{{Short description|Italian military leader (1368–1424)}} {{more citations needed|date=March 2013}} {{infobox noble | name = Braccio da Montone | title = ''Prince of Capua'' | image = Braccio da Montone, portrait of Cristofano dell'Altissimo.jpg | caption = Portrait of Braccio da Montone by [[Cristofano dell'Altissimo]], 1552–68. Florence, [[Galleria degli Uffizi]] | alt = | CoA = [[File:Coa fam ITA fortebracci khi.jpg]] | more = no | succession = Prince of Capua | reign = {{nowrap|July 1421 – 5 June 1424}} | predecessor = Rinaldo d'Angiò-Durazzo | successor = [[Giovanni Caracciolo|Sergianni Caracciolo]] | spouse = Elisabetta Armanni<br />Nicolina da Varano | issue = {{UBL| Oddo Fortebraccio | Lucrezia Fortebraccio | Carlotta Fortebraccio | Carlo Fortebraccio (legitimate) }} | noble family = Fortebraccio | father = Oddo Fortebraccio | mother = Giacoma Montemelini | birth_name = Andrea Fortebraccio | birth_date = | birth_place = [[Perugia]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|1424|06|05|1368|07|01|df=y}} | death_place = [[L'Aquila]] | burial_place = Chiesa di San Francesco al Prato, [[Perugia]] | occupation = | memorials = }}
'''Braccio da Montone''' (1 July 1368 – 5 June 1424), born '''Andrea Fortebraccio''', was a renowned Italian [[condottiero]] in the early 15th century. He distinguished himself through innovative military strategies and was among the first mercenary leaders to pursue the creation of an independent dominion. Braccio successfully seized control of several key cities in the regions of [[Umbria]] and [[Lazio]], but his ambitions ultimately came to an end with his defeat and death during the [[War of L'Aquila]] in 1424.
==Biography== He was born in [[Perugia]] to the nobleman Oddo Fortebraccio and Giacoma Montemelini.{{efn|According to some sources, Braccio was born in Perugia and later moved to Montone.}}
He began his military career as a page in the company of Guido d'Asciano. After his family was exiled from Perugia and he lost the castle of Montone, he joined [[Alberico da Barbiano]]'s "[[Compagnia di San Giorgio|Company of St. George]]", where he befriended [[Muzio Attendolo Sforza]]. Leading a force of 150 knights, Braccio carried out several guerrilla-style operations that anticipated the tactics later employed by his own army.
After a short return to Montone, he fought for the [[Montefeltro]] and the [[House of Malatesta|Malatesta]] in [[Romagna]], being slightly crippled during the siege of the Castle of [[Fossombrone]] (1391). In 1394 Braccio was briefly held prisoner in the [[Rocca of Umbertide]], and released after the payment of a ransom.<ref>[https://www.umbriatourism.it/en_US/-/rocca-di-umbertide Rocca di Umbertide], Umbria tourism. Retrieved March 13, 2020.</ref> In 1395 he fought again for Barbiano in the [[Kingdom of Naples]], and two years later he was hired by the [[Republic of Florence]]. In 1398 he fought for the Pope in the war against Perugia.
In 1402, at the death of [[Gian Galeazzo Visconti]], he fought against the Milanese army for the Pope. The following year [[Boniface IX]] regained [[Bologna]], Perugia and [[Assisi]], but the exiled Perugini could not return to the city: Braccio therefore returned again under Barbiano's aegis against [[Faenza]] and the Papal States. When his companions denounced him to Alberico, alleging he was planning to kill the commander, Braccio was forced to flee. In 1406 he fought against Perugia with other exiled, who, the following year, formed the great part of his new company, with which Braccio ravaged the Umbrian countryside. In May 1407 the citizens of [[Rocca Contrada]] gave him the [[seigniory]] of the town, in exchange for his support in combatting the marquess of [[Fermo]].
Later Braccio entered the service of King [[Ladislaus of Naples]], who was at war with Florence and the Pope: at the time he had 1,200 cavalry and 1,000 infantry under him. He ravaged the lands of the [[Trinci]] of [[Foligno]] but, when Perugia accepted Ladislaus' suzerainty, Braccio sided against him and moved to [[Ancona]], capturing [[Jesi]].
In 1409 Braccio fought at [[Città di Castello]], for the Florentines and then moved to Rome where he besieged [[Castel Sant'Angelo]], returning to the [[Marche]] for the winter. In 1410 Rome was attacked by the troops of Lucas and Ladislaus of Naples, as well as by several bands of mercenaries, including Braccio's own; when the Neapolitan troops retreated from the city, he attacked and defeated them at [[Sora, Italy|Sora]], which he also sacked. In the same year he was simultaneously at the service of Florence and [[Spoleto]], but this did not prevent him to besiege the hateful Perugia, though in vain. The rapid movements of his troops became proverbial, and a new school of the condottieri's art, the ''Braccesca'', was named after him.
The following year the [[Antipope John XXIII]] assigned him the [[fiefdom]] of Montone and the governorship of Bologna. Braccio took advantage of his position to extort huge sums of money from the cities of Romagna. In 1414 he fought in [[Todi]] against Sforza, who had been hired by the King of Naples; in June he entered Florence, with which he signed a pact of alliance for 10 years.
In the next August Ladislaus died, and Braccio freed Bologna after receiving a payment of 180,000 gold [[ducat]]s. He thus invaded and conquered most of Umbria, his goal being again the beloved Perugia. The city gave itself to [[Carlo I Malatesta|Carlo Malatesta]]. At the [[battle of Sant'Egidio]] (12 July 1416, later portrayed in a famous fresco by [[Paolo Uccello]]), the ''bracceschi'' were victorious, and Perugia was finally forced to open its gates to Braccio da Montone. Other Umbrian cities, such as Todi, [[Narni]], [[Orvieto]] and [[Terni]] named him as lord: at this point, Braccio da Montone was ready to form a state for himself in central Italy. He asked the newly elected Pope [[Martin V]] to name him Papal vicar for Umbria, but Martin replied by sending against him two armies under [[Guidantonio da Montefeltro]], from the north, and under Sforza, from the South, but Montone defeated them at [[Spoleto]]. On 14 March 1419, he met the Pope in Florence, obtaining the long-awaited title (including the lordships of Perugia, Todi, Assisi, [[Spello]], Jesi and others) in exchange for ousting [[Antongaleazzo Bentivoglio]] from Bologna. After conquering the latter, he could finally retreat to Perugia to enjoy ruling the city which had ousted him and his family many years ago.
Sometime later the Pope excommunicated [[Joanna II of Naples|Joanna II]], Queen of Naples, appointing [[Louis III of Anjou]] as heir to the crown in her stead. Joan appointed king [[Alfonso V of Aragon|Alfonso of Aragon]] as her heir, and called Braccio da Montone to fight for her. Once again Braccio found himself facing Sforza, who was at the head of the Angevine army. There was not an open battle, though Braccio's army moved all over Abruzzo. Joan gave him the lordship of [[Teramo]], and soon after Braccio started his 13-month-long [[War of L'Aquila|siege of L'Aquila]]. Meanwhile, on 3 February 1424 Braccio was appointed ''Gran Conestabile'' of the Kingdom and received the fiefdoms of [[Capua]] and [[Foggia]]. However, when the Queen of Naples abandoned the Aragonese and passed to the side of the Angevins under Louis, Braccio remained loyal to Alfonso.
The final clash between the two contenders was just below the walls of Aquila, which still resisted the siege, near the hamlet today called Bazzano.
On 2 June the battle was fought between some of the most celebrated condottieri of the time; Braccio, mortally wounded in the neck, was made prisoner and transported to [[L'Aquila]], where he died three days later, on 5 June 1424. The Pope had him buried in [[Churchyard|unconsecrated ground]] because Braccio died excommunicated, in which his corpse remained until 1432 when his nephew [[Niccolò Fortebraccio]]{{efn|Incidentally, accused to be the cause of his death, as Niccolò had left his position during the battle in search of personal glory.}} moved it to the church of San Francesco al Prato in [[Perugia]].
==Marriage== Braccio da Montone first married Elisabetta Ermanni, with whom he had three daughters.
After her death in 1419, he married Niccolina Varano. Together, they had a son:
* Carlo (b. 1421 – ?)
He also had several illegitimate children, including:
* Oddo, who also became a [[condottiero]]. * Castora,<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Tettoni |first1=L. |last2=Saladini |first2=F. |date=1847 |title=Teatro araldico, ovvero raccolta generale delle armi ed insegne gentilizie delle casate ... che fioriscono in tutta l'Italia |volume=VII |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rP5BAAAAcAAJ&dq=castora+fortebraccio&pg=PP654 |location=Milan |publisher=C. Wilmant |language=it}}</ref> who married Domenico Martelli.<ref name=":0" /> * Camilla (also known as ''Innamorata''), who married [[Francesco Piccinino]].
==Footnotes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== *{{cite book|first=Claudio|last=Rendina|title=I capitani di ventura|publisher=Newton Compton|location=Rome|year=1994}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Braccio da Montone}} * {{cite encyclopedia |last=Valentini |first=Roberto |date=1930 |title=BRACCIO da Montone |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/braccio-da-montone_(Enciclopedia-Italiana) |encyclopedia=[[Enciclopedia Italiana]] |location=Rome |publisher=[[Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana]] |access-date=21 April 2025}} * {{DBI |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/andrea-fortebracci_(Dizionario-Biografico) |title=FORTEBRACCI, Andrea |first=Pier Luigi |last=Falaschi |volume=49}}
{{Mercenary companies}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Braccio Da Montone}} [[Category:1368 births]] [[Category:1424 deaths]] [[Category:Lords of Perugia]] [[Category:14th-century condottieri]] [[Category:People excommunicated by the Catholic Church]] [[Category:Captains General of the Church]] [[Category:Counts of Montone]] [[Category:15th-century condottieri]]