Condottiere
engraving, ex. 4/4
Karpenko Oleg
Material: paper, etching, stroke
Size: 15 x 20 cm
Time of creation: 2008
Wikipedia:
Condottieri (from Ital. condottiero — commander of mercenaries) — in Italy of the XIV—XVI centuries, the leaders of military detachments (companies)
who were in the service of commune cities and sovereigns, and consisted mainly of foreigners.
Each squad was grouped around a condottiere, who called and dismissed the squad at his discretion,
concluded contracts (condotts) for conducting military operations, received money (ital. soldo — "payment", see soldier)
and he paid off the mercenaries (soldiers). It happened that condottieri seized power in cities, founding signories.
There were many adventurers in the ranks of condottieri.
There are cases in history when condottieri, after receiving payment for their work, switched
from one warring camp to another and blackmailed their employers.
