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A review by thebartthe
The Devil's Broker: Seeking Gold, God, and Glory in Fourteenth- Century Italy by Frances Stonor Saunders
4.0
Highly accessible history of late Medieval Italy. This is a superb read, one that is evocative of Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror.
Like Tuchman, Saunders frames her book around the life and times of an individual - in this case, English mercenary John Hawkwood, who found himself in rather constant employ due to the various feuds and wars among the city-states of Italy.
Through Hawkwood, we get a good look at several of the major players in the region during this time - Catherine of Siena, the Visconti "Vipers," various popes, and royalty from France, England and the Holy Roman Empire.
It skews heavily towards the politics of the age, without getting too bogged down in details. You do get some idea of what life was like, but mainly for the elite like Hawkwood. It touches on a few subjects like religious ardor and the importance of the Church in daily life, how warfare was conducted during the time, what the average person's sex life might have been like, and so on.
There's a ton of great anecdotes in here, too.
I still consider Barbara Tuchman's book the first thing you should reach for if you're interested in the 14th century - but her work focuses more on the French and English. When you're done with it, read this book to get an idea of the workings of Italy during this time.
Like Tuchman, Saunders frames her book around the life and times of an individual - in this case, English mercenary John Hawkwood, who found himself in rather constant employ due to the various feuds and wars among the city-states of Italy.
Through Hawkwood, we get a good look at several of the major players in the region during this time - Catherine of Siena, the Visconti "Vipers," various popes, and royalty from France, England and the Holy Roman Empire.
It skews heavily towards the politics of the age, without getting too bogged down in details. You do get some idea of what life was like, but mainly for the elite like Hawkwood. It touches on a few subjects like religious ardor and the importance of the Church in daily life, how warfare was conducted during the time, what the average person's sex life might have been like, and so on.
There's a ton of great anecdotes in here, too.
I still consider Barbara Tuchman's book the first thing you should reach for if you're interested in the 14th century - but her work focuses more on the French and English. When you're done with it, read this book to get an idea of the workings of Italy during this time.