Giovanni delle Bande Nere
Ludovico di Giovanni de' Medici | |
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Giovanni de' Medici il Popolano | |
Mother | Caterina Sforza |
Ludovico de' Medici, also known as Giovanni delle Bande Nere (6 April 1498 – 30 November 1526) was an Italian condottiero. He is known for leading the Black Bands and serving valiantly in military combat under his third cousins, Pope Leo X and Pope Clement VII, in the War of Urbino and the War of the League of Cognac, respectively.
Early life
Giovanni was born in the Northern Italian town of
From an early age, he demonstrated great interest and ability in physical activity, especially the martial arts of the age, such as horse riding and sword fighting. He committed his first murder at the age of 12,[
Mercenary
Giovanni became a
As a symbol of mourning for the death of Pope Leo X (1 December 1521), Giovanni added black stripes to his insignia, whence comes his nickname, Giovanni delle Bande Nere (or Giovanni of the Black Bands). In August 1523 he was hired by the
In 1526, the
Death
On the evening of 25 November he was hit by a shot from a
Pietro Aretino, an eyewitness to the event, recalled in a letter to Francesco Albizi:
'Not even twenty' Giovanni said smiling 'could hold me', and he took a candle in his hand, so that he could make light onto himself, I ran away, and shutting my ears I heard only two voices, and then calling, and when I reached him he told me: 'I am healed', and turning all around he greatly rejoiced.
Despite the surgery, Giovanni de' Medici died five days later, supposedly of sepsis, on 30 November 1526.
Giovanni's body was exhumed in 2012 along with that of his wife to preserve the remains, which were damaged in the
Legacy
Giovanni's premature death metaphorically signalled the end of the age of the condottieri, as their mode of fighting (which emphasized armoured knights on horseback) was rendered practically obsolete by the introduction of pike-armed infantry. He is therefore known as the last of the great Italian condottieri. His lasting reputation has been kept alive in part thanks to Pietro Aretino, the Renaissance author, satirist, playwright and "scourge of the princes", who was Giovanni's close friend and accompanied him on some of his exploits.
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Ancestors
Giovanni delle Bande Nere (Lodovico de' Medici) |
Mother: Caterina Sforza Countess of Forlì |
Father: Giovanni il Popolano |
Paternal Grandfather: Pierfrancesco the Elder |
Paternal Great-grandfather: Lorenzo the Elder () Medici Popolani line |
Paternal Great-great-grandfather: Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici Founder of the Medici |
Descendants
Lodovico de' Medici Giovanni delle Bande Nere |
Son: Cosimo I de' Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany |
Grandson: Francesco I de' Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany |
Great-granddaughter: Marie de' Medici Queen of France |
Great-Great-granddaughter: Henrietta Maria of France Queen of England |
Later references
- A cruiser of the Regia Marina was named after Giovanni delle Bande Nere in 1930.
- Ermanno Olmi's 2001 film The Profession of Arms, faithfully follows Giovanni delle Bande Nere in his last week of life, as he engages in battle with the Imperial forces amidst the cold, damp fields of the Lombard countryside.
See also
- Italian Wars
- Condottieri
- Black Bands
References
- ^ Rocke, Michael, Forbidden Friendships: Homosexuality and Male Culture in Renaissance Florence. New York, Oxford University Press, 1996, p. 229
- ^ a b c "Riesumato Giovanni delle Bande Nere" (in Italian). Pisa: Università di Pisa. 27 November 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
- ^ Luigi Guicciardini, Il Sacco di Roma (Paris, 1664). In this edition the author's name is given simply as 'Guicciardini'; hence the attribution to Francesco Guicciardini in previous versions of this article. Luigi (1478–1551), a distinguished Florentine magistrate and political philosopher, was Francesco's brother.
- ^ Pappas, Stephanie (21 November 2012). "Tomb of Renaissance Warrior Reveals Mystery Amputation". livescience.com. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
- ^ "Famed Warrior Medici Died From Gangrene". Seeker.