World Building, so far, has been the easy part, but developing a plot and a series of action points has been/is a struggle. Truth often being stranger than fiction, my solution was to:
scour the history books. My search for a usable period of history ended in 1400s, Italy. Fortuitously, in addition to a dynamic colorful period with multiple social and political forces in play, there was a larger than life character around whom the entire era pivoted. John Hawkwood. Essex (Essos?) born English mercenary in Italy. His influence on Italian politics and power dynamics was immense and yet he remains largely overlooked in mainstream historical narratives. Beyond the battlefield, his military successes granted him leverage in negotiations and diplomacy. By the end of the 1370s, Hawkwood was in the position of being able to bankrupt entire city-states just by calling in his outstanding payments.
Hawkwood mattered in 14th-century Italy. Leading the White Company, he changed the fates of city states. Italian rulers needed mercenaries like him, leftovers from the Hundred Years’ War, as national armies were not popular due to the high costs and political complexities associated with maintaining them . Hawkwood’s triumph wasn’t in battlefield skill but in avoiding fights, cutting costs, maximizing force, conducting psychological warfare and hurting his targets economically. Political and military power tied together; Hawkwood’s support was key. His brutal career was bloodier than most, but historians saw him as a passing figure, somehow overshadowed by the politics he helped shape. Those familiar with the “Knight’s Tale” in Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales” may see Hawkwood as the noble knight’s inspiration, and they would not be wrong. Chaucer went to Italy and, according to one biographer, may have been at Hawkwood’s wedding to Bernabò Visconti’s daughter. Game of Thrones fans… Remember the sellswords and Harry Strickland from Essos (Essex)?….
John Hawkwood
According to Midjourney version 3, This is what he looked like. But I have a different idea of how he chould look, based on what I am hoping to do with the idea of mixed race people. I do love the long face though.
Hawkwood and his men fought outside traditional power, driven by money, not duty. They were dangerous for rulers who relied on unwavering loyalty and civil obedience and in 1400s Italy their existence challenged the need for established institutions. Their fluid allegiances, frequently to the highest bidder, created uncertainty and fostered a military volatility that was uncharacteristic of situations confined to national armies. This potential threat may be the reason for historical disdain towards mercenaries. Their effectiveness compared to national forces remains unclear but has yet to be conclusively written off as ultimately inferior or less cost effective.
Captain Zallagh
Captain Zallagh: Tenderness, warmth, violence, and ruthlessness coexist in him without contradiction. His strength never diminishes his gentleness, and his resolve is never weakened by his tenderness. The forces of safety and threat are seamlessly unified within him.
Driven by financial incentives and power dynamics, mercenaries amassed wealth and nurtured self-sustaining ecosystems beyond society’s borders, suggesting that power and money are the true drivers of a functioning society. Through hierarchies based on merit and democracy, they organized and maintained disciplined military structures without state authority, Soldiers rose through ranks by skill, and companies provided necessities like sanitation and medical care, just as any city would. These societies, with minimal social law and custom, offered relative freedom. Adaptable, they integrated into diverse landscapes, forming alliances and showcasing resilience in ever-changing situations, challenging larger but perhaps more stable city institutions. Their presence sometimes inspired change and progress, stirring political and social unrest where stagnation might have reigned. Machiavelli admired Hawkwood’s skill, while Petrarch criticized his violence. Loyal to money, not duty, Hawkwood’s men threatened social orders built on disguising the flow of power and money with the vagaries of idealism.
In the 1400s Italy, the story of John Hawkwood and his mercenaries provided an opportunity to delve into themes like the nature of society, the meaning of truth, does it need to exist? Can it exist? Do we need it to have effective societies? Oh… and who gets to define “good and evil”. Coz you know we made those words up right? It’s not like a dictionary popped out when the big bang happened. I am less interested in what is good or bad, and more interested in understanding the forces that shape those two things so Hawkwood’s ambiguity as a character unattached to morals serves my purpose.
The more I read into this particular area of history the more surprised I am that it is not particularly well known in popular narrative. Seriously. Had the republic states of Italy in the 1400s and 1300s been allowed to develop as models of social order, our present world might have witnessed a more diverse array of political systems, with greater emphasis on civic participation and a stronger sense of the role of community in governance and decision-making. But instead, we chose ideals and idealism because those two things always come with the scapegoat, of those idiots over there who aren’t on our side. It’s their fault, not ours. Very important, especially when things go wrong. Which is, usually, always. But I digress.
Hawkwood’s enables me to draw upon historical realities, in which an individual’s decisions were guided by the pursuit of power and wealth, rather than a strict adherence to ethics or morals. Or perhaps, for him, the pursuit of power and wealth was the “right” thing to do.. Whichever it may be, he challenges traditional notions of virtue, truth, and societal norms, offering a character through which I can think about conventional ideas and beliefs (hopefully) without falling into the trap of preaching.
On a slightly different note, I am also sick of “ethnic singularity”, and this ethnic equality stuff, so all my favorite characters in the story are mixed race.