towards Cesena, raids 300 heads of livestock with the other commanders, and retreats into the Montefeltro. | |
| Apr. | Enters into a new Company of the Rose (Compagnia della Rosa) captained by Everardo della Campana. | ||||
| June | Free Company (Comp. ventura) | Bologna Milan | Romagna and Emilia | Operates in Romagna; from here re-enters Bolognese territory: the inhabitants grant the company a considerable sum of money, also because other captains such as Boldrino da Panicale, John Hawkwood (Giovanni Acuto), and Taddeo Pepoli have joined the mercenaries. The company now aims for Lombardy to free Bernabò Visconti, recently imprisoned by his nephew Gian Galeazzo. The mercenaries are blocked by the Visconti troops; the company dissolves. | |
| Aug. | Padua | ||||
| ………….. | Milan | ||||
| 1386 | |||||
| ………….. | Verona | Padua | 300 lances and 800 infantry | Veneto | The Scaligeri grant Giovanni Ordelaffi and Gualtiero Borgognone command of 300 lances, 400 crossbowmen, and 400 infantry. He exits Mestre with Ostasio da Polenta and reaches the Veronese army at Quinto di Treviso. The captain of Treviso sends 100 lances against them to attack his men from behind: 30 infantry are captured and taken to the city. Ordelaffi crosses the Piave; he divides his troops into multiple groups. |
| Apr. | Veneto | Near Conegliano, he is attacked by 250 lances and 150 infantry from Conegliano and Serravalle (Vittorio Veneto) as well as 30 Hungarian horses: commanding the Carraresi forces are Ugolino Ghislieri, Antonio Balestrazzo, and Bartolomeo Boccanera. The opponents, after an initial success, are repelled primarily due to the intervention of Ostasio da Polenta. | |||
| June | Veneto | He is defeated and taken prisoner with 9,000 men at Brentelle, near Padua, by Giovanni degli Ubaldini with Cortesia da Serego, Facino Cane, Ostasio da Polenta, and Ugolino dal Verme. He is released upon payment of a ransom: he pledges not to take up arms against the Carraresi for two months. | |||
| July | Free Company (Comp. ventura) | Forlì | Romagna | Following the capture of his uncle Sinibaldo Ordelaffi, Lord of Forlì, by cousins Cecco and Pino Ordelaffi, he tries to enter the city at night with the help of Corrado Lando, Astorre Manfredi, and his partisans. The plot he relies on fails. His supporters are discovered, tortured, and killed. Upon the failure of the enterprise, he returns to serve the Scaligeri. | |
| Sept. | Verona | Padua | Captain General | Veneto and Friuli | He temporarily assumes command of the troops awaiting the arrival of Lucio Lando, appointed Captain General by the Lord of Verona Antonio della Scala. He leaves Marostica, crosses the Brenta, rides to Montello, and heads from Nervesa della Battaglia to Sacile: under his orders are 1,500 lances, 700 infantry, and 200 crossbowmen. He is joined by Venetian, Friulian, and Austrian troops: discipline in the army is poor and bitter disputes divide Italians and Germans. The former, more numerous, pounce on the latter, killing many and forcing the survivors to find escape in castles near Sacile with the loss of weapons and mounts. The German soldiers abandon the Veronese camp, flee to Cividale del Friuli, and pass into the pay of the Carraresi. The Lord of Padua Francesco da Carrara welcomes them willingly and enlists them at half pay to plunder the Udine area. Giovanni Ordelaffi crosses the Piave again, skirts Montello setting fire to all villages in his passage; touches Montebelluna; fords the Brenta and retreats to Marostica, his logistical base. With the impending arrival of the new Captain General Lucio Lando, Brunoro Gattero and Antonio Conte, responsible for the riot at Sacile, leave his ranks with 300 horses using a secret safe-conduct offered to them by the Carraresi. |
| Oct. | Veneto | He leads the Scaligeri squads towards Mestre to place himself at the disposal of Lucio Lando: on the way, he suddenly assaults Treviso towards the Porta dei Santi Quaranta; he raids many heads of livestock and takes numerous prisoners there because he catches the citizens quietly intent on the grape harvest. At Mestre, he hands the baton of Captain General to Lucio Lando, who reconfirms his command of the Italian militias. Together they take the road to Mirano and carry the war into the countryside of Piove di Sacco: they move transporting large quantities of hurdles to cross the marshes. The defenses prepared by the Carraresi force the Scaligeri to retreat. He recrosses the Brenta at Fontaniva; mid-month 2,500 barbute, 2,000 infantry, many Hungarian archers and crossbowmen transit through the Paduan territory with customary methods of war, leaving behind ruins and blood. Giovanni Ordelaffi throws himself again upon the villages near Treviso and puts everything to fire and sword; he stops at Istrana and Ciano; obtains Oriago by treaty and destroys its castle from the foundations; devastates the territories of Valdobbiadene, Cavaso del Tomba, Asolo, and Bassano del Grappa. | |||
| Nov. | Veneto | The army descends to Longare to attack Padua from a better position; Ordelaffi fails to prevent Ubaldini from lending aid to the towers of Novaglia. He continues the siege resorting to bombards and the digging of subterranean tunnels to mine the walls. | |||
| Dec. | Veneto | The fortifications of Longare are dismantled and the Scaligeri begin work to divert the course of the Bacchiglione. Ordelaffi seizes the fortress of Cogolo on the Brenta. | |||
| 1387 | |||||
| Jan. | Veneto | Attempts to oppose the advance of Giovanni degli Ubaldini at the Fossa Imperiale, at Castelbaldo. | |||
| Feb. | Captain General | Veneto | The ranks led by Francesco Novello da Carrara join at Monselice with the bands of John Hawkwood (Giovanni Acuto) and Giovanni Tedesco da Pietramala: the son of the Lord of Padua is returning from a raid in the lower Veronese plain which Giovanni Ordelaffi opposed. The Carraresi army crosses the Adige and links up at Cerea with Ubaldini: Ordelaffi forces the opponents to retreat. He has a large bastions built at Castagnaro. With Ostasio da Polenta, he proceeds to close all supply lines to the enemy camp; pushes the Carraresi to fall back to Bussolengo. The opponents stop there for twenty days eating frogs and legumes instead of bread; they are also forced to kill their mounts to feed themselves. From Bussolengo the Carraresi troops, at the end of their strength, retreat shadowed by the Scaligeri; they avoid coming to a pitched battle. Arriving at Castelbaldo and Castagnaro, the Paduans are stopped by the defenses erected previously. | ||
| Mar. | Veneto | He counts on overwhelming numerical superiority as well as technological. He commands, in fact, 9,900 horses, 1,000 infantry, 1,600 archers and crossbowmen, and 16,000 peasants armed with maces: all forming 12 units; John Hawkwood (Giovanni Acuto) has under his orders only 6,900 horses, 600 English archers, and 1,000 infantry divided into 8 units. Giovanni Ordelaffi advances 3 carts, each with a revolving square tower, with 3 floors, each armed with 12 small firearms (bombardelle) that shoot stones the size of a hen’s egg; there are also other soldiers in the vanguard equipped with a sort of flamethrower to disorder enemy ranks with fire. The 3 carts prove difficult to maneuver; they are effectively ineffective also due to the dislocation of the Carraresi army deployed along a ditch. Ordelaffi, however, is in no hurry to conclude operations; he calls his captains for final instructions before the final attack. The armies are separated by a spacious countryside bordered on one side by the Adige and on the other by a marsh; in the middle, there is a ditch that splits the field in two parts. The commander has orders from the Lord of Verona to seek a pitched battle; he attacks at dawn with the first unit at the ditch dividing the two armies. He orders his men-at-arms to dismount from their mounts and charge the Carraresi on foot. He concentrates every effort on the point where Francesco Novello da Carrara is located. Hawkwood maneuvers with his archers; the Carraresi counterattack the center of the Scaligeri deployment and the flanks; Captain Cermisone da Parma takes position on a crossing thrown over the ditch. Ordelaffi launches his men against these last troops but fails to break their resistance. Hawkwood, with a wide circle around the marsh, falls upon the rear of the Scaligeri army and throws it into confusion. Ordelaffi reverses the direction of attack, recrosses the ditch that had been stormed, and clashes with the troops of Giovanni degli Ubaldini, Ugolotto Biancardo, and Conte da Carrara arriving at the right moment. Closed in from every side, the Scaligeri formation disperses: only a unit of infantry, led by Giovanni dell’Ischia, resists the entire day in the open on a meadow defended by a ditch. In the battle, 716 dead, 846 wounded, and 4,620 prisoners are counted, among whom are Ordelaffi himself, da Polenta, Facino Cane, and Benedetto da Malcesine. He is taken to Padua: he enters the city following Hawkwood and Ubaldini; he is entertained at lunch by the Lord of the city Francesco da Carrara with all the captains. | |||
| Autumn | Lombardy | He is liberated at the beginning of autumn upon the promise to serve under the pay of the Count of Virtù and Lord of Milan Gian Galeazzo Visconti. | |||
| Dec. | Free Company (Comp. ventura) | Forlì Ravenna Rimini | Romagna | He links up with Giovanni degli Ubaldini to conquer Forlì and free his uncle Sinibaldo, imprisoned by his sons Cecco and Pino. He moves on Oriolo (Oriolo dei Fichi) with 300 horses and some infantry; he is repelled by crossbow bolts and arrows; he is no more fortunate in subsequent attempts to seize the castles of Fiumana and Rocca delle Caminate. Remained slightly wounded in the belly by a large bolt, he falls back and tries to seize Tudorano (Teodorano) by surprise; occupies some localities in the Cesena and Ravenna areas such as Bolgari, Casalbuono, Polenta, and Coglianello. He storms the castle of Lugaruccio in Val di Savio, which he sacks, causing great fear in the neighboring lands; crosses the Savio and moves to Sant’Arcangelo di Romagna and Longiano. His assaults repelled, he is forced to return due to lack of victuals: he repairs to Bertinoro and Ravenna. The continuous setbacks cause the company to dissolve. Ordelaffi argues with Ubaldini; he goes to Rimini where he has a meeting with Carlo and Pandolfo Malatesta: in his detachment from Ubaldini, he appropriates 4,000 florins belonging to the Tuscan captain. For this act, he is accused of betrayal by his ex-companion of adventure. | |
| 1388 | |||||
| Feb. Mar. | Perugia | Free Company (Comp. ventura) | Umbria | He is hired by the Perugians for twenty days for the purpose of countering the raids brought into Umbria by Bernardo della Sala, Corrado Lando, Everardo della Campana, and Corrado Lando. He is granted a provision of 400 florins. | |
| 1389 | |||||
| May Sept. | Free Company (Comp. ventura) | Siena | Umbria Tuscany | He unites with Spinello dei Tolomei, Bernardo della Sala, and Corrado di Altinberg. Pushed by the Florentines, he leaves Orvieto, enters Val d’Orcia, touches Corsignano (Pienza) and Montepulciano; transfers to Val d’Arbia, arrives at Pecano in the Scialenga and at Santa Maria a Pilli (Santa Maria). He harasses the countryside and raises both the flag of the people of Siena and that of the Tolomei. He carries his devastations up to the gates of Siena awaiting some tumult inside the city; sets fire to Rosia and stays there for fifteen days. The raid costs the Sienese over 300,000 florins in total. | |
| 1390 | |||||
| …………. | Bologna | Milan | Emilia | Confronts the troops of Gian Galeazzo Visconti. | |
| July | Romagna | Alongside the Lord of Faenza Astorre Manfredi in a treaty aimed at the occupation of Cesena. | |||
| 1392 | Free Company (Comp. ventura) | Forlì | Romagna | Seizes Roversano. | |
| 1393 | |||||
| Apr. | Romagna | Besieges Bertinoro. He is forced to desist from operations due to the intervention of Pope Boniface IX. | |||
| 1396 | |||||
| ………….. | Free Company (Comp. ventura) | Forlì | Romagna | Assails his relatives again. Receives aid from San Marino in men and money. | |
| Oct. | Ferrara | Free Company (Comp. ventura) | Emilia | In Modena with the assignment of lieutenant on behalf of the Estes. Tries in vain to lend aid to the defenders of the Rocca di Vignola, besieged by Giovanni da Barbiano. | |
| 1397 | |||||
| Sept. | Bologna | Milan | 100 lances | Lombardy | In Mantuan territory at the head of 490 lances, in aid of the Marquis of Mantua Francesco Gonzaga. |
| 1399 | Romagna | Pino Ordelaffi recalls him to Forlì. He is poisoned by Cecco dell’Aste at the instigation of the lord of the locality, worried about the sympathy that the condottiere enjoys in the city, where, moreover, suspicious movements are taking place. His bride is Teresa Malatesta. Buried in the church of Saint Augustine in the early 1400′. |
Sources
“E’ probabilmente il rappresentante della famiglia maggiormente legato alla “ventura”, proprio perché non riuscì a metter le mani sul potere forlivesco.” RENDINA
“Rei militaris peritia clarus.” BIONDO
“Giovano omo molto orevole; e menò molti cani e ucelli.” MONTAURI
Con Ostasio e Bernardino da Polenta, Giovanni da Barbiano e Ludovico da Zagonara “Capitani di gran valore.” BONOLI
Con Giannino della Treccia “Qui vero fuerunt viri magnanimi et ductores gentium armigerorum.” ANNALES FOROLIVIENSES
“Erat Joannes membrorum statura ingenti, et apposita ad dignitatem, obeso corpore, albo et formoso vultu, a quo rari, et velut sparsi per mentum pili prodire cernebantur. Haec exterios species: interiores autem sagacitas, temperantia, magnanimitas, doctrina, et summus amor gloriae decorabant: nisi tamen has animi laudes non nihil obtenebrasset caeterorum contemptus, et nimia regnandi per omnes modos cupido..Experentia optimis Ducibus eius aetatis reddederunt.” VIVIANI
“Uno de’ migliori discepoli nell’arte del maneggio della spada.” ZANUTTO
“Assae famoxo e massimamente in arme valentissimo, sença paura, e de sciençia assae bene dotado..Grande di corpo e grasso assae e biancho de colore, con pochi pili in barba, non andava molto bene sul pé, zentile de spalle, de costume assae passativo, e massimamente con gl’omine de soldo, literado molto, disprexadore quaxi d’ogne persona, dexideroxo de nomenança, e voluntiera faxea d’altrue suo, gagliardissimo, sença paura e pocha consiença.” G. DI M. PEDRINO
“Uomo per molte gesta veramente glorioso..Fu alto di persona, bianco di carni, assai pingue e pressoché imberbe; camminava sconciamente; era sagace d’indole, letterato, eloquente, sobrio e cupido di fama (qualità tutte convenienti a capitano); sebbene per l’opposto fosse di molta albagia a segno quasi dell’altrui sprezzo, e si procacciasse partito ed aderenze a tutti i versi, fossero anche colpevoli.” P. BONOLI
“Illustre condottiero.” PECCI
Con Giovanni degli Ubaldini “Horum uterque ea tempestate optimi belli duces habebantur.” BUONICONTRI
“Forse Giovanni non fu cantato, come era e sarebbe accaduto ad altri esponenti della sua famiglia, da poeti o novellieri. Fu però citato in un importante trattato il “Flos duellatorum”, o “Fiordi battaglia”, una sorta di Bibbia dei duellatori dell’Italia del Quattrocento.” SPADA
-“Giovanni era imponente, molto grasso e di carnagione biancastra con la barba rada, incerto nel camminare, le spalle strette, di carattere disponibile soprattutto con la soldataglia, di ottima cultura, altero con gli altri, orgoglioso, rapace, senza scrupoli e senza remore.”Da una descrizione di G.Di M. Pedrino riportata da CIUCCIOVINO
-“Homo nobile e valente de la persona, et era capitano de gente d’arme.” COBELLI
Featured image: wikipedia
