30 Days of Biographies:
John Hawthorn
Generally wealthy but lacking manpower, many of the Natalian city-states rely on mercenary armies in their frequent conflicts with one another. Among the most famous mercenary captains called condottieri was the Middelmerish John Hawthorn, who came to be known in Natlian as Giovanni Biancospino.
Leaving Middelmere for the continent under unclear circumstances, Hawthorn began a decades-long military career on the continent. While he is generally assumed to have been exiled, no contemporary source actually explicitly confirms this and the exact reasons for his departure from Middelmere remain obscure and continue to be debated by historians.
While Hawthorn spent brief periods in the Free Cities and the Duchies of the Sea, his first major military campaign took place in Gallicantu. Given the longstanding Gallicantien interests in Natalis, he crossed over into Natalis, where he rose to prominence as a mercenary captain and where he would spend the remainder of his life. Indeed, Hawthorn is viewed as a fairly minor figure in Middelmere, but has become a staple of Natalian folklore.
Although Hawthorn, like most foreign mercenary captains serving Natalian city-states, was never granted any significant politic position, his successes on the battlefields of Natalis caused him to amass a considerable fortune. While his mercenary company did face defeat under his leadership, Hawthorn is known as a shrewd and intelligent leader and the few defeats of his company are overshadowed by its numerous decisive victories — most notably outflanking an army of the Duchy of Acciaieria while fighting on behalf of the Duchy of Colline.
On the other hand, Hawthorn leading his company to pillage several undefended peasant villages, while consistent with how Natalian armies conducted themselves at the time, have left a black mark on Hawthorn’s historical reputation.
As is often the case with folkloric figures, the historical Hawthorn almost certainly did not perform several of the most famous deeds for which the John Hawthorn of story and song is credited.
Although he fought occasionally for most of the major polities in Natalis — and is also recorded to have fought on behalf of Pelayan and Gallicantien royal armies active in Natalis — he spent the bulk of his career in Natalis fighting for Colline. He was trusted and respected by the Dukes of Colline and a celebrated figure to the people of Colline. Although he was granted lands in Colline, he was never granted full citizenship in the Duchy — though the people of Colline have historically been quick to claim him as one of their own. There are several significant memorials to Hawthorn through the Duchy.
Despite his decades of military service and reputation for ferocity and occasionally outright cruelty in battle, Hawthorn retired peacefully to his estate in the Duchy of Colline, where he eventually died of natural causes. Hawthorn is known to have had at least three children with multiple women over the course of his time in Natalis. After his death, the bulk of his fortune went to his eldest daughter, who return to Middelmere, bought a sizeable tract of land with her inheritance and established a successful merchant family that has continued to exist down to the present.
You may recall that an image John Hawthorn is included in the Encyclopedia Realmgard entry about Natalis. You may also recall that said image looks nothing like the header image for this post. While that is true, it’s also true that historical figures from before photography was invented can vary wildly between different depictions. So, basically, neither of those images is necessary the definitive depiction of what John Hawthorn actually looks like — though John Hawthorn is inspired by real English mercenary captain in Italy John Hawkwood and the image in the Encyclopedia post about Natalis is itself based on John Hawkwood’s funerary monument.
The main reason I didn’t use an image of Hawkwood was because I couldn’t find one with enough colours and didn’t want to put the time and effort into colouring it myself. So, I used a picture of Pippo Spano, who doesn’t really have any connection to Hawkwood beyond also being a condotierro.
Funnily enough, apparently the actual appearance of the real Hawkwood is poorly-documented…
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