Vendetta: High Art and Low Cunning at the Birth of the Renaissance

by Hugh Bicheno

In Italy, the Renaissance was more than a time of sweeping cultural advancement; it was also an age of nearly continuous military conflict and vicious personal feuds between powerful public figures. A lifelong vendetta pitted two of Italy’s most prominent condottieri, or mercenary warlords, against each other in a struggle that moved from the battlefield to the political halls of power to the Papacy itself. Duke Federigo da Montefeltro of Urbino, and Sigismondo Malatesta, “the Wolf of Rimini,” were more than ruthless generals; they were cultured patrons of the arts who nonetheless took their rivalry to bloody excess. Here their story is set against the rich backdrop of 15th century Italy, a sweeping epic of nobility and war, betrayal and vengeance.

Genres: History, Italy, Renaissance, Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published August 5, 2008

About the author

Hugh Bicheno graduated from Cambridge and later joined the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). He is now a political risk analyst and an historian of conflict.

Reviews

[Rupert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh dear. A wasted opportunity: with Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta and Federico da Monetefeltro you've a good story, two strong characters, and can include a great deal of interesting background. What you shouldn't do is waste half the book giving 400 years of background; provide a broad-brush narrative but no analysis and little context beyond basic politics; and include so many errors and infelicities it makes the reader want to throw the book across the room. Just one example: dedicating a chapel in a church to your name saint is par for the course if you have the money - it's hardly 'blasphemous'. It really does help to know a period of you plan to write a monograph on it.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lots of 'Guido smashed Carlo' and 'Malatesta bought so-and-so from the Pope before he killed his wife' and on and on and on. Just a load of information heaped upon the reader in the 'he did this and the other guy did that' style of writing.

Because there are no footnotes it is difficult to track down exactly where Bicheno gets his information, some of which I suspect is downright wrong. He has a penchant for making statements and adding superlatives that just don't ring true. For example, he refers to Niccolo III d'Este as "a famed Humanist and patron of the arts and letters". Niccolo spent the vast majority of his time as a warrior, maintaining his lands and household. While he did appoint a humanist as the tutor of his son Leonello, it would be a stretch to call Niccolo himself 'a famed Humanist'.

While Bicheno is surely no idiot, in the end, as Macbeth lamented, the work comes off as full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Overall, a tiresome read without much to take-away.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very dense but useful background reading. Absolutely no hope of getting my head around all the characters and their alliances. Good maps and family trees. A very tall order to bring off a coherent narrative when it covered 300+ years of history and any number of different families. the vendetta element wasn't heavily stressed which was a shame.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The man needs a better editor. There is much rambling and often he talks about things completely unrelated. The two people featured on the cover don't actually appear in the history until about half way.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

The aythor assumed too much knowledge of complex Italian history on the part of the reader