Hawkwood: Diabolical Englishman - Frances Stonor Saunders

Almost Angelic....

A superbly well researched and presented book on a period and region often passed by in more generalist books on the era.

Charting the life of John Hawkwood from his separation from the Black Prince through to his death, as a Captain of a company of Freebooters whose numbers ranged from a small company through to a small army, his one main attribute was that he appeared to be a natural survivor in an age where life was both cheap and short.

Still appearing to act in the best interests of England yet managing to play off various monarchs, Popes, and factions against each other, with a loyalty that was as expensive as it was flexible and a personal fortune that ebbed and flowed over the years, as he outlived his contemporaries and influenced the development of the Italian City States as they evolved over the years, John Hawkwood helped to write a bloody chapter in Italian history.

A key strength of the author is that where records are not available, she has not attempted to fill in the gaps with guesswork, but has stated the other events that occured at that time and then picked up the narrative where Hawkwood has next been documented. There is also an extensive list of sources for further reading if required.

A sterling work well worth a place in any collection of the period.

Fascinating story poorly told

I only wish Giles Milton had decided to turn his masterful story-telling skills to this man and his life and times. He would have added the all-important human element. That's what this book lacks. Again and again and again we're informed in mind-numbing and pointless detail of every last skirmish that Hawkwood was involved in. He attacked this town in that year and extorted this much in protection money. He captured so-and-so in this year at this place and demanded a ransom of such-and-such. I say pointless because the author admits as much. He changed sides whenever he was offered a better deal. What do all these details add to his biography? Nothing. They just show that the author did a lot of research and was determined that this wasn't going to be time wasted so she stuffed it all in. Meanwhile we learn NOTHING about the man at all. Far from handling the subject's life and times "dextrously", as the blurb gushes, it handles neither very well. It is mostly concerned with monotonously listing historically significant events.

Then there's the narrative style. For reasons best known to herself the author decides wherever possible to tell the story in the words of contemporary figures. So she splices excerpts from their chronicles, letters or accounts into the body of the text. So we, the readers, are asked to try to make sense of often complicated affairs with only ARCHAIC English as our guide. I often had to re-read passages two or three times and when I'd finally grasped the salient points had forgotten what preceded it -- so I had lost all context and so had to start the paragraph all over again. Most modern historians (for obvious reasons) explain things in their own words and THEN might include a quote. Also the personal views of the author are a bit distracting. She uses quite a bit of sarcasm, there's a small feminist explosion, and at one point she refers to one poor 14th-century contributor as an "idiot".

Verdict: this is an interesting story despite the way it is told, not because of it.

A well-researched and well-written book.

This is a well-researched, well-written book, and one that provides a good overview of the complexity of late 14th century Italian politics and medieval life more generally.

I disagree that it's 'too scholarly'. I do, however, share the concerns expressed above that, for a book 300+ pages, you don't learn as much as you'd like about Hawkwood himself (the more recent book by Caferro disproves the suggestion that there is a scarcity of material). Consequently, you do get the impression that this military genius spends a lot of time losing battles, rather than winning them. Hence 4 rather than 5 stars. But the diversions and detours ('padding' would be too harsh) are fascinating.

I have two minor quibbles: one that Stonor Saunders has a preoccupation about medieval sexlives (there surely aren't too many books about medieval mercenaries that has index entries for 'masturbation' and 'lesbianism'); and that, secondly, while at pains to highlight the lesser players in history to the extent of listing a number of them in a footnote (p165) she misses out John Coe, who, after John Thornbury and William Gold, was a key lieutenant of Hawkwood's. This is all the more strange as Stonor Saunders dwells on the Essex men around Hawkwood (p166): not only was Coe was from a neighbouring Essex parish to Hawkwood's Sible Heddingham, but he was in part responsible for the chantry at the parish church there dedicated to him and two other Essex men who served with Hawkwood.

But none of this should detract from what is an ejoyable and intelligent book.

Excellent Narrative History

The author has produced an excellent narrative history which provides a very readable overview of late 14th Century northern Italian politics.
it also explains why there is alarge fresco in Florence's Duomo to an Englishman - always a bit of a mystery to me.

Diabollically Well Written!

This is a really enjoyable overview of Italy in the 14th century - it is a land riven with disorder, political intrigue and warfare - a situation much exploited by the many mercenaries who flock to earn a living ( albeit a dishonest one! ). The author uses the life of John Hawkwood as the backdrop to the many alliances and conflicts that raged at the time. I have to say that overall you don't necessarily learn a huge amount about Hawkwood and by the end of the book he is still a bit of an enigma - I am guessing that is due to limited sources being available.
However the author's style is very readable and descriptive and I would recommend this to anyone interested in medieval history.