In 2005
I published my first monograph, a study of the first famous Italian
infantry unit of the pike-and-shot era: the Black Bands, to whom the
famous condottiere Giovanni de’ Medici (1498-1526) owed his posthumous
title of ‘Giovanni of the Black Bands’.
The Black Bands of Giovanni: Infantry and Diplomacy During the
Italian Wars (1526-1528), Pisa, Edizioni Plus, 2005
“The
Black Bands of Giovanni offers a fascinating exploration of Renaissance
political and military history” – Brian Sandberg, The
Journal of Military History - Volume 70, II, 2006.
“… Arfaioli throws light on an elite unit of Italian
infantry in the 1520s, making Italian scholarship available in English”
– Jeremy Black, War in European History, 1494-1660 –
The Essential Bibliography Series, Dulles 2006.
