A commander of northern Italy's mercenaries, famed for his brilliance and near-unbroken record of victory. Niccolò Piccinino was born in 1386 near Perugia to a butcher's family—small in stature and lame from childhood, yet drawn early to the life of arms. He enlisted under the great condottiere Braccio da Montone, rising with remarkable speed through sharp instinct and fearless combat. When Braccio fell, Piccinino formed a formidable mercenary force of his own. The long Lombardy War between Milan and Venice became his proving ground. Fighting for Milan, Piccinino met the Venetian fleet on the Po. When several Milanese ships were trapped at dusk, he bluffed the Venetians into caution, slipped aboard the surrounded vessels under cover of night, and at dawn launched a sudden assault that sent the enemy fleeing. A year later in Valtellina, he confronted Venetian armies entrenched behind deep trenches. After probing attacks failed, he ordered his men to fill the ditch silently through the night. At first light,