Giovanni of the Black Bands

A scion of the hugely influential Medici family, the man who would become Giovanni of the Black Bands enlisted in the service of Pope Leo IX after a turbulent childhood. Distinguishing himself as the commander of a company of fast-moving mounted arquebusiers, he would earn his sobriquet after Leo’s death. As a symbol of mourning, he incorporated black bands into his heraldry, and continued in papal service, fighting both against and for the French. At the time of his death following the loss of his leg to a cannonball in 1526, he was symbolic of a class of warrior rapidly becoming obsolete, but was nevertheless a bold and dashing leader.