Historians concerned with the juridical aspects of war in the Middle Ages and the-early modern period have so far concentrated on the Ius ad bellum rather than on the-Ius in bello. Very little is known, as a matter of fact, about the treatment dealt to prisoners-during the Italian wars of the sixteenth century.-This subject is investigated here by means of a direct recognition of the literary and-archival sources, in search of information and examples highlighting the effective application-of medieval rules about bona guerra in the conflicts between Christians. The-author seeks to undertstand what were the conventions and practices in this period,-using the well documented Italian wars as a case study, and concludes that the spread-of more humane rules wss proportional to the risk for soldiers to be taken as captives.-
Keywords: War prisoners, Ius in bello, Laws of war, Bona guerra, Italian wars.-