Gian Giacomo Medici orJacopo de' Medici (25 January 1498 – 8 November 1555) was anItaliancondottiero who became a noted Spanish general, Duke ofMarignano and Marquess ofMusso andLecco inLombardy.
Gian Giacomo Medici was the brother of Giovanni Angelo Medici, who was later to be elected Pope asPius IV. They were scions of an impoverished, though patrician, family of Milan not connected with theMedici of Florence, in spite of the Medici heraldicpalle appearing in the contemporary engraving (illustration): thus the nicknameIl 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 toLake Como where he gathered about him a band of brigands answerable to none but him. He threw in his lot as bodyguard to the futureDuke of Milan,Francesco II Sforza, who had been reinstated in Milan by EmperorCharles V. TheMedeghino gained a reputation for unscrupulous violence in the Sforza pay; in partial recompense, he was made Marquis ofMarignano on 28 March 1528 (by Imperial patent and confirmed by Francesco Sforza II,Duke of Milan), and also Marquis ofMusso andLecco.
That he fled to Lake Como was no coincidence. For, he was born in Valsolda which is a part of the community ofPorlezza. 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 formerRepublic 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.[1]
Il Medeghino became a famouscondottiere, or soldier of fortune, who fought in the pay of Charles V at theBattle of Mühlberg and elsewhere in Italy (the "War of Siena"), in theWars of Religion in France and in theLow Countries. The great engineerAgostino Ramelli trained with Gian Giacomo, who instructed him in mathematics and architecture.[2]
In 1543 he purchased the ancient fortified castle of Frascarolo, near present-day Induno Olona, in the Valceresio, which he converted into a sumptuous villa.[3] In the summer of 1545 he marriedMarzia Orsini, daughter of Ludovico Orsini, conte di Pitigliano. He was made a knight of theOrder of the Golden Fleece in 1555, also the year of his death. Il Medeghino is buried in theDuomo of Milan.
Since his only son, Camillo (died after 1586), was illegitimate, albeit made aKnight of the Order of Malta, Gian Giacomo's honours passed to his brother Agosto (1501–1570).
