The Black Bands of Giovanni

Today the name of Giovanni de' Medici (1498-1526), better known as Giovanni of the Black Bands, is still largely linked to the heroic and tragic figure created by nineteenth century Risorgimento historiography and literature. First the renown of the so-called 'Medici warrior', and then his sudden oblivion as the result of more up-to-date historiographic methods, have obscured both his true story and that of the men to whom he owed his fame. This is a study not of Giovanni himself but of the Black Bands -- the first famous unit of Italian infantry in the pike-and-shot era. Based on unpublished documentary sources, the volume traces the Bands' story from the time of their birth in the days following Giovanni's death on 30 November 1526 until their surrender and disbandment at Aversa on 30 August 1528. Although they were but a simple pawn in the dramatic end game between the Empire and France for supremacy in Italy, the Black Bands nonetheless drew the attention of all the principal 'players'. The last Florentine Republic entrusted them with most of its hopes for survival. In the course of two consecutive campaigns culminating in the great siege of Naples (1528), and whose dramatic outcome would affect the balance of power in Italy and Europe for decades, Giovanni de' Medici's 'orphans' consolidated the fame of their late master and soon established their own legend. In recounting their story, the volume examines the practice of war in the Early Modern Age, highlighting interactions between the political world and the changing realities of the battlefield.

Maurizio Arfaioli (Susa, 1967) received his laurea degree in History from the University of Pisa and his Ph.D. from the University of Warwick (UK). Early modern Italian political and military history is at the centre of his research interests. While Fellow of the Villa I Tatti Institute he has broadened his research to the Italian troops in Flanders during the Eighty Years' War. He collaborates with the European History Network, CLIOHnet, and with various research groups at the University of Pisa and Ohio State University.