Werner von Urslingen

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Werner von Urslingen (it. Guarnieri d'Urslingen , Duca Guarnieri ) (* around 1308; † 1353 ) from the Swabian von Urslingen family was one of the first and most notorious condottieri in Italy. He hired his troops to cities or princes and frequently changed fronts. He relied less on the fight against other troops, but plundered and devastated the vicinity of cities and extorted money from them for his departure.

Life

He came from the Swabian von Urslingen family , who had been enfeoffed with the Duchy of Spoleto by Friedrich II . The family had long since lost this rule. His father was possibly Konrad von Urslingen.

Compagnia di San Giorgio

Nothing is known about his early years. He already appears as a mercenary leader in northern Italy. In addition to him there were a number of other mercenaries from the Swabian region during this time . Under the command of Lodrisio Visconti , he led the Compagnia di San Giorgio with others. This consisted mainly of mercenaries who came from German-speaking countries. Most of them had previously been released by Mastino della Scala . The company fought successfully in northern Italy. In the process, she plundered Lombardy . In 1339 the Battle of Parabiago took place . There the troops first defeated the Milanese and started looting. They were beaten by Milan reserve troops. Werner led the remains of the mercenary troops and temporarily entered the service of Verona .

Grande Compagnia

In 1342 he was in the service of Pisa and fought against Florence for possession of Lucca . Pisa wanted to get rid of Urslingen and his mercenaries after a campaign. She paid off the troops and put additional money on it so that von Urslingen would move from the Pisa area to Florence. From these lancers and foot soldiers, he founded his own mercenary group, which he called the Grande Compagnia. At the beginning this consisted of 3,000 German lancers.

As a result, he and his troops acted partially independently, mostly on behalf of northern Italian cities or princes. Their success led to the influx of new mercenaries. Since then he seems to have called himself a duke. On his armor was " Duke Guarnieri, Lord of the Gran Compagnia, enemy of God, of mercy and compassion. " This motto was possibly a deliberate provocation in view of the religiosity of the time.

He ravaged Romagna and Emilia in 1342/43 . Cities were blackmailed and if they refused to pay, the surrounding area was devastated. Werner von Urslingen tried to get orders for his troops and maintained a minimum of discipline. The booty flowed into a common fund, from which the wages were paid. At the beginning Werner von Urslingen was in the service of Walther von Brienne , who ruled Florence . The company was recruited to fight against Siena and Perugia . Werner von Urslingen moved to Siena, plundered the surrounding area and only withdrew after the city had paid considerable sums of money. She then extorted ransom from Assisi in a similar manner. The individual cities or princes were too weak to be able to take action against strong mercenary troops like those of Urslingen. Only in alliance could they hope to be able to drive him out.

Walter von Brienne had now formed an alliance with others that fought against the Gonzaga and their allies. Both sides tried to commit Walter von Urslingen with corresponding sums. But he entered the service of Francesco II Ordelaffi , lord of Cesena and devastated the area around Rimini . Because the wages were not paid, he turned against his employer. Then von Urslingen entered the service of the aforementioned alliance. They spent the winter in their area near Modena and Reggio nell'Emilia . When the food ran out, the company plundered as in enemy territory.

The allied princes, in whose service von Urslingen was still officially, concluded an armistice with their previous opponents in order to be able to take action against the company. This wanted to go with her prey over the Alps. Both sides wanted to avoid a battle. Werner von Usingen said he would dissolve the troops in exchange for a cash payment. As a result, most of the mercenaries returned to Germany, some hired other Italian masters.

Return to Italy

In 1347 he returned with 1,500 lancers in the service of King Ludwig of Hungary . The king wanted to avenge the death of his brother Andrew of Hungary and fought against his widow Queen Joan I of Naples . The troops of Urslingen now devastated southern Italy. After his supposed victory, King Ludwig wanted to get rid of the expensive mercenaries and dismissed them. He made Werner von Urslingen commander of the Aquilia fortress. He was charged with being in league with opponents. Werner von Urslingen gathered around 3,000 mercenaries and plundered Campania . Various central Italian rulers formed an alliance against him. Von Usingen entered papal service for a short time in 1348. At times Queen Johanna took him into her service. In the battle of Meleto he won in association with other mercenaries. He was there when the Queen moved into Naples with her husband. Von Urslingen soon switched back to the service of King Ludwig and was sent by him to Apulia . He was rewarded with a high position in his army.

Together with others he re-founded the Grande Compagnia in 1350. This operated in northern Italy. She was in the service of signories of Romagna in the fight against Clement VI. He soon switched sides to fight for the Pope. In 1351 he was still fighting in Veneto.

He then returned to his Swabian homeland with a large fortune, where he died soon afterwards. His company continued to exist under other commanders. At the height of its importance in 1353 it numbered several 10,000 men.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Daniel Robert Kramer: The mercenary being: Military entrepreneurship in the genesis of the international system. Wiesbaden, 2010 p. 37
  2. ↑ Henry Naeve et al. a.:Private military companies: history, constitutionality, international regulation and current legal issues. Hamburg, 2013 p. 30
  3. ↑ Michael Mallett: Mercenaries. In: Medieval Warfare: A History. Oxford, 1999 p. 218
  4. ^ Daniel Robert Kramer: The mercenary being: Military entrepreneurship in the genesis of the international system. Wiesbaden, 2010 p. 38

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Werner von Urslingen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Guarnieri d'Urslingen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swabian mercenary in Italy
DATE OF BIRTH around 1308
DATE OF DEATH 1353