Braccio da Montone Braccio da Montone ( 1 July 1368 – 5 June 1424 ) , born Andrea Fortebracci , and also known as Braccio Fortebraccio , was an Italian condottiero . Biography . He was born to the nobleman Oddo Fortebracci and Giacoma Montemelini at Montone , some 40 km north of Perugia . He married Elisabetta Ermanni with whom he had three daughters . After her death in 1419 , he married Niccolina Varano , who bore his first son Carlo in 1421 . He later had a son out of wedlock , Oddo , who also became a condottiero . He began his military career as a page in Guido d ' Asciano ’ s company . When his family was exiled from Perugia and he lost the castle of Montone , he entered Alberico da Barbiano ’ s " Company of St . George " , in which he would make friends with Muzio Attendolo Sforza . At the head of 150 knights , Braccio performed some guerrilla actions which foreshadowed the tactics that his own company would later adopt . After a short return to Montone , he fought for the Montefeltro and the Malatesta in Romagna , being slightly crippled during the siege of the Castle of Fossombrone ( 1391 ) . In 1395 he fought again for Barbiano in the Kingdom of Naples , and two years later he was hired by the Republic of Florence . In 1398 he fought for the Pope in the war against Perugia . In 1402 , at the death of Gian Galeazzo Visconti , he fought against the Milanese army for the Pope . The following year Boniface IX regained Bologna , Perugia and Assisi , but the exiled Perugini could not return in the city : Braccio therefore returned again under Barbiano ' s aegis against Faenza and the Papal States . When his companions denounced him to Alberico , alleging he was planning to kill the commander , Braccio was forced to flee . In 1406 he fought against Perugia with other exiled , who , the following year , formed the great part of his new company , with which Braccio ravaged the Umbrian countryside . In May 1407 the citizens of Rocca Contrada gave him the seigniory of the town , in exchange for his support in combatting the marquess of Fermo . Later Braccio entered the service of King Ladislaus of Naples , who was at war with Florence and the Pope : at the time he had 1 , 200 cavalry and 1 , 000 infantry under him . He ravaged the lands of the Trinci of Foligno but , when Perugia accepted Ladislaus ' suzerainty , Braccio sided against him and moved to Ancona , capturing Jesi . In 1409 Braccio fought at Città di Castello , in Arezzo , for the Florentines and then moved to Rome where he besieged Castel Sant ' Angelo , returning to the Marche for the winter . In 1410 Rome was attacked by the troops of Lucas and Ladislaus of Naples , as well as by several bands of mercenaries , including Braccio ’ s own ; when the Neapolitan troops retreated from the city , he attacked and defeated them at Sora , which he also sacked . In the same year he was simultaneously at the service of Florence and Spoleto , but this did not prevent him to besiege the hateful Perugia , though in vain . The rapid movements of his troops became proverbial , and a new school of the condottieri ’ s art , the " Braccesca " , was named after him . The following year the Antipope John XXIII assigned him the fiefdom of Montone and the governorship of Bologna . Braccio took advantage of his position to extort huge sums of money from the cities of Romagna . In 1414 he fought in Todi against Sforza , who had been hired by the King of Naples ; in June he entered Florence , with which he signed a pact of alliance for 10 years . In the next August Ladislaus died , and Braccio freed Bologna after receiving a payment of 180 , 000 gold ducats . He thus invaded and conquered most of Umbria , his goal being again the beloved Perugia . The city gave itself to Carlo Malatesta . At the battle of Sant ' Egidio ( 12 July 1416 , later portrayed in a famous fresco by Paolo Uccello ) , the " bracceschi " were victorious , and Perugia was finally forced to open its gates to Braccio da Montone . Other Umbrian cities , such as Todi , Narni , Orvieto and Terni named him as lord : at this point , Braccio da Montone was ready to form a state for himself in central Italy . He asked the newly elected Pope Martin V to name him Papal vicar for Umbria , but Martin replied by sending against him two armies under Guidantonio da Montefeltro , from the north , and under Sforza , from the South , but Montone defeated them at Spoleto . On 14 March 1419 he met the Pope in Florence , obtaining the long - awaited title ( including the lordships of Perugia , Todi , Assisi , Spello , Jesi and others ) in exchange for ousting Antongaleazzo Bentivoglio from Bologna . After conquering the latter , he could finally retreat in Perugia to enjoy ruling the city which had ousted him and his family many years ago . Some time later the Pope excommunicated Joanna II , Queen of Naples , appointing Louis III of Anjou as heir to the crown in her stead . Joan appointed king Alfonso of Aragon as her heir , and called Braccio da Montone to fight for her . Once again Braccio found himself facing Sforza , who was at the head of the Angevine army . There was not an open battle , though Braccio ' s army moved all over Abruzzo . Joan gave him the lordship of Teramo , and soon after Braccio started his 13 - year - long siege of L ' Aquila . Meanwhile on 3 February 1424 Braccio was appointed " Gran Conestabile " of the Kingdom and received the fiefdoms of Capua and Foggia . However , when the Queen of Naples abandoned the Aragonese and passed to the side of the Angevins under Louis , Braccio remained loyal to Alfonso . The final clash between the two contenders was just below the walls of Aquila , which still resisted the siege , near the hamlet today called Bazzano . During the march towards the Abruzzese capital , Muzio Attendolo Sforza drowned in the waters of the Pescara river , near Popoli . On 2 June the battle was fought between the most celebrated condottieri of the time ; Braccio , mortally wounded in the neck , was made prisoner and transported to L ' Aquila , where he died three days later , on 5 June 1424 . The Pope had him buried in deconsecrated earth , in which his corpse remained until 1432 when his nephew Niccolò Fortebraccio moved it to the church of San Francesco al Prato in Perugia .