Niccolò Fortebraccio (1375–1435), also known as Niccolò della Stella, was an Italian condottiero. Born in

Sant'Angelo in Vado Sant'Angelo in Vado is a ''comune'' (municipality), site of Ancient Tifernum Metaurense and former bishopric in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino in the central Italian Adriatic region Marche. Geography It is located about west of Ancona and abo ...

, he was the son of Stella, sister of

Braccio da Montone {{Infobox noble, type , name = Braccio da Montone , title = Prince of Capua , image = Braccio da Montone.jpg , caption = , alt = , CoA = , more = no , succession = Prince of Capua , reign = {{nowrap, July 1421 – 5 June 1424 , predecessor = R ...

. His half-brother Oddo and his cousin Carlo were also

condottieri ''Condottieri'' (; singular ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italy, Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other ...

. In 1426 and 1429, he is mentioned at the service of the

Republic of Florence The Republic of Florence, officially the Florentine Republic ( it, Repubblica Fiorentina, , or ), was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany. The republic originated in 1115, when the Flo ...

. On the latter occasion he was sent against

Volterra Volterra (; Latin: ''Volaterrae'') is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its history dates from before the 8th century BC and it has substantial structures from the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval periods. History Volt ...

and

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one ...

, but, together with

Guidantonio da Montefeltro Guidantonio da Montefeltro (1377 – February 1443) was count of Urbino in Italy from 1403 until his death. In 1403, at the death of his father Antonio, Guidantonio inherited the family lands in the region of Italy called the Marche. Later he aba ...

, he was defeated by

Niccolò Piccinino Niccolò Piccinino (1386 – 15 October 1444) was an Italian condottiero. Biography He was born in Perugia, the son of a butcher. Piccinino was introduced in the guild of Perugia's butchers. He was later scornfully called "son of a butcher" by ...

in 1430. The following year

Pope Eugene IV Pope Eugene IV ( la, Eugenius IV; it, Eugenio IV; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 March 1431 to his death in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and ...

ordered him to recapture

Città di Castello Città di Castello (); "Castle Town") is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Perugia, in the northern part of Umbria. It is situated on a slope of the Apennines, on the flood plain along the upper part of the river Tiber. The city is north of ...

, but Fortebraccio was pushed back. Despite this setback, Eugene made him gonfaloniere of the Papal Army with the task to halt emperor

Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it '' Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...

's march in

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

and to counter the Prefetti di Vico in the

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil ( Old Latium) on w ...

. However, as Fortebraccio pursued mostly his personal interests, especially regarding the possession of Città di Castello, he was fired. Having received a ''condotta'' by the

Visconti of Milan The Visconti of Milan are a noble Italian family. They rose to power in Milan during the Middle Ages where they ruled from 1277 to 1447, initially as Lords then as Dukes, and several collateral branches still exist. The effective founder of the ...

, in 1434 he moved against Rome.

Giovanni Vitelleschi Giovanni Maria Vitelleschi (1396 – 2 April 1440) was an Italian cardinal and condottiere. Biography Vitelleschi was born in Corneto (modern Tarquinia, then part of the Papal States), some kilometers north to Rome. He received a military educ ...

was sent against him, but as he was called to quench a revolt in Romagna, Fortebraccio managed to capture Tivoli. Eugene IV fled from Rome, a Republic, under the

Colonna The House of Colonna, also known as ''Sciarrillo'' or ''Sciarra'', is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope (Martin V) and many other church and politic ...

aegis, being established in the city. Considering too great for him the lordship of Rome, Fortebraccio moved away. Escaped from a plot against him, he conquered Assisi and married Ludovica da Battifolle. After failing to adhere to the general truce which had momentarily ended the wars in Italy, a league was formed against Fortebraccio, under the ''capitano generale''

Francesco Sforza Francesco I Sforza (; 23 July 1401 – 8 March 1466) was an Italian condottiero who founded the Sforza dynasty in the duchy of Milan, ruling as its (fourth) duke from 1450 until his death. In the 1420s, he participated in the War of L'A ...

. On 15 August 1435 Niccolò defeated and took as prisoner Leone Sforza, but on the following 23 August Alessandro Sforza routed him at the siege of Fiordimonte, near

Camerino Camerino is a town in the province of Macerata, Marche, central-eastern Italy. It is located in the Apennines bordering Umbria, between the valleys of the rivers Potenza and Chienti, about from Ancona. Camerino is home to the University of C ...

. Wounded, blocked under his horse's corpse, Fortebraccio was abandoned to his agony by Sforza, until he died-killed by Cristoforo da Tolentino.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortebraccio, Niccolo 1375 births 1435 deaths People from the Province of Pesaro and Urbino 15th-century condottieri Military personnel killed in action 14th-century condottieri

See also

References