Condottieri

Condottieri (singular condottiero and condottiere) were the mercenary soldier leaders (or warlords) of the professional, military free companies contracted by the Italian city-states and the Papacy, from the late Middle Ages and throughout the Renaissance. In Renaissance Italian, condottiero meant "contractor", and was synonymous with the modern English title Mercenary Captain, which, historiographically, does not connote the hired soldier’s nationality. In contemporary Italian, "condottiero" acquired the broader meaning of "military leader" (e.g., not restricted to mercenaries). In Italian historiography, Renaissance mercenary captains are usually called capitani di ventura (literally "venture captains").