Notorious for his cleverness and daring, John Hawkwood was the most feared mercenary in early Renaissance Italy. Born in England, Hawkwood began his career in France during the Hundred Years’ War and crossed into Italy with the famed White Company in 1361. Hawkwood fought throughout the peninsula as a captain of armies in times of war and as a commander of marauding bands during times of peace, achieving international fame and city-states constantly tried to outbid each other for his services. When Hawkwood died in 1394, the Florentines buried him with a great ceremony in their cathedral.