Erasmo of Narni was born in
Narni, in
Umbria, into a poor family. His station in life led him to the military, initially under the
Assisi lord Cecchino Broglia. Later, together with his friend Brandolino Brandolini, he served under
Braccio da Montone, one of the leading Italian
condottieri of the 15th century, lord of
Perugia from 1416. With Braccio, he participated in the conquest of
Todi,
Rieti, Narni,
Terni and
Spoleto, and, in 1419, in the battle of Viterbo against
Muzio Attendolo. At the
War of L'Aquila (June 1424), Braccio's army was utterly defeated, and the condottiero himself killed; Erasmo led the remaining troops into the service of the
Republic of Florence. In 1427 Pope
Martin V hired him to regain the lands captured by Braccio da Montone.
Città di Castello fell in 1428, but Erasmo had moved to the northern
Papal States to counter the rebellion of
Imola,
Forlì and
Bologna. He entered the latter in 1431 as the General Captain of the Papal States, and he also suppressed
Antonio Ordelaffi's rebellion in Forlì. Mostly because of his discontent with late wages, Erasmo abandoned the Papal services in 1434. He was subsequently hired by the
Republic of Venice. In the course of the war against the
Filippo Maria Visconti of
Milan, he defended Bologna and fought against
Niccolò Piccinino. The latter defeated him at Castelbolognese on 28 August 1434, in a battle in which Gattamelata was wounded. After a series of clashes and counter-manoeuvers, often lost by the anti-Visconti league (Gattamelata's side), he successfully
defended Brescia and
Verona in 1438. For this he was granted the title of General Commander of the armies of the Republic of Venice. However, the following year the Venetians lost numerous cities, including
Legnago,
Soave and finally Verona itself. This defeat led to strong criticism of Gattamelata. The Venetian Republic then called on
Francesco Sforza to fight alongside Gattamelata, and the two re-entered Verona on 9 July 1439. In 1440, while mustering a flotilla on
Lake Garda, Gattamelata was struck down by a
cerebral haemorrhage. He never fully recovered, nor led further substantial military campaigns. He died at Padua in 1443. == Personal life ==