FACINO CANE
FACINO CANE |
|
|
Facino
Cane, an adventurer, whose real name was Bonifacio, was born in Casale Monferrato,
probably between 1350 and 1360. He was enlisted several times by the marquises of Monferrato precisely
in 1387, 1390 and in 1393; between the first and the third enlistment he was in the
service of the Viscontis and people think that Gian Galeazzo
suggested that he returned to the service of the Monferratos. Probably Visconti wanted to
profit from the recent death of Amedeo VII of Savoy to take a
part of the Savoy territory;then he drove back Facino Cane to
the Canavese, in command of the troops of the Marquis of
Monferrato. Facino Cane entered the Canavese and sacked towns and villages Amongst the numerous episodes which saw him as the protagonist, we can remember the attack to Ivrea on 16th September 1394: some historians report that he personally killed seven men and stole 170 cattle; others say that he killed many people in Monferrato, in Azeglio and in Masino earldom (county) together with Ottone Crusca. In the following days there were many other attacks by Facino's men against the town of Ivrea: |
women and children took shelter in the castle and men organised the defense of the walls. As he couldn't enter the town, because there were several fortifications, Facino took the men, who worked in field, as prisoners. For two years from 1394 to 1396 he wasn't interested in the Canavese; he was enlisted a fourth time by the marquises of Monferrato who were at war with the Acaias. This war ended with the truce of Pavia in 1397, without losers or winners.
Facino Cane was in the service of Gian Galeazzo Visconti for two more years. He returned to the Canavese in the Marquis of Savoy’s troops and made over 600 men as prisoners. He again besieged Ivrea but the defensor of the walls didn't wait for the attack this time: they went out to face the mercenary troops and they defeated them.
After two episodes of truce, signed in Chivasso on the 22nd November 1400 and the 1st December 1401, the war between the Monferrato and the Acaia finished with the death of Prince Amedeo of Acaia on the 8th May 1402.
