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Giovanni Delle Bande Nere
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 Forlì to Giovanni de' Medici il Popolano and Caterina Sforza, one of the most famous women of the Italian Renaissance. 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, and was twice banished from the city of Florence for his unruly behaviour, including involvement in the rape of a sixteen-year-old boy, Giovanni being about thirteen at the time. He had a son, Cosimo (1519–1574), who went on to become the Grand Duke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maria Salviati
Maria Salviati (17 July 1499 – 29 December 1543) was a Florentine noblewoman, the daughter of Lucrezia di Lorenzo de' Medici and Jacopo Salviati. She married Giovanni delle Bande Nere and was the mother of Cosimo I de Medici. Her husband died 30 November 1526, leaving her a widow at the age of 27. Salviati never remarried; after her husband's death she adopted the somber garb of a novice, which is how she is remembered today as numerous late portraits show her attired in black and white.For information on portraits of Maria Salviati see Carl Brandon Strehlke, ''Pontormo, Bronzino, and the Medici: The Transformation of the Renaissance Portrait in Florence'' (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2004) cats. 30 and 46. Life Maria Salviati was born in Florence. She descended from two of Florence's most powerful banking families: the Salviati on her father's side, and the de' Medici on her mother's. Her maternal grandfather was Lorenzo "il Magnifico". When her cousin, Alessandro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence was a centre of Middle Ages, medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of that era. It is considered by many academics to have been the birthplace of the Renaissance, becoming a major artistic, cultural, commercial, political, economic and financial center. During this time, Florence rose to a position of enormous influence in Italy, Europe, and beyond. Its turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful House of Medici, Medici family and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1871 the city served as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. The Florentine dialect forms the base of Italian language, standard Italian and it became the language of culture throughout Italy due to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Pavia
The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–1526 between the Kingdom of France and the Habsburg Empire of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor as well as ruler of Spain, Austria, the Low Countries, and the Two Sicilies. The French army was led by King Francis I of France, who laid siege to the city of Pavia (then part of the Duchy of Milan within the Holy Roman Empire) in October 1524 with 26,200 troops. The French infantry consisted of 6,000 French foot soldiers and 17,000 foreign mercenaries: 8,000 Swiss mercenaries, Swiss, 5,000 Germans, and 4,000 Italians (Black Bands). The French cavalry consisted of 2,000 ''Gendarme (historical), gendarmes'' and 1,200 lances fournies. Charles V, intending to break the siege, sent a relief force of 22,300 troops to Pavia (where the Imperial garrison stationed consisted of 5,000 Germans and 1,000 Spaniards) under the command of the Fleming ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clement VII
Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate of the popes", Clement VII's reign was marked by a rapid succession of political, military, and religious struggles—many long in the making—which had far-reaching consequences for Christianity and world politics. Elected in 1523 at the end of the Italian Renaissance, Clement came to the papacy with a high reputation as a statesman. He had served with distinction as chief advisor to Pope Leo X (1513–1521, his cousin), Pope Adrian VI (1522–1523), and commendably as gran maestro of Florence (1519–1523). Assuming leadership at a time of crisis, with the Protestant Reformation spreading, the Church nearing bankruptcy, and large foreign armies invading Italy, Clement initially tried to unite Christendom by making peace among the many ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caprino Bergamasco
Caprino Bergamasco (Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about northwest of Bergamo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,908 and an area of .All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical institute Istat. The municipality of Caprino Bergamasco contains the ''frazioni'' (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Sant'Antonio d'Adda, Celana, Opreno, Perlupario, Formorone and Ombria. Caprino Bergamasco borders the following municipalities: Cisano Bergamasco, Palazzago, Pontida, Roncola, Torre de' Busi. Opera connection The village was home to a hotel for artists run by librettist Antonio Ghislanzoni in the 1880s. Fellow librettist Ferdinando Fontana was a frequent visitor. It was in Caprino Bergamasco that Fontana wrote the libretto for Giacomo Puccini's opera ''Edgar Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Sax ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. For most of its history the Empire comprised the entirety of the modern countries of Germany, Czechia, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Slovenia, and Luxembourg, most of north-central Italy, and large parts of modern-day east France and west Poland. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne Roman emperor, reviving the title more than three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476. The title lapsed in 924, but was revived in 962 when Otto I, OttoI was crowned emperor by Pope John XII, as Charlemagne's and the Carolingian Empire's successor. From 962 until the 12th century, the empire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaprio D'Adda
Vaprio d'Adda (Milanese: ; Bergamasque: ; locally ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, about northeast of Milan. Vaprio d'Adda borders the following municipalities: Trezzo sull'Adda, Capriate San Gervasio, Grezzago, Canonica d'Adda, Pozzo d'Adda, Cassano d'Adda, Fara Gera d'Adda. History In 1799, Austrian and Russian troops under the guidance of Russian Field Marshal Suvorov inflicted a serious defeat on French forces here at the Battle of Cassano. It was during the Great French War. Main sights *''San Bernardino'', ruins of Romanesque church *''San Colombano''; 12th-century Romanesque church *'' Villa Melzi'', where Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ... resided for a while when s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prospero Colonna
Prospero Colonna (1452–1523), sometimes referred to as Prosper Colonna, was an Italian condottiero. He was active during the Italian wars and served France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and various Italian states. His military career spanned 40 years, serving French royals, Kings of Naples, Dukes of Milan, Popes, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Along with his rival Bartolomeo d'Alviano, he is considered the best Italian general of his age. For his prowess at defensive and counteroffensive warfare, he was regarded as the new Quintus Fabius Maximus Cunctator, earning the nickname ''Cuntatore''. His connections and career allowed him to become a great feudal lord in the Spanish viceroyalty of Naples. Early life A member of the ancient noble family of the Colonna, he was born in Civita Lavinia, near Velletri (Lazio), in 1452. He was a cousin of Fabrizio Colonna. Career Beginnings His first notable action as a military leader was in 1484 when ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piacenza
Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more than 102,000 inhabitants. Westernmost major city of the region of Emilia-Romagna, it has strong relations with Lombardy, with which it borders, and in particular with Milan. It was defined by Leonardo da Vinci as a "Land of passage" in his Codex Atlanticus, by virtue of its crucial geographical location. This strategic location would influence the history of Piacenza significantly at several times. Piacenza integrates characteristics of the nearby Ligurian and Piedmontese territories added to a prevalent Lombard influence, favored by communications with the nearby metropolis, which attenuate its Emilia (region), Emilian footprint. Piacenza is located at a major crossroads at the intersection of Route E35/A1 between Bologna and Milan, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parma
Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, Parma is the second most populous city in Emilia-Romagna after Bologna, the region's capital. The city is home to the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world. Parma is divided into two parts by the Parma (river), stream of the same name. The district on the west side of the river is ''Oltretorrente'', meaning ''The other side of the stream''. Parma's Etruscan name was adapted by Romans to describe the round shield called ''Parma (shield), Parma''. History Prehistory Parma was already a built-up area in the Bronze Age. In the current position of the city rose a Terramare culture, terramare. The "terramare" (marl earth) were ancient villages built of wood on piles according to a defined scheme and squared form; c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis I Of France
Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis XII, who died without a legitimate son. A prodigious patron of the arts, Francis promoted the emergent French Renaissance by attracting many Italian artists to work for him, including Leonardo da Vinci, who brought the ''Mona Lisa'', which Francis had acquired. Francis's reign saw important cultural changes with the growth of central power in France, the spread of humanism and Protestantism, and the beginning of French exploration of the New World. Jacques Cartier and others claimed lands in the Americas for France and paved the way for the expansion of the first French colonial empire. For his role in the development and promotion of the French language, Francis became known as (the 'Father and Restorer of Letters'). He was also known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) from 1506 to 1555. He was heir to and then head of the rising House of Habsburg. His dominions in Europe included the Holy Roman Empire, extending from Germany to northern Italy with rule over the Austrian hereditary lands and Burgundian Low Countries, and Spain with its possessions of the southern Italian kingdoms of Naples, Sicily and Sardinia. In the Americas, he oversaw the continuation of Spanish colonization and a short-lived German colonization. The personal union of the European and American territories he ruled was the first collection of realms labelled " the empire on which the sun never sets". Charles was born in Flanders to Habsburg Archduke Philip the Handsome, son of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Mary of Burg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
