Battle Of Campaldino

Later, in the mid-14th century, Giovanni Villani recorded the long-remembered details— as Florentines remembered them— in his chronicle, though the ''casus belli'' he offers are merely conventional "outrages" on the part of Arezzo; the elaborately staged raid and fight led by aristocrats on both sides sounds like stylized gang warfare, though carried out, according to Villani, under the battle standard of the absent Charles, The Angevine King Of Naples . The Florentines and their allies had 10,000 undisciplined armed rabble on foot, including light-armed infantry, and crossbowmen, and unmounted lancers, but 1600 knights and 600 mounted burghrers of Florence,

"the best armed and mounted which ever sallied out forth from Florence; and 400 mercenaries, together with the following of the Captain M Amerigo, in the pay of the Florentines; and of Lucca there were 500 Horsemen ; and of Prato 40 horsemen and Foot Soldiers ; and of Pistoia , 60 horse and foot; and of Siena , 120 horse; and of Volterra , 40 horse; and of Bologna , their ambassadors with their company; and of Samminiato , and of Sangimignano , and of Colle, men mounted and on foot from each place; and Maghinardo of Susinana, a good and wise captain in war, with his Romagnoli ."

The forces were equal as far as the large groups of foot-soldiers were concerned, but the mounted knights of the Aretine forces only came to 800, but those were "the flower of the Ghibellines of Tuscany, of The March , and of the Duchy , and of Romagna ; and all were men experienced in arms and in war." This Arentine force was quickly assembled and came out as word spread that the Guelfs were ravaging the places of Conte Guido Novello, who was Podestà of Arezzo and, worse, threatening the fortified place called Bibbiena Civitella .

The scuttlebutt reported by Villani was that a plot had been intercepted at Arezzo, by which the Bishop agreed to give over to the Florentines Bibbiena Civitella, and all the villages of his see, in return for a life annuity of 5,000 golden florins a year, guaranteed by the bank of the and Bonconte, the son of Guido Da Montefeltro . Ploughing the Campaldino plain used to turn up human remains and bones as recently as eighty years ago {Link without Title} .

According to Villani, Corso Donati, podestà of Pistoia. though under orders to stand ready in reserve by his personal heroics, shouting “If we lose, I will die in the battle with my fellow citizens; and if we conquer, let him that will, come to us at Pistoia to exact the penalty” charged the Aretine flank and helped break up the lines and win the day for the Guelfs.

The battle of Campaldino secured the Guelfs in Florence, though internecine fighting among the Whites and the Blacks among the Florentine Guelfs resulted in upsets for city order, and the exile of many, including Dante, a member of the Whites, the more opposed to papal power.

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Castelle e fortezze:Campaldino (in Italian)

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Battle Of Campaldino