Piedmont

Piedmont appears as a destination the Captive intends to reach, not as a place the narrative confirms he visited. Its significance lies in the abandoned branch of his military itinerary: from Milan he means to seek service there, then redirects himself toward Flanders after news of the Duke of Alva’s campaign.

Place in the Captive’s Itinerary

The Captive recounts that, after leaving his father’s house, he embarked at Alicante, reached Genoa, and went on to Milan, where he acquired arms and basic military equipment. He planned to take service in Piedmont; already on the road to Alessandria della Paglia, he learned that the Duke of Alva was heading to Flanders and changed his plans to join him. The account thus places Piedmont at a decision point in a narrated route, rather than describing a sojourn there.

A Plan Superseded

The change of destination leads the Captive into campaigns in Flanders, where he says he was present at the deaths of the Counts Egmont and Horn and became an ensign under Diego de Urbina. Later, news of the alliance against the Turks draws him from Flanders toward Italy to join Don John of Austria’s expedition. Piedmont remains part of the route he considered, while the account’s subsequent movements follow other military opportunities.

Narrative Significance

The mention gives the Captive’s account a concrete itinerary and makes his career’s turns legible as responses to successive reports of war and opportunity. It also marks a limit in what the text establishes: although Piedmont is his stated intended destination, the account says that he altered course before taking service there. The place functions as a possible next step in his career, not as a setting for an episode.