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had probably been formed solely to plunder Lucca; once the rewards had been shared, the association ended and its members dispersed.

Parabiago (1340)

In contrast to the skilfully executed plunder of Lucca, the battle of Parabiago seems to have involved little in the way of tactics save for the impromptu commitment of reserves. Perhaps for this reason, Parabiago saw exceptionally heavy casualties. The Company of St. George, the first condottieri association to bear that name, was, like various previous companies, formed for a specific campaign. In 1339 many mercenaries, demobilised following the Della Scala wars in Verona, took service under Lodrisio Visconti. This exiled member of the family that had dominated Milan sińce 1277 intended to oust his Visconti cousins, Azzo and Lucchino, from the leadership of the city. To this end he hired 2,500 cavalry, mostly German, and 1,000 infantry, many of them Swiss, under the co-leadership of two German mercenaries, Werner of Urslingen and Conrad of Landau. As the Company of St. George marched westward, north of Milan

Heavy cavalry in action at the battle of Sinalunga. The heraldic devices of the victorious Sienese, on the left, almost certainly represent those of actual participants.

towards Legnano, Lucchino Visconti summoned the Milanese militia and recruited his own condottieri, including an Italian force of 700 cavalry led by Ettore da Panigo from Bologna. Events moved ąuickly and in February 1340, with snów thick on the ground and the irrigation canals probably frozen, the Company of St. George madę a sudden attack on the Milanese advance guard at Parabiago. These troops, probably mostly militia, were encamped near the present Villoresi Canal. The Germans and Swiss, morę accustomed to the weather, broke the advance guard and pursued it towards Milan until they met the main Milanese army. Although substantially outnumbering the Company of St. George, the Milanese were almost overwhelmed in a vigorous assault, Lucchino Visconti being captured and tied to a tree. It says much for the communal spirit of the militia that, unlike most medieval armies, it did not collapse with the loss of its leader. Instead a confused resistance was maintained until Ettore da Panigo’s cavalry hurriedly came up from Milan. The

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