Francesco Piccinino

Who was Francesco Piccinino?

Francesco Piccinino was an Italian condottiero.

He was the adoptive son of the condottiero Niccolò Piccinino and the brother of Jacopo Piccinino. At Niccolò's death, he had been already established as a gallant warrior under the Duchy of Milan and the Papal States. In 1436 he was serving the Aragonese Kings of Naples, taking part in the 1437 siege of Cerreto Umbra against Francesco Sforza but, after some successes, he left to besiege Assisi and then Pergola.

In 1440 he was in the Battle of Anghiari, where Niccolò was badly defeated, and on 19 August 1444 he was again defeated by the Sforza's forces at Montolmo and taken prisoner, while Jacopo was able to escape.

In 1446 Piccinino fought against Micheletto Attendolo near Cremona; Scaramuccia da Forlì, sent by the Venetian government, freeing Cremona by the troops of Piccinino and Luigi dal Verme, paid by Filippo Maria Visconti. On 28 September the same year Piccinino suffered first a defeat at Casalmaggiore and, in 1447, a more serious one at Monte Brianza.

Despite this setbacks, he managed to gain a contract under the newly formed Republic of Milan, together with Jacopo, in order to thwart Sforza's aims to the city. He however fell ill of edema and died in 1449. Six years before he had married Camilla da Montone, daughter of the condottiero Braccio da Montone.