Sir John Hawkwood was an English soldier who served as a mercenary leader or condottiero in Italy. As his name was difficult to pronounce for non-English-speaking contemporaries, there are many variations of it in the historical record. He often referred to himself as Haukevvod and in Italy, he was known as Giovanni Acuto, literally meaning "John Sharp" in reference to his "cleverness or cunning". His name was Latinised as Johannes Acutus. Other recorded forms are Aucgunctur, Haughd, Hauvod, Hankelvode, Augudh, Auchevud, Haukwode and Haucod. His exploits made him a man shrouded in myth in both England and Italy. Much of his enduring fame results from the surviving large and prominent fresco portrait of him in the Duomo, Florence, made in 1436 by Paolo Uccello, seen every year by 4½ million tourists.
1436 fresco depicting Sir John Hawkwood by Paolo Uccello, Duomo, Florence. With Renaissance grotto-esque candelabra decorated frame added by Lorenzo di Credi in 1524. The Latin inscription reads: Ioannes Acutus eques brittanicus dux aetatis suae cautissimus et rei militaris peritissimus habitus est ("John Hawkwood, British knight, most prudent leader of his age and most expert in the art of war").
Engraving based on fresco of John Hawkwood
A mercenary, also called a merc, soldier of fortune, or hired gun, is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather than for political interests.
Leonardo da Vinci's Profilo di capitano antico, also known as il Condottiero, 1480. Condottiero meant "leader of mercenaries" in Italy during the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Private military contractor in Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan, 2006
Alabaster-bas relief, non-Assyrian mercenaries in the Assyrian army. From the South-West Palace, Nineveh. 7th century BC
Chigi vase with Hoplites holding javelins and spears
