But regardless of who was contracting them, the condottieri fought primarily for themselves.

但不论雇主是谁，雇佣兵首先为自己而战。

And when their contracts expired, condottieri commanders became free agents with no expectation of ongoing loyalty.

当和约到期时，雇佣兵长官成为自由人，不用继续效忠。

But local rivalries also played out in military conflicts, fought almost entirely by the condottieri.

但地方矛盾也导致了军事冲突，这些战斗几乎完全由雇佣兵承担。

Over time, foreign condottieri were increasingly replaced by native Italians.

逐渐地，外国雇佣兵被本土意大利人取代。

When John Hawkwood launched his surprise attack against the Florentine condottieri, he was working for Pisa.

当约翰·霍克伍德向佛罗伦萨雇佣兵发起突袭时，他在为比萨而战。

And for Italy's condottieri, war wasn't about glory or conquest: it was purely about getting paid.

而对于意大利的雇佣兵来说，战争不是为了荣耀或征服：它纯粹是为了获得报酬。

For much of the 14th and 15th centuries, the condottieri dominated Italian warfare, profiting from and encouraging the region's intense political rivalries.

在 14 和 15 世纪大部分时间里，雇佣兵主宰着意大利的战场，鼓动地方激烈政治争斗并从中获利。

And this new generation of condottieri leveraged their military power into political influence, in some cases even founding ruling dynasties.

新一代的雇佣兵将其军事实力转为政治影响力，甚至建立了新的王朝。

By the mid 16th century, these state-sponsored militaries forced all of Europe into a new era of warfare, putting an end to the condottieri's conniving war games.

到了 16 世纪中期，这些国家支持的军队迫使欧洲进入新的战争时代，从此结束了雇佣兵的纵容战争游戏。

However, despite cornering the market on Italian warfare for nearly two centuries, the condottieri only truly excelled at engaging in just enough close-range combat to fulfill their contracts.

然而，尽管近两个世纪以来一直垄断着意大利战争市场，雇佣兵们真正擅长的只是参与近距离战斗，以履行他们的合同。