Mario Del Treppo, ed. Condottieri e uomini d'arme nell'Italia del Rinascimento.

(Europa Mediterranea Quaderni, 18.) Naples: Liguori Editore S.R.L, 2001. Pbk. xix + 484 pp. + 1 pl. index. 34.50 [euro]. ISBN: 88-207-3141-X.

This volume contains the proceedings of the Lucca conference of 1998, held under the same name (two conference papers do not appear, while the editor's article has been added). Like many conference proceedings, the present volume lacks a clear point of reference beyond a general subject of inquiry, namely the profession of war from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries. Moreover the contributions generally fall into one of two historiographical approaches, the first devoted purely to military and diplomatic affairs and the second to sociopolitical or socioeconomic analysis. The two positions fail to speak to one another, leaving the volume as a whole unintegrated. Also lacking is an introduction to place the essays and the larger themes they address in context of recent research in Renaissance military studies. Only in the conclusion, admirably put together by Marco Tangheroni, does the reader arrive at a useful discussion of each of the articles.

The essays fall into two broad categories. The first concerns what Sir John Firth would have called "the clash of material forces," while the second takes up social themes related to martial culture. The editor Mario Dal Treppo describes just such a division in his introduction without acknowledging the preponderance of social and cultural historical analysis. The lack of balance is the book's main weakness. Subjects related to the actual work of condottieri and men in their command, such as army logistics and weapon technology, go largely ignored. For a reader unfamiliar with the methods and means of Renaissance warfare, there is little material to clarify the experience of fighting men. The articles addressing military history proper include contributions by Ugo Barlozzetti, Aldo Settia, and Michael Mallet that prove among the most engaging in the book. Settia in particular breaks some flesh ground in the field of operational history by investigating in depth the "Insegnamenti" by Teodoro di Monferrato. Mallett, on the other hand, contributes to the "Military Revolution" debate by emphasizing the tactical changes brought by the Italian wars of the sixteenth century. Meanwhile, Mario Dal Treppo's essay eschews just such a military-historical perspective. A pity for the reader, for after thirty-five pages of previously unpublished data about the company of Micheletto Attendolo, one yearns to know what success the mercenary operation had in the field.

The remainder of the book is devoted to social and cultural history as well as biographical studies of specific leaders or their companies. In the latter category is Francesco Storti's essay on Alfonso, Duke of Calabria. Storti emphasizes not only the development of the duke's leadership skills, but also his attempts to convert the Neapolitan/Aragonese army to a modern fighting force. The essay shines light on a too-often neglected southern Italy by using archival material from northern repositories to fill in the gap of Neapolitan documents lost in the Second World War. The works by Isabella Lazzarini on the Gonzaga of Mantua and Letizia Arcangeli on northern Italian warrior aristocrats consider how the study of Renaissance military careers can be useful in the history of state building.

The remaining essays turn to social and cultural interpretations. Nadia Covini examines the impact of warfare and mercenary companies on the Bentivoglio regime in Bologna after 1455, while Christine Shaw does a very good job demonstrating how the power of the Roman barons conditioned papal policymaking. The remaining articles address how condottieri and mercenaries were perceived by various writers during the Renaissance. These works add little to the historiography of Renaissance warfare since the topic already has a substantial bibliography. An exception is Bruno Figliuolo's essay on Roberto Sanseverino's pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1458-59. Hannelore Zug-Tucci's work on the death of Braccio da Montone and Roberto Senatore's essay on the De bello Neapolitano by Giovanni Pontano are both well-researched and argued. Claudio Marazzini's contribution is perhaps the weakest, his being a statistical analysis of Renaissance military literature based primarily on the bibliography of M.J.D. Cockle, first published in 1900.

Certain articles in this book will be of interest to specialists in Renaissance warfare and diplomacy. Nearly all of the essays (Shaw's excluded) are in Italian, and extensive citations in Latin are left untranslated, making most of the selections unsuitable for undergraduate readings.

NICCOLO CAPPONI

The Medici Archive Project, Florence.