Hawkwood

Hawkwood, SIR JOHN, Italianised L'ACUTO or L'AGUTO, an English captain who won great renown and much riches as a condottiere in Italy in the wars of the 14th century, was the son of a well-to-do tanner of Sible Hedingham, in Essex. Having embraced the calling of arms, he distinguished himself at the battles of Crécy and Poitiers, thereby winning the favour of the Black Prince; he was knighted by Edward III. After peace was signed at Bretigny (1360) he gathered a band of mercenary soldiers and led them to Italy, where he at first took service with Pisa against Florence. Then, after fighting in most of the petty Italian wars of the period, notably for the Visconti and for Pope Gregory XI., he agreed to fight the battles of Florence in return for an annual pension. His last years were spent in the neighbourhood of Florence, and there he died in 1394, and was honoured with a magnificent public funeral. See Nichol's Bibl. Topog. Brit., vol. vi.; Temple Leader and Marcotti's Life (Eng. trans. by Mrs Leader Scott, 1889); and Quarterly Review (Jan. 1890).