Fanti lombardi e fanti toscani: Piero Pieri e la “nostra guisa” (1289-1348)

Abstract

This article examines the historiographical interpretation of Italian infantries during the period from the 12th to the early 14th century by the prominent Italian polemologist Piero Pieri (1893-1979), whose work stands as the sole comprehensive analysis on this subject and has served as a major source of inspiration for subsequent scholars. However, given the passage of 90 years and the accumulation of new research, his work requires revision. Specifically, this article challenges Pieri’s rigid temporal and regional categorization, which separates a superior Lombard infantry of the Swabian era, characterized by militarized citizenry, from an inferior Tuscan infantry of the Late Communal period, characterized by bourgeois and peasant levies. This piece rejects Pieri’s criterion for assessing infantry quality in a decontextualized manner and highlights the remarkable homogeneity and excellence of Italian armies in the early 14th century. It asserts that these armies reflect a more cohesive and state-oriented Communal development compared to the more primitive system of the Swabian era. The article also explores the interregional similarity of Italian warfare through mercenarism and underscores the considerable superiority of Italian Communal armies over other European infantries in the early 14th century.