Gian Giacomo Medici
Gian Giacomo Medici or Jacopo de' Medici was an Italian condottiero, Marchese of Marignano and Marquess of Musso and Lecco in Lombardy.
He served Francesco II Sforza during their alliance to King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor Charles [V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]. After a brief period of rebellion, he joined permanently the armies of Charles V, whom he served to his death. He gained renown for his leadership and guerrilla expertise, as well as for his cruelty.
Biography
Gian Giacomo Medici was the brother of Giovanni Angelo Medici, who was later to be elected Pope as Pius IV. They were scions of an impoverished, though patrician, family of Milan not connected with the Medici of Florence, in spite of the Medici heraldic palle appearing in the contemporary engraving : thus the nickname Il Medeghino, the "little Medici". Gian Giacomo, the eldest of fourteen children, was banished from Milan after a daring murder of revenge in broad daylight. He fled to Lake Como where he gathered about him a band of brigands answerable to none but him.That he fled to Lake Como was no coincidence. Evidence can be found that Marquis Giacomo di Medici was born in Valsolda and even had a residence in the community of Porlezza. In the main church of Cima, which belongs to the community of Porlezza, an inconspicuous relief shows the lion of San Marco, a symbol of the alliance between Gian Giacomo de Medici and the former Republic of Venice. It was put there in honour of his achievements. A description of the relief can be found on a plaque alongside. It is likely that Gian Giacomo even had a residence in Cima, on the same spot where now stands a hotel, probably not called by chance Parco San Marco.
Italian Wars
He threw in his lot as bodyguard to the future Duke of Milan, Francesco II Sforza, who he helped reinstate in Milan by Emperor Charles V after a role in the Battle of Vaprio d'Adda. The Medeghino gained a reputation for unscrupulous violence in the Sforza pay; in partial recompense, he was made Marquis of Marquis of Musso and Lecco. However, after political disagreements and a brief war against Imperial general Antonio de Leyva, who failed to capture him, Medeghino negotiated his entrance to Charles' service by handing back Musso and Lecco in exchange for the Marquisate of Marignano on 28 March 1528.Remaining in the pay of Charles V until the end of his career, Il Medeghino became a famous condottiere, or soldier of fortune. He fought at Battle of Mühlberg and elsewhere in Italy, in the Wars of Religion in France and in the Low Countries. The great engineer Agostino Ramelli trained with Gian Giacomo, who instructed him in mathematics and architecture. He achieved a great victory defeating the French and Sienese during the Battle of Marciano in 1554, one year before his death.
In 1543 he had purchased the ancient fortified castle of Frascarolo, near present-day Induno Olona, in the Valceresio, which he converted into a sumptuous villa. In the summer of 1545 he married Marzia Orsini, daughter of Ludovico Orsini, conte di Pitigliano. He was made a knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1555, also the year of his death. Il Medeghino is buried in the Duomo of Milan. Since his only son, Camillo, was illegitimate, albeit made a Knight of the Order of Malta, Gian Giacomo's honours passed to his brother Agosto.