Francesco Piccinino
Encyclopedia
He was the adoptive son of the condottiero Niccolò Piccinino
Niccolò Piccinino
Niccolò Piccinino was an Italian condottiero.-Biography:He was born at Perugia, was the son of a butcher.He began his military career in the service of Braccio da Montone, who at that time was waging war against Perugia on his own account, and at the death of his chief, shortly followed by that of...
and the brother of Jacopo Piccinino. At Niccolò's death (1444), he had been already established as a gallant warrior under the Duchy of Milan
Duchy of Milan
The Duchy of Milan , was created on the 1st of may 1395, when Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Lord of Milan, purchased a diploma for 100,000 Florins from King Wenceslaus. It was this diploma that installed, Gian Galeazzo as Duke of Milan and Count of Pavia...
and the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
(1431). In 1436 he was serving the Aragonese
House of Aragon
The House of Aragon is the name given several royal houses that ruled the County, the Kingdom or the Crown of Aragon.Some historiansGuillermo Fatás y Guillermo Redondo, Alberto Montaner Frutos, Faustino Menéndez Pidal de Navascués...
Kings of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
, taking part in the 1437 siege of Cerreto Umbra against Francesco Sforza but, after some successes, he left to besiege Assisi
Assisi
- Churches :* The Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi is a World Heritage Site. The Franciscan monastery, il Sacro Convento, and the lower and upper church of St Francis were begun immediately after his canonization in 1228, and completed in 1253...
and then Pergola
Pergola, Italy
Pergola is a comune in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino in the Italian region Marche.The Gilt Bronzes of Cartoceto di Pergola were discovered in the communal territory in 1946. They are now exposed in a specific museum at Pergola....
.
In 1440 he was in the Battle of Anghiari
Battle of Anghiari (1440)
The Battle of Anghiari was fought on June 29, 1440, between Milan and the Italian League led by Republic of Florence in the course of the Wars in Lombardy....
, where Niccolò was badly defeated, and on 19 August 1444 he was again defeated by the Sforza's forces at Montolmo and taken prisoner, while Jacopo was able to escape.
In 1446 Piccinino fought against Micheletto Attendolo
Micheletto Attendolo
thumb|350px|The decisive attack of Micheletto Attendolo at San Romano, part of The Battle of San Romano triptych by [[Paolo Uccello]]. [[Musée du Louvre]], [[Paris]].Micheletto Attendolo was an Italian condottiero....
near Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
; Scaramuccia da Forlì
Scaramuccia da Forlì
Scaramuccia da Forlì was an Italian condottiero active in the first half of the 15th century. In Italian his name means "skirmish". He was a native of Forlì, Romagna....
, sent by the Venetian government
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
, freeing Cremona by the troops of Piccinino and Luigi dal Verme
Luigi dal Verme
Luigi dal Verme was an Italian condottiero.The son of the condottiero Jacopo dal Verme, initially he followed the latter's campaigns, then fought in the company of Muzio Attendolo in the war against Joan II of Naples. Later he was hired by the Bolognesi and then by the Republic of Venice...
, paid by Filippo Maria Visconti
Filippo Maria Visconti
Filippo Maria Visconti was ruler of Milan from 1412 to 1447.-Biography:Filippo Maria Visconti, who had become nominal ruler of Pavia in 1402, succeeded his assassinated brother Gian Maria Visconti as Duke of Milan in 1412. They were the sons of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Gian Maria's predecessor, by...
. On 28 September the same year Piccinino suffered first a defeat at Casalmaggiore
Casalmaggiore
Casalmaggiore is a comune in the province of Cremona, Lombardy, northern Italy, located across the Po River. It was the birthplace of Italian composers Ignazio Donati and Andrea Zani ....
and, in 1447, a more serious one at Monte Brianza.
Despite this setbacks, he managed to gain a contract under the newly-formed Republic of Milan, together with Jacopo, in order to thwart Sforza's aims to the city. He however fell ill of edema
Edema
Edema or oedema ; both words from the Greek , oídēma "swelling"), formerly known as dropsy or hydropsy, is an abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin or in one or more cavities of the body that produces swelling...
and died in 1449. Six years before he had married Camilla da Montone, daughter of the condottiero Braccio da Montone
Braccio da Montone
frame|Braccio da Montone.Braccio da Montone , born Andrea Fortebracci, and also known as Braccio Fortebraccio, was an Italian condottiero.-Biography:...
.
See also
- CondottieriCondottierithumb|Depiction of [[Farinata degli Uberti]] by [[Andrea del Castagno]], showing a 15th century condottiero's typical attire.Condottieri were the mercenary soldier leaders of the professional, military free companies contracted by the Italian city-states and the Papacy, from the late Middle Ages...
- Wars in LombardyWars in LombardyThe wars in Lombardy were a series of conflicts fought in central-northern Italy between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan, and their different allies. They lasted from 1425 until the signing of the Treaty of Lodi in 1454...