The Battle of Campo delle Mosche (Battle of the Field of the Flies) took place on 23 July 1359 in the district of
Pontedera
Pontedera (; la, Pons Herae) is an italian comune with a population of 29.270 inhabitants, located in the province of Pisa, Tuscany, Central Italy, central Italy.
The town is located 20 km (12 miles) from Pisa and 50 km (31 miles) from Florenc ...
in the state of
Pisa
Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
, Italy between the forces of
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
and those of the mercenary
Great Company. It resulted in a victory for the Florentine forces.
Starting Operations
In 1359 Florence reacted to extortion threats by the Great Company under
Konrad von Landau Konrad Wirtinger von Landau (died 22 April 1363), known in Italy as Conte Lando, was a German military adventurer and condottiero who was active in north and central Italy.
He was born the eldest son of Count Eberardo III in the ancient Swabian vil ...
by assembling an army, with the help of Padua, Milan, Ferrara, and Naples, to oppose them. The Great Company had 500 cavalry and 1,000 Hungarian foot soldiers whilst the Florentine forces under the command of
Pandolfo Malatesta numbered 3,000 cavalry, 500 Hungarians, and 2,500 archers.
Battle
The Company troops established themselves in a defended position at Campo delle Mosche. But after being besieged by Malatesta for several days with no food or water they broke up and fled.
References
* This article is based on the equivalent article on Italian Wikipedia.
Bibliography
* Stato Maggiore Esercito - Ufficio Storico. Niccolò Giorgetti. ''Le Armi Toscane e le occupazioni straniere in Toscana''., 1916, Unione Arti Grafiche, Roma;
* Stato Maggiore Esercito - Ufficio Storico. Flavio Russo. ''La difesa costiera dello Stato dei Reali presidi di Toscana dal XIV al XIX secolo'', 2002, Roma;
* Franco Cardini - Marco Tangheroni. ''Guerra e guerrieri nella Toscana del Rinascimento'', 1990, Edifir, Firenze;
* Archivio di Stato di Firenze. ''La Toscana dei Lorena nelle mappe dell'Archivio di Stato di Praga. Memorie ed immagini di un Granducato''. 1991, Firenze.
* Michael Mallett. ''Mercenaries and their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy'', 1974
{{Mercenary companies
1359 in Europe
14th century in the Republic of Florence
Campo delle Mosche
Conflicts in 1359