The Black Bands (), sometimes referred to as the Black Bands of Giovanni, was a company of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

mercenaries A mercenary is a private individual who joins an War, armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rath ...

formed and commanded by Giovanni de' Medici during the

Italian Wars The Italian Wars were a series of conflicts fought between 1494 and 1559, mostly in the Italian Peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and Mediterranean Sea. The primary belligerents were the House of Valois, Valois kings o ...

; their name came from their black mourning colours for the death of

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X (; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political and banking Med ...

. Composed primarily of

arquebus An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. The term ''arquebus'' was applied to many different forms of firearms ...

iers—including Europe's first mounted arquebusiers—the company was, by the

Italian War of 1521 Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, considered to be the finest Italian troops available. Initially in the service of

Charles de Lannoy Charles de Lannoy ( – 23 September 1527) was a soldier and statesman from the Low Countries in service of the Habsburg Emperors Maximilian I and Charles V. Early life He was a member of the noble House of Lannoy. Charles de Lannoy was bo ...

and the Pope, the company fought at Bicocca in 1522 and the Sesia in 1523. A pay dispute led to it transferring its allegiance to

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&nbs ...

; it took part in the

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 Empero ...

under the command of

Richard de la Pole Richard de la Pole (died 24 February 1525) was a pretender to the English crown. Commonly nicknamed "White Rose", he was the last Yorkist claimant to actively and openly seek the crown of England. He lived in exile after many of his relativ ...

(d. 1525), known as the "White Rose". In addition to the Italian units, German mercenaries in service of Francis I were called the "German black bands". At the start of the

War of the League of Cognac The War of the League of Cognac (1526–1530) was fought between the Habsburg dominions of Charles V—primarily the Holy Roman Empire and Spain—and the League of Cognac, an alliance including the Kingdom of France, Pope Clement VII, the Re ...

, the Bands attempted to resist the advance of Georg Frundsberg's Imperial

landsknechts The (singular: , ), also rendered as Landsknechts or Lansquenets, were German mercenaries used in pike and shot formations during the early modern period. Consisting predominantly of pikemen and supporting foot soldiers, their front line was f ...

into

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

. Giovanni was killed by a cannonball near

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

early in 1526. The company continued to fight in French and Papal pay, taking part in the expedition to

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

under

Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec (1485 – 15 August 1528) was a French military leader. As Marshal of France, he commanded the campaign to conquer Naples, but died from the bubonic plague in 1528. Biography Odet was the son of Jean de Foix ...

. It retreated from the siege with the remainder of the French army—crippled by the plague—and surrendered to the Imperial forces in late 1528, disbanding shortly afterwards.

References

* Arfaioli, Maurizio. ''The Black Bands of Giovanni: Infantry and Diplomacy During the Italian Wars (1526–1528)''. Pisa: Pisa University Press, Edizioni Plus, 2005. . * Hackett, Francis. ''Francis the First''. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1937. * Konstam, Angus. ''Pavia 1525: The Climax of the Italian Wars''. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 1996. . * Taylor, Frederick Lewis. ''The Art of War in Italy, 1494–1529''. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1973. . Military units and formations of the Italian Wars Mercenary units and formations of the early modern period 16th-century condottieri War of the League of Cognac {{mil-unit-stub