The Devil's Broker: Seeking Gold, God, and Glory in Fourteenth- Century Italy by frances stonor saunders

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 1,2025

Wow. This is an intense history of the English mercenary John Hawkwood, who pillaged his way up and down the Italian peninsula in the 14th century. The violence was frankly shocking at times - the massacre at Cesena was something I'd never heard about, and was dumbfounded by the gratuitous cruelty. The depiction of the sad state of the medieval church (before, during, and after the Schism) was also - well, depressing and fascinating in a sickening way, with definite echoes in the modern power elite. Still, it was a fascinating read, and I'd definitely recommend it to any of my friends who are interested in condottieri, 14th century Italy, the history of warfare, or finding out more about the man on the wall of the cathedral in Florence.

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I-Watch-Anime

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 1,2025

This book is tentatively about the life of the famous English condottiere John Hawkwood who made a life for himself and his White Company robbing, blackmailing, betraying and fighting all around Italy in the XIVth century.

But since records in the XIVth century were pretty scarce there is not a huge amount of information out there about Hawkwood himself so in order to fill the voids the book deals with the political and military history of XIVth century Italy. And what a history it is!

The wars between the various city states of Florence, Milan, Pisa, Lucca, Siena, the Papal States etc. were incredible in the sense that the alliances were constantly shifting and that they all used expensive and unreliable mercenary armies who changed sides all the time. The corruption of the Papal States was at an all time high, Popes were selling indulgences, starting wars, causing massacres, torturing people and extorting states and men for all their worth. First the Papacy was in exile in France and then there were two Popes accusing each other of being an antipope and excommunicating each other.

The problem with the book is that it is not written particularly well. The subject matter is fantastic and interesting, the stories themselves are almost unbelievable. John Hawkwood participated in some famous battles and would have liked some better descriptions of those battles and also some maps as well. Instead sometimes the author goes on providing lengthy lists which are completely unnecessary, for example providing a list of all the food on the menu at a Visconti wedding or an endless list of loot captured by mercenaries after a certain war. For some that may be interesting, personally I care much more for actual history rather than that sort of trivial minutia.

Saint Catherine of Sienna is somehow built up into a main character of the book and the author theorizes that she might have met John Hawkwood at one point but there is very little evidence to prove that. And if even if there was it really does not add to the history.

The author also provides passages in middle English which are barely readable and provides the modern translation in the endnotes (instead of having the passages directly in English).

In conclusion, from a historical point of view the book is great as a summary of the XIVth century Italian politics and warfare but it does have some flaws which reduce the overall enjoyment.

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UnluckyCat13

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 1,2025

Spännande med en helt ny värld för mig. Så boken var väldigt givande även om författaren var lite virrig och spekulerar en hel del. Illustrationerna kunde valts ut och behandlats bättre.

Centralpunkten och titeln på boken är Hawkwood, men man har ju inte så mycket information så det byggs upp med information om andra skeenden på 1300-talet. Upplysningar om organisation och taktik runt legokompanierna är nästan helt frånvarande. Hawkwood i sig, verkar varit en personligen ytterst charmig och övertalande person, men samtidigt skrupellös, och saker som massakern i Cesena gör att man nästan avskyr honom.

Men han lever i en brutal tid, i ett överlevnadssamhälle, men där de italienska stadsstaterna genom handel och banker tillskansar sig stora rikedomar. Man hade kommit långt från kyrkans fördömanden av ockrare där de förvägrades kristen begravning.

Att bara ha tillräckligt att äta, och visa detta, har ett enormt symbolvärde.

Frågan för människor är hela tiden, kommer jag, min grupp, mitt samhälle, min stat att överleva? Finnas kvar imorgon? Hoten får dagens covid-pandemi att verka löjlig, med 1300-talets digerdöd, svältperioder som dödar 10-20% av befolkningen och krig med massakrer om man inte kan försvara sig.

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AniGirl_Maniac

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 1,2025

I'm basing this review mostly on how much of an interesting read I had rather than how super well structured this would be for most people.

Now, this seems like it would be mostly about one particular mercenary, which, in a way, it is. However, it's more a portrait of a very particular snapshot into 14th century Italy with cameos following the narrative of the historical figure the book initially seemed it would be about. I've read at least one other book with a similar time period and geographical focus, so it's difficult for me to say whether or not this book wpuld be super easy to follow if you didn't already know a bit of what's going on.

All that being said, this very specific focus was fascinating to me, and I had a really great time getting a window into it. I was actually kind of disappointed when I looked into if this author wrote any other books on this period in history, and there was nothing other than what I would consider fairly recent history. I'd love it if they put out something else like this that had that kind of specific focus in the future.

As a small but needy side note, I'm sure no one who's reading this book would probably be interested in it. Anyways, one of my favorite anime/stories of all time is Berserk. And bassically a couple of its big historical inspirations is the hundred years war and the golden age of mercenaries (which I think is between the 13th and 15th century's) The mercenary band in that is called the band of the hawke lead by Griffith aka. The white hawke. Given that the real life mercenary from that period in this book, Sir John Hawkwood (who got his start and knighthood during the hindred years war) leads a company called the white company. According to the book, he was also written to the address of El Falco (I think that's how the book spelled it. I don't speak Ittalian, my apologies) or "of the hawk". Anyways even if this guy was not an explicit inspiration for Berserk, it's still exciting to find such a close historical parallel.

If you're interested in this period, this is definitely a great book to read as it's not often you find something with this hyper spefic of a foucus on a non modernnhostry period. And if you're a Berserk fan with an interest in history you're gonna have wayyyyy too fun a time reading this.

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cloud8100

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 1,2025

1300's Italy, what could go wrong at this time period. The Renaissance is beginning, millions in Gold Florins are being spent on private armies, Black Death, poor harvests and famine, and millions spent on art, books, literature is expanding, the Church is in crisis, Etc Etc. On this seen arrives Hawkwood and the White Company, makes millions and has millions in costs. A quick read on a time that I am not overly familiar with. Very informative if your a history buff. Maps are excellent. The style is follow Hawkwoods career as a mercenary commander to respectable Florentine General. Digressions to how life was actually lived at this time covering eating, transport, politics, sex and religion, the three topics that are NOT discussed in a Gentleman's Mess. Good read and worth the time.

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SoffsTheOtaka

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 1,2025

Highly accessible history of late Medieval Italy. This is a superb read, one that is evocative of Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror.

Like Tuchman, Saunders frames her book around the life and times of an individual - in this case, English mercenary John Hawkwood, who found himself in rather constant employ due to the various feuds and wars among the city-states of Italy.

Through Hawkwood, we get a good look at several of the major players in the region during this time - Catherine of Siena, the Visconti "Vipers," various popes, and royalty from France, England and the Holy Roman Empire.

It skews heavily towards the politics of the age, without getting too bogged down in details. You do get some idea of what life was like, but mainly for the elite like Hawkwood. It touches on a few subjects like religious ardor and the importance of the Church in daily life, how warfare was conducted during the time, what the average person's sex life might have been like, and so on.

There's a ton of great anecdotes in here, too.

I still consider Barbara Tuchman's book the first thing you should reach for if you're interested in the 14th century - but her work focuses more on the French and English. When you're done with it, read this book to get an idea of the workings of Italy during this time.

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tonikoku

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 1,2025

Bio of John Hawkwood, 14th century english mercenary who operated all over Italy. This is how history books should be written-not boring and stilted, but full of interesting information and anecdotes.

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NaomiSparks

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 1,2025

You think 13th century Italy: famine, the plague, nothing much going on, right? Wrong!! Try the birth of the mercenary. Havoc and pillage!This book is the story of John Hawkwood, an Englishman, who went to Europe to devestate, rape, and ravage . . . for pay. And, when one set of employers couldn't afford him any longer, their enemies hired him. This is also a fascinating look at the inability of the Italian city-states to pull together against a greater evil (in this case the mercenaries) because they simply could never bring themselves to trust one another. Oh, and then there's the Papacy, wishing to move back to Rome from the Babylonian exile in Avignon and thus alternately hiring Hawkwood to destroy the despots in Milan. Then finding itself fighting against him when he's hired by Florence to resist the Pope. The author, Frances Stoner Saunders, does a brilliant, enlivening job of bringing solid history to engaging reality. For those who enjoy history, Icannot recommend this enough.

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The Devil's Broker: Seeking Gold, God, and Glory in Fourteenth- Century Italy

frances stonor saunders

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Edward Iii Of England

Richard Ii Of England

Catherine Of Siena

John Ii Of France

Edward The Black Prince

John Hawkwood

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frances stonor saunders

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