Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Vidal, Gore, 1925-2012

Description

1. xviii, 396 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps; 24 cm

Summary

1. "The Devil's Broker is more than a riveting account of fortunes gained and lost by treachery and the sword: it is a lavish portrait of the fourteenth century, which Barbara Tuchman called "calamitous"; the Black Plague that struck down the mighty and the abject with equal ferocity; the violent schism in the Catholic Church that sent the Pope scurrying to Avignon for safety; the religious mania offset by a gargantuan appetite for spectacle, luxury, and self-indulgence. Among the other.
2. Titans moving through Frances Slonor Saunders's magnificent narrative are the anorexic and power hungry St. Catherine of Siena, an ill-tempered and comfort-loving Petrarch, and a curious and amused diplomat-spy named Geoffrey Chaucer, who would draw on Hawkwood's career for his own "Knight's Tale."" "The meticulous archiving and record-keeping of medieval Italian notaries means that this history has come to us in the intimate words of its most vital actors; Frances Stonor Saunders has.
3. Combed tirelessly through original documents to produce a history seemingly as immediate and relevant as events of yesterday."--Jacket.

Uniform title

1. Hawkwood

Alternative title

1. Hawkwood

Subject

1. Hawkwood, John, Sir, -1394
2. Hawkwood, John, Sir, -1394
3. 1268-1559
4. Mercenary troops > Biography
5. Mercenaires > Biographies
6. Mercenary troops
7. Italy > History, Military > 1268-1559
8. Italie > Histoire militaire > 1268-1559
9. Italy

Genre/Form

1. Presentation copies (Provenance)
2. Association copies (Provenance)
3. collective biographies.
4. Biographies.
5. Military history.

Contents

1. The fourteenth century: ways to die -- Ways to live -- Bad company -- Avignon, whore of France -- Sons of Belial -- Italia mia -- Betrayal -- Naked force -- Vipers of Milan -- State of decline -- The road to Rome -- The first estate -- Overeating -- Undereating -- Virtue's shame -- How to get to heaven -- Florence -- Bloody saints -- Freedom fighters -- Anathema -- Cardinal vices -- From massacre to marriage -- The other woman -- Schism -- Stories from Troy -- Neapolitan question -- Viper swallows viper -- The wheel of fortune -- The last campaign -- Final audit -- The greatest glory -- What remains -- Pale hore, pale rider.

Owning institution

1. Harvard Library

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references (pages 371-381) and index.

Processing action (note)

1. committed to retain