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‘Soldiers at the Holy Sepulchre’ dating from the late 13th century. {In situ, Basilica di Santo Stefano, Bologna)

The 14th century was a period of decline for comnnmal militias, and by the 1390s they had virtually disappeared in many cities. Yet this decline varied from place to place, and crossbowmen were less affected than cavalry or other foot soldiers: it was also a decline that mirrored that of Italian nrban political liberties in this period. Tnscan infantry were never as renowned as those of 12th to I3th-ce n t u ry Lom ba rdy, but they survived longer and were greatly influenced by

‘SaraceiY infantry from Lucera, adopting sonie of their offensive infantry tactics as well as their short stabbine-swords, used to attack enemy cavah*y.

The main square in Pistoia with the massive tower of the cathedral to the left, originally built as a watchtower. On the right is the Paiazzo Pretorio, built in 1369 and decorated with can/ed coats-of-arms. (Author’s photograph)

While mercenary cavalry gradually replaced the increasingly ineffective communal cavalry, communal infantry soldiered on and defeated several foreign armies, most notably from Germany. In northern Italy, howerer, even infantry militias eventually degenerated into ill-trained levies like that of Antonio della Scala's Yerona which was disastrously defeated in 1387. In central Italy, the Florentine militia cavalry fell into rapid decline from 1337: the crossbow militia meanwhile was strengthened, but it did not evolve into the sort of crossbow-armed, middle-class national guard seen in France. Instead the crossbowmen of Florence (and probably in other cities too) became a semi-professional corps, reeruited locally from the artisan class.

Most Tuscan and northern Italian cities also reeruited mercenary infantry such as the famous Genoese crossbowmen or the fear-some Almugauar troops from Spain. The latter had evolved out of Moorish Andalusian light infantry and their tactical influence would reinforce that of the earlier ‘Saracens’ of Lucera.

One simple reason why local militias endured so long was the size of their numbers, which could be very large as the proportion of reeruits from the sur-