The Battle of Campaldino

Kelly DeVries and Michael Livingston break down Campaldino — the 1289 battle between Florence and Arezzo that put Dante Alighieri on a medieval Italian battlefield. The episode benefits from DeVries's depth on medieval cavalry tactics and the mechanics of communal Italian warfare, a subject that rarely gets this level of English-language attention. The literary connection to Dante will draw people in, but the military treatment is the reason to stay.