- Guernieri
Guernieri, or Werner, a celebrated
mercenary captain who lived about the middle of the14th century .He was a member of the family of the
dukes of Urslingen , and probably a descendant of thedukes of Spoleto . From1340 to1343 he was in the service of the citizens ofPisa , but afterwards he collected a troop of adventurers which he called the Great Company, and with which he plunderedTuscany andLombardy .He then entered the service of Louis I the Great, king of Hungary and Poland, whom he assisted to obtain possession of
Naples ; but when dismissed from this service his ravages became more terrible than ever, culminating in the dreadful sack ofAnagni in1358 , shortly after which Guernieri disappeared from history.He is said to have worn a breastplate with the inscription, "The enemy of God, of pity and of mercy."----
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