History Research - Italian Military Organizations in 15th century

Italian 15th-century military organizations were influenced by a number of factors, among which the armed forces career, the many city-states found within in each individual region and, above all, the close relationship between war and state.
At the time, a variety of military groups coexisted within the army:

1. Companies of Soldiers of Fortune;
2. Companies of Infantrymen;
3. Professional soldiers, individually hired by city-states;
4. Conscript militia;
5. “Feudal” cavalry.

Companies like the Soldiers of Fortune were composed of assorted groups of Italian and foreign warriors guided by a leader, or Condottiero. They were primarily based on groups of “loyal” men of arms, often related to the Condottiero, around whom large flexible groups called squadre (teams) and led by “minor” condottieri, would gravitate.
These Companies were hired by Italian city-states by means of specific contracts – the so-called CONDOTTE – where payments, rights and duties of the Company (from the division of war booties to the treatment of potential prisoners) were set by the Condottiero and the hiring party. From a strategic point of view, these companies were mostly based on heavy cavalry, and brought together condottieri, men of arms and warriors coming from different geographical regions and social ranks.  

Over the course of the years, Companies were joined by independent infantry groups as well as by unspecified individual mercenaries – the so-called LANZE SPEZZATE (cavalry) and the PROVISIONATI (infantrymen). LANZE SPEZZATE were composed of 12 individual knights, each one of whom was assigned a personal condotta. In 1427, Venice had 400 lanze spezzate at her service; Florence had 150 and between 1430 and 1440 Milan had as many as 700.  
It may seem logical to assume that the structure of these Companies may have been influenced by the social rank of their members: on one hand hard cavalry would have been composed of noblemen (or, in general, wealthy people) while the poor would be recruited for the infantry (a division which was much more inexpensive in terms of armaments as well as easier to train). However, such assumption would be wrong. As a matter of fact, it was not uncommon to find true specialists among the infantry corps – crossbowmen, for example – who did not belong to any of the above-mentioned categories, or villani (peasants) at the head of cavalry groups and homini d’arme (men of arms) in charge of infantry units.

The Companies commanded by major condottieri counted as many as 500 - 1,000 spears, followed by a group of infantrymen no larger than about a third of the cavalry unit. Italian city-state armies were often composed of several Companies, usually headed by the Condottiero with the largest condotta. From the second half of the century, it became increasingly more common to find smaller companies of infantrymen within or alongside larger Companies. Although less hierarchical in structure, these infantry groups still had an official leader, called the CONSTABILE (constable).

The only permanent military forces were the garrison and guard units. In particular, garrison units were composed of infantrymen called PROVISIONATI, as they received a provisione (commission, or “regular” salary), from the public authority. Throughout the 15th century, the number of provisionati kept growing relentlessly, until eventually their units became permanently ruled, managed and paid by “state” men – or by authorities not involved in the condotta system.

In Milan as well as in Venice, from “simple” professional mercenaries, provisionati would slowly pave the way for the establishment of an actual permanent army when they acquired the status of soldiers officially enlisted, armed, paid and managed by the state. In 1476, there were about 10,000 provisionati in Milan alone.
City-states could still rely on town militias – local armies based on the ancient principle that any “capable” male citizen could be recruited. However unskilled these groups of soldiers may be, and despite the fact that they were often destabilized by deserting members, town militias still played a crucial role in the defense of local cities, and proved their usefulness in more than one occasion.

Finally, the last characterizing element of 15th-century armies was FEUDAL CAVALRY (Famliari or Famigli). A product of vassalage relationships, feudal cavalry consisted of knights tied to a local ruler, who would reward them with benefits and power in exchange for their services.  While very different from its original form (9th-12th centuries), by the 15th century feudal cavalry had become increasingly subject to money matters, as demonstrated by the armies located in Napoli and Ferrara. It is however important to remember that it was very common for Condottieri to be rewarded with lands and benefits – as customary in Milan, or Venice, for example – in an attempt to create a sort of vassalage bond between an army and the local lord.  It may be interesting to add that many local lords used to build the city’s economy on the number of condotte they had, and this could be considered yet another case of FEUDAL CAVALRY.

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