John Hawkwood: An English Mercenary Abroad
John Hawkwood was an English soldier who rose from modest beginnings to become the most respected and feared mercenary commander in 14th-century Italy. Serving popes, princes, and republics – often switching sides for the highest bidder – he built a career on discipline, strategy, and calculated ruthlessness in an age of constant war.
John Hawkwood: Early Life and Background in England
John Hawkwood was born in Essex, probably around 1320, although neither his exact date of birth nor the location is securely recorded. The earliest details of his life are shadowy, and even the spelling of his surname varied – appearing in records as Haucoude, Haucoult, and later Hawkwood. He may have been the son of a tanner or a minor landholder, though the idea that he was born into obscurity and rose through sheer military prowess has become somewhat romanticised, especially in Renaissance and Victorian retellings.
He most likely served in the English army during the Hundred Years’ War, possibly under Edward III at the Battle of Crécy (1346) and the siege of Calais (1346-47). This early military experience gave him the grounding in English longbow tactics and discipline that would shape his later success.
After the signing of the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360, many English soldiers, unemployed and still spoiling for war, looked for new opportunities abroad. Hawkwood was among them. Many turned to freebooting, raiding French towns and countryside. Some of these bands, including the so-called Tard-Venus, eventually moved into southern France and then Italy, seeking new employers. Hawkwood joined this tide of “unemployed” warriors – well-trained, highly mobile, and fully armed.
John Hawkwood: Arrival in Italy and the White Company
By 1361, Hawkwood was part of a formidable band of Anglo-Gascon-German mercenaries operating in northern Italy. He joined what became known as the White Company (Compagnia Bianca), first led by the German captain Albert Sterz. It was named, according to some chroniclers, for the men’s shining white surcoats and polished armour – although others suggest the term was used ironically, contrasting their name with their destructive behaviour.
The White Company stood out for its use of English-style tactics, including disciplined formations, night marches, and rapid long-distance manoeuvres. Its core consisted of English longbowmen and dismounted men-at-arms, but it also incorporated German cavalry and a variety of other adventurers. Hawkwood proved himself an able lieutenant and strategist. After Sterz’s death or disappearance (possibly executed by Perugia in 1366 for treachery), Hawkwood assumed overall command.
Under Hawkwood’s leadership, the White Company became feared across central Italy. They fought for and against numerous states – including Pisa, Milan, Perugia, and the Papacy – often turning the tide of local conflicts. Cities would sometimes pay the Company simply to leave them alone. For example, in 1364, they extracted 130,000 florins from the Republic of Pisa in exchange for not attacking. Hawkwood pioneered what became known as the condotta system: formal military contracts with set terms, limits, and payment schedules.
John Hawkwood: The Business of War
Hawkwood was not a raider in the vein of mindless pillagers. He was, by the standards of his profession, unusually organised and methodical. He maintained relatively strict discipline among his troops (at least by contemporary standards) and took pains to preserve his professional reputation. When other bands of condottieri looted churches or broke faith with employers, Hawkwood avoided direct involvement – though his men were not above intimidation, extortion, and scorched-earth tactics.
One of his most famous strategies was the “marcia” – a rapid, wide-ranging campaign through enemy territory intended to demoralise rather than annihilate. During one such march in 1375, Hawkwood moved across Tuscan territory threatening to sack undefended towns, only to withdraw after receiving ransoms. This form of strategic blackmail became a hallmark of his campaigns and required exceptional logistical planning.
At one point, he is recorded as levying a “protection tax” on certain communes, threatening to burn their crops unless payment was made. While morally ambiguous, this was seen as an acceptable business practice in 14th-century Italian warfare.
John Hawkwood: Service with the Papacy and Princes
From the mid-1370s, Hawkwood began to work more closely with the Avignon Papacy under Pope Gregory XI, who relied heavily on mercenary commanders. In return for his service, Hawkwood was granted land and titles, including a castle in the Romagna. Papal armies used him in campaigns against rebellious cities such as Bologna and Faenza, where his effectiveness won him respect but also deep local resentment.
However, his loyalty to the papacy was tempered by self-interest. In 1375, as the War of the Eight Saints erupted between Florence and the Pope, Hawkwood found himself in a delicate position. Though under papal contract, he accepted a bribe of 130,000 florins and an annual pension from Florence to stand aside rather than attack them. Some chroniclers accused him of duplicity, but others praised his restraint and calculation.
By the early 1380s, he had moved fully into Florentine service, receiving Florentine citizenship, property, and a grand house in the city. He was appointed Captain-General of Florence, a prestigious position that included ceremonial duties as well as command in the field.
John Hawkwood: Later Years
Around 1377, Hawkwood married Donina Visconti, an illegitimate daughter of Bernabò Visconti, the tyrannical ruler of Milan. This alliance bound him to one of the most powerful dynasties in Italy and increased his social standing considerably. The marriage produced several children, and although he remained in Italy until his death, he maintained connections to England – where he owned property in Essex and Berkshire.
His final years were spent in continued but increasingly cautious service to Florence, particularly during the conflict with Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Bernabò’s nephew and usurper. Gian Galeazzo was attempting to create a northern Italian empire, and Hawkwood’s task was to hold him at bay with fewer troops and resources. Hawkwood used delaying tactics, defensive positioning, and terrain manipulation to frustrate Milanese ambitions.
In 1394, while preparing for another campaign, Hawkwood died of illness at his estate near Florence.
John Hawkwood: Posthumous Reputation and Burial
Hawkwood was buried with full honours in Florence Cathedral (Santa Maria del Fiore), although his body was later returned to England. At the Florentines’ expense, the artist Paolo Uccello was commissioned to paint his equestrian monument on the interior wall of the Duomo, where it remains — a highly unusual honour for a foreign mercenary.
Hawkwood’s reputation in Italy remained largely positive. He was admired for his professionalism, discipline, and loyalty to his contracts, which distinguished him from more rapacious or disloyal mercenaries of the period. In England, however, his fame faded, and he was not widely remembered until the 19th century, when figures such as Edward Gibbon and Walter Thornbury revived interest in his career.
© James Rye 2025
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Suggested Further Reading
- Caferro, William. John Hawkwood: An English Mercenary in Fourteenth-Century Italy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. The most comprehensive modern scholarly biography, based on extensive archival research.
- Contamine, Philippe. War in the Middle Ages. Oxford: Blackwell, 1984. TIncludes an overview of the use of mercenaries like Hawkwood in late medieval Europe.
- Froissart, Jean. Chroniques. Various editions. Contemporary account that includes references to Hawkwood, though often coloured by the author’s style and moralising tone.
- Housley, Norman. The Italian Crusades: The Papal-Angevin Alliance and the Crusades Against Christian Lay Powers, 1254–1343. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982. Contextual background on papal military campaigns and the role of mercenaries.
- Trexler, Richard. Public Life in Renaissance Florence. Cornell University Press, 1980. Offers insight into the Florentine perception of figures such as Hawkwood.
- Uccello, Paolo. Fresco of Sir John Hawkwood in Florence Cathedral. A visual source of public commemoration and a clue to his contemporary prestige.