Nielsen Hayden genealogy

John Hawkwood

Male Abt 1315 - 1394  (~ 79 years)


Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    All

  • Name John Hawkwood 
    Birth Abt 1315  Sible Hedingham, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    Death 16 Mar 1394  San Donato di Torre, near Florence, Tuscany, Italy Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Alternate death 17 Mar 1394  San Donato di Torre, near Florence, Tuscany, Italy Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Burial Church of St. Peter, Sible Hedingham, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Person ID I18147  Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others | Ancestor of DDB, Ancestor of JTS
    Last Modified 8 May 2020 

    Father Gilbert Hawkwood,   b. of Sible Hedingham, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F11264  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 (Unknown first wife of John Hawkwood) 
    Children 
    +1. Antiocha Hawkwood,   b. Bef 1361   d. Bef Jun 1388 (Age < 27 years)
    Family ID F11263  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 1 Nov 2017 

    Family 2 Doninna,   b. 1360   d. 1406 (Age 46 years) 
    Marriage May 1377  [1
    Family ID F16595  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 8 May 2020 

  • Notes 
    • One of the most brilliant military leaders of the late Middle Ages. A large portrait of him on horseback, by Paolo Uccello, adorns the northern wall of the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy, the structure better known as the Duomo.

      Encyclopedia Britannica:

      The son of a tanner, Hawkwood chose a soldier’s career, serving in the French wars of Edward III, who probably bestowed a knighthood on him. After the Treaty of Brétigny temporarily ended Anglo-French hostilities (1360), Hawkwood became the leader of a free company, going to Italy three years later to join the English band known as the White Company in the service of Pisa. He was elected captain general in January 1364. Using the English longbow and tactics developed by the English in France, he became famous for the rapidity of his movements, made possible by lighter armour and equipment, for his handling of infantry, and for the discipline of his troops.

      Between 1372 and 1378 he alternately served the pope and the duke of Milan, whose illegitimate daughter he married in 1377. The following year he became captain general of Florence, fighting for other clients when his services were not needed by the Florentine republic.

      In 1382 he sold lands given him by the pope in the Romagna (near Ravenna) and bought estates in the vicinity of Florence; nine years later he became an honorary Florentine citizen. In 1394, in preparation to return to England to spend his last years, he sold his Italian properties but died before his plan could be carried out.

  • Sources 
    1. [S76] The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2004-ongoing.