The Butcher of Avignon
“Their own countryman, Sir John Hawkwood, the most infamous mercenary in all Europe, has committed an atrocious crime involving a nun. It is rumoured to be so vile that even the most brutal fighting men had vomited on the battlefield in revulsion. But that was not the worst of it for the inhabitants of the town.Hawkwood is outdone in brutality by a churchman. Robert of Geneva.It happened like this. Unable to break the resistance of the townsfolk, Robert, a papal legate, offers to pay Hawkwood fo...r the short-term hire of his troops. His idea is that he will use military force against Cesena’s inhabitants since he cannot talk them into accepting the pope’s rule. The army, handed over in exchange for gold, surround Cesena. The citizens resist this form of persuasion. Of the menfolk not already slaughtered on the battle field the remaining ones are now slaughtered on the battlements. The surviving women, children, the old and infirm, are as staunch in refusing the papal takeover as their slaughtered husbands, brothers and sons.MoreLess
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