Una “nuova vecchia” battaglia: Troia, 18 agosto 1462. Ricostruzione e analisi dell’evento militare

A "New Old Battle": Troia, the 18th August 1462. Reconstruction and Analysis of the Military Event

The essay reconstructs the battle fought on 18th August 1462 on the hills and in the plain near Troia (Apulia), but also close to the city walls. In the analysis of this important war event we need to understand what originated at Troia a pitched battle, which is a rare event in this war of succession and requests an exceptional decision with regards to the modus bellandi used at that time. In order to sketch all the phases and to know the real facts of Troia’s battle, the reconstruction has been made through a plurality of sources: namely, diplomatic records preserved in the fondo Sforzesco, Potenze Estere, serie Napoli (Milan, Archivio di Stato di Milano), literary sources as the works of G. Simonetta, G.G. Pontano, A. Di Costanzo, E.S. Piccolomini, A. de Tummulillis and G. de Candida, local histories, but also verifying both the site of Troia and the maps of the Istituto Geografico Militare, analysing the famous bronze doors of the Castelnuovo in Naples, and finally comparing the battle phases with the warlike practice in Middle Ages and Renaissance.