Editing Condottiero (section)

==Evolution of the term==

While the military service {{lang|it|condotta}} gradually disappeared, the term {{lang|it|condottiere}} remained in use, denominating the great Italian generals fighting for European states, monarchs and Popes during the Italian wars and the [[European wars of religion]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W-dVAAAAYAAJ&q=last+condottiere+Montecuccoli|title=Raimondo Montecuccoli: capitano e scrittore|last1=Tomassini|first1=Luciano|last2=storico|first2=Italy Esercito Corpo di stato maggiore Ufficio|date=1978|publisher=Stato Maggiore dell'esercito, Ufficio storico|language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WLNJAQAAIAAJ&q=Condottiere+Alessandro+Farnese|title=Alessandro Farnese: condottiero e duca (1545–1592)|last1=Pronti|first1=Stefano|last2=civici|first2=Piacenza (Italy) Musei|date=1995|publisher=TipLeCo|language=it}}</ref><ref>Lenman, B., Anderson, T. ''Chambers Dictionary of World History'', p. 200</ref> Men referred to as 'condottieri' in this sense include the [[Marquis of Pescara]] (1489–1525), the [[Alfonso III d'Avalos|Marquis of Vasto]] (1502–1546), [[Ferrante Gonzaga]] (1507–1557),  [[Marcantonio II Colonna]] (1535-1584), [[Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma|Alexander Farnese]] (1545-1592), [[Torquato Conti]] (1591–1636), [[Ambrogio Spinola]] (1569–1630),  [[Ottavio Piccolomini]] (1599–1656), [[Raimondo Montecuccoli]] (1609–1680) and many others. Therefore, in Italian, the term 'condottiero' eventually became synonymous with 'military leader' or 'commander'.