The Florentine Crossbowmen Company was founded in 1999. It is part of the “Repubblica Fiorentina” parade and is committed to practicing and promoting crossbow shooting. Historically, Florentine crossbowmen were citizens trained as crossbow shooters to defend the Florentine Republic. As early as 1250, there are written records of crossbowmen organized in the municipal militia. At that time, every citizen between the ages of 15 and 70 was required to be enrolled in one of the city’s military companies.
Numerous crossbowmen fought in the Battle of Montaperti (1260) and their contribution was decisive in the Battle of Campaldino (1289). During the 14th century, through various ordinances, the municipality often used contingents of citizens armed with crossbows to defend the territory. In 1357, under threat from the mercenary militias of the Count of Landau, who intended to invade the Florentine countryside, the Municipality of Florence deployed 8,000 men, 3,000 of whom were crossbowmen, to protect the Strale pass in the Apennines. In 1378, in the aftermath of the Ciompi Revolt, the popular government organized a militia of 1,000 crossbowmen in just two days.
very year, on the third Sunday in May, the Compagnia Balestrieri di Firenze (Florence Crossbowmen’s Guild) organizes the Palio del Baluardo, a crossbow shooting competition between guilds from various regions of Italy. Each guild fields six crossbowmen, who shoot three bolts each. The guild with the highest score wins the Palio. The Palio del Baluardo was established to commemorate an important page in Florentine history: on May 16, 1527, the Florentines once again expelled the Medici and proclaimed the Republic, which lasted until August 12, 1530, when, after almost a year of siege, they were forced to surrender to the armies of Emperor Charles V.
Thus ended the centuries-old era of republican and free Florence, and its slow decline began. The Compagnia Balestrieri di Firenze joined L.I.T.A.B. in 2006, in the discipline of crossbow shooting.