Niccolò Piccinino

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Contemporary portrait of Niccolò Piccinino by Antonio Pisanello

Niccolò (Nicola) Piccinino (* around 1380 in Perugia , † October 15, 1444 in Milan ) was an Italian condottiere .

Life

He was the son of a butcher and began his military career at the age of thirteen in the service of Braccio da Montone , who at the time was waging a war on his own account against Perugia. After his death in 1424, which was shortly followed by the death of Montone's son Oddo, Piccinino became the leader of Condotta . After serving for a short time in the Republic of Florence , he moved in 1425 to Filippo Maria Visconti , Duke of Milan , in whose service he fought with Niccolò Fortebraccio against the alliance between Pope Eugene IV , Venice and Florence.

He defeated the papal army at Castel Bolognese in 1434, but after another force of the Pope under Francesco Sforza killed Fortebraccio at Fiordimonte , Piccinino was left as sole commander of the force. During a series of campaigns against Sforza, he succeeded in capturing some cities of Romagna by treason. In 1439 he fought in Lombardy and Trentino with varying degrees of success against Gattamelata and Sforza, who was now in Venetian service. In November 1439 he was only able to evade capture at Tenno with the help of a daring ruse. In the following period he was able to briefly occupy the Venetian Verona before he was expelled from there.

Piccinino now persuaded the Duke of Milan to send him to Umbria , where he hoped - like so many other condottiere , to gain rule for himself. But he was defeated by Sforza at the Battle of Anghiari in 1440 , some of his people were captured - and released again, as was customary in the wars between mercenaries . The fight changed back to Lombardy, and Piccinino, who had defeated Sforza in Martinengo, demanded rule over Piacenza as the price for Sforza's capture by the Visconti .

However, the Duke concluded a truce with Sforza, the latter, who in the brands had established his rule, this used to under the pretext of the Papal States to defend, fear and terror to the Pope and the King of Naples to spread - but also with the Visconti, who now handed command of their troops to Piccinino. Sforza was driven out of the brands but then beat Piccinino at Montelauro , who in turn was making desperate efforts to win against Sforza when he was suddenly called back to Milan. His army was defeated in his absence and he himself died a short time later.

Grave slab of Francesco and Niccolò Piccinino in the Milan Cathedral

Piccinino is said to have been short, handicapped and of poor health, but nevertheless “brave to the point of recklessness, wonderfully inventive and never overwhelmed by defeat”. At the same time he was said to have been cruel and treacherous and had no other goal in mind than increasing one's own power. Piccinino left two sons, Jacopo (Giacomo, † 1465) and Francesco († 1449), who both became excellent condottieri . Interestingly, Francesco was a partisan of Francesco Sforza, Giacomo fought in the southern Italian campaigns.

At the request of Filippo Maria Visconti, Niccolò Piccinino was buried in the Milan Cathedral . Under the rule of Francesco Sforza (1450–1466), his former adversary, a memorial monument erected in his memory was removed in 1455. The tombstone in the cathedral today, which is placed under the monument erected in honor of Pope Martin V and also commemorates his son Francesco, who was also buried in the cathedral, dates from 1502.

literature

  • Poggio Bracciolini : Vita di Niccolò Piccinino . Venice 1572.
  • Carlo de 'Rosmini: Dell'istoria di Milano. Tomo II . Manini e Rivolta, Milano 1820.
  • Piero Pieri: Piccinino, Niccolo . In: Enciclopedia italiana di scienze, lettere ed arti , Vol. 27: Peth – Porth . Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1935.
  • Ercole Ricotti: Storia della compagnie di ventura . Pomba, Turin 1845 (4 volumes).

Web links

Commons : Niccolò Piccinino  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Carlo de 'Rosmini: Dell'istoria di Milano. Tomo II pp. 345-347
  2. ^ Poggio Bracciolini: Vita di Niccolò Piccinino (Venice, 1572), p. 5.
  3. ^ Biography of Francesco Piccinino in Italian , accessed on August 30, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Piccinino, Niccolo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Piccinino, Nicola
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian condottiere
DATE OF BIRTH around 1380
PLACE OF BIRTH Perugia
DATE OF DEATH October 15, 1444
Place of death Milan