Iacopo IV Appiani (1459 – 10 April 1510) was an Italian

condottiero Condottieri (; singular: ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian military leaders active during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The term originally referred specifically to commanders of mercenary companies, derived from the ...

and

lord of Piombino The Lordship of Piombino (''Signoria di Piombino''), and after 1594 the Principality of Piombino (''Principato di Piombino''), was a small state on the Italian peninsula centered on the town of Piombino and including part of the island of Elba ...

of the Appiani dynasty in the Renaissance. He was born in

Piombino Piombino is an Italian town and ''comune'' of about 35,000 inhabitants in the province of Livorno (Tuscany). It lies on the border between the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea, in front of Elba Island and at the northern side of Maremma. Ov ...

, the son of

Iacopo III Appiani {{Infobox noble , name = Iacopo III Appiano , title = VI Lord of Piombino , image =Arms of the house of Aragona-Appiano.svg , caption =Variant of the Appiano coat of arms used by Iacopo III his ...

, of whom he continued the traditional alliance with the Aragonese court of Naples. He was captain of the Neapolitan Army (1479–1483), of the Este army (1483–1485) and of the army of the Republics of Siena (1495–1498) and

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 ...

(1498–1501). Later he served the king of France and

Ferdinand II of Aragon Ferdinand II, also known as Ferdinand I, Ferdinand III, and Ferdinand V (10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), called Ferdinand the Catholic, was King of Aragon from 1479 until his death in 1516. As the husband and co-ruler of Queen Isabella I of ...

. In 1501 his territories in southern Tuscany were occupied by

Cesare Borgia Cesare Borgia (13 September 1475 – 12 March 1507) was a Cardinal (Catholic Church)#Cardinal_deacons, cardinal deacon and later an Italians, Italian ''condottieri, condottiero''. He was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI of the Aragonese ...

, but Iacopo returned in 1503 after the death of Borgia's power protector and father,

Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503. Born into t ...

. In this period he received

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 ...

in his court. In 1509 he was made Prince of the

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 ...

. He died at Piombino in 1510.

References

* Mauro Carrara, Signori e principi di Piombino, Bandecchi & Vivaldi, Pontedera 1996. {{DEFAULTSORT:Appiani, Iacopo Iv Appiani, Iacopo 4 Appiani, Iacopo 4 Iacopo 4 Appiani, Iacopo 4 Appiani, Iacopo 4 Iacopo 4