A noble gangster
There was a time when the owners of shops and businesses in Chicago had to pay large sums of
money to gangsters in return for"protection."If the money was nor paid promptly,the gangsters would
quickly put a man out of business by destroying his shop.Obtaining"protection money"is not a modern
crime.As long ago as the fourteenth century,an Englishman,Sir John Hawkwood,made the remarkable
discovery that people would rather pay large sums of money that have their life work destroyed by
gangsters.
Six hundred yeears ago,Sir John Hawkwood arrived in Italy with a band of soldiers
and settled near Florence.He soon made a name for himself and came to be known to the
Italians as Giovanni Acuto.Whenever the Italian city-states were at war with each other,
Hawkwood used to hire his soldiers to princes who were willing to pay the high price he demanded.
In times of peace,when business was bad,Hawkwood and his men would march into a city-state and,afer
burning down a few farms，would offer to go away if protection money was paid to them.Hawkwood made
large sums of money in this way.In spite of this,the Italians regarded him as a sort of hero.
When he died at the age of eighty,the Florentines gave him a state funeral and had a pictue painted
which was dedicated to the memory of"the most valiant soldier and most notable leader,
Signor Giovanni Haukodue."