Between 1342 and 1363 the conflicts between the different states of the Italian peninsula had an exceptional protagonist:the Great Company . It was an mercenary army , mainly of German origin, which at its peak numbered more than 10,000 men, including cavalry and infantry. It was not the only one of these hosts, which proliferated at the time, but perhaps it was the bloodiest, and it was certainly the first well-organized mercenary army.
Its founder was Werner of Urslingen, born in Swabia and supposedly a descendant of the Dukes of Spoleto, who were the main subjects of the Holy Roman Empire in Italy.
Very little is known about Werner of Urslingen, apart from the fact that he earned his living as a mercenary in the service of the highest bidder, always in the Italian peninsula, whose multiple states were in permanent conflict and were at that time one of the best places for business. by Werner.
The legend gives us an idea of the character's character, which says that on his armor he carried the inscription: enemy of God, enemy of mercy, enemy of compassion . The truth is that he sold himself at the highest price, and he did not hesitate to change sides if the enemy offered a higher sum. This is what happened, for example, when he was hired by Taddeo Pepoli from Bologna to fight against Obizzo III d'Este. Using gold, Obizzo got Urslingen to raze the cities of the former.
Urslingen founded the Great Company in 1342 , drawing inspiration from Lodrisio Visconti's Company of Saint George, in whose service he had fought in the Battle of Parabiago against the army of Milan. Joining him as commander were his brother Reinhardt and Konrad von Landau , who would be its last captain. That same year they would devastate Tuscany, Umbria and Romagna together.
The basis of their success would be the iron discipline imposed by Werner on his troops, together with an equitable distribution of profits, which came, in addition to the pockets of those who hired them, from extortion of local governments, with the excuse of protecting them.
In 1347 the Great Company helped Ludwig I, King of Hungary and Poland, to conquer Naples. However, the following year Werner was accused of complicity with the previous rulers, something not unusual for him as we have said, and temporarily imprisoned.
Once released, in another twist to his lack of fidelity, he put himself in the service of the Papal States in 1348, for which the Great Company conquered several territories. Finished his work in the pay of the pope, he enters the service of Queen Juana I of Naples , to which he helps to recover the domain lost the previous year.
In 1351 the Great Company increases its number to almost 20,000 men , now including for the first time Italians, Provençals and Hungarians, who join the Germans. During the following years they fight under the orders of Venice and Siena against Florence and the Papal States, suffering their greatest defeat at the hands of the Florentines in the Battle of the Field of Flies.
By this time Urslingen had already retired to his native Swabia, where he died in 1354. Before that he had managed to be appointed Vice King of Apulia .
In April 1363 the Great Company was definitively defeated in the battle of Canturino , with its last commander, Konrad von Landau, killed in action, which would mark its final dissolution. Those who defeated them were also mercenaries, the White Company of Englishman John Hawkwood, who used more advanced military tactics.
But his influence would not disappear but would live on in the famous condottieri, who dominated the art of warfare in the Italian city-states until the mid-16th century. Similar troops soon began to emerge under the command of Italian captains, such as the Company of the Star by Astrorre Manfredi, or the Little Hat Company , by Niccolo da Montefeltro. The golden age of the condottiere was beginning.