The remarkable military career of Giovanni dalle Bande Nere’s most trusted captain
Lucantonio Cuppano (also known as Lucantonio Coppi, Lucantonio di Montefalco, Lucantonio da Fermo, Lucantonio de’ Cuppis)
Originally from Montefalco. Known by the nickname Gazissa.
Born: 1507, March
Death: 1557, January
| Year, Month | State, Comp. ventura | Opponent | Command | Area of Activity | Actions Undertaken and Other Salient Facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ……………. | As a young man he frequents the Medici from whom he receives an education appropriate to his condition. His father served under Bartolomeo d’Alviano and Lucantonio is a friend of the wife of this condottiero, Pantesilea Baglioni, sister of Giampaolo. | ||||
| ……………. | He serves in the Bande Nere under the command of Giovanni dei Medici. He knows this captain from a very young age by frequenting the Salviati house. | ||||
| 1523 | |||||
| Nov. | Empire | France | Lombardy | He is at the defense of Milan. With Piermaria dei Rossi he captures Morgante da Parma guilty of treason: the captain is executed by his own companions. | |
| 1524 | |||||
| Nov. | France | Empire | Lombardy | He supports Giovanni dei Medici at the siege of Pavia. | |
| 1526 | |||||
| Apr. May | Church | Empire | Marche | At Fano always with Giovanni dei Medici. | |
| Aug. | 200 infantry | Lombardy | At the camp of Lambrate. | ||
| Sept. | Lazio | He is sent to aid Pope Clement VII with 7 bands of infantry. | |||
| Oct. | Lombardy | He is reported at Trebbio. | |||
| Nov. | Lombardy | He participates in the clash at Borgoforte where the Medici is mortally wounded by a falconet shot: together with Pietro Aretino he conducts the condottiero to Mantova in the palace of Luigi Gonzaga. | |||
| Dec. | Church | Colonna | Lazio | He joins with Battista Farina to face the Colonnesi. He levels Mastro Marino, sets fire to Rocca di Papa and Montefortino (Artena) although he fails to capture the relative fortresses; he ruins Genazzano, Ceccano, Supino and Santo Stefano. | |
| 1527 | |||||
| Jan. | Lazio | He moves to the defense of Frosinone when the city is attacked by the imperials and the militias of Cardinal Pompeo Colonna. He distinguishes himself for his valor in a clash that occurred near the city. The adversaries retreat. | |||
| ……………. | Florence | Empire | The pontiff reaches an agreement with the Colonna and Lucantonio Cuppano is dismissed. He passes to the pay of the Florentines. | ||
| May | Church | Empire | Lazio | He is at the guard of Rome when the city is conquered by the Lanzichenecchi of the Constable of Bourbon. He fights in the Parione quarter defending the wall sections between the Santo Spirito and Torrione gates (Monte Santo Spirito, Facciafronte and Camposanto). His company is exterminated with the exception of a few men. Wounded during the fighting, he is taken prisoner by Luigi Rodomonte Gonzaga: freed, he reaches Francesco Maria della Rovere at Isola Farnese. According to some sources, it is Lucantonio Cuppano rather than Benvenuto Cellini who kills the Constable of Bourbon with an arquebus shot as is commonly believed. | |
| June | Florence | Empire | 400 infantry | Lazio | He is contracted by the Florentines for one year of service and one of goodwill. He is granted a provision of 300 ducats per year in peacetime. At the camp of Vetralla. He commands 400 infantry of the Bande Nere (in total 4229 infantry). Other captains of this corps are Contazzo da Casalpò (400 infantry), Pasquino Corso (120), Giovanni di Torino (310), Giuliano Strozzi (300), Morgante da Ferrara (300), Cesare Farina (300), Giannetto Albanese (300), Giovannatonio da Castello (258), Amico da Venafro (225), Barbarossa dei Bartoli (224), Tommasino Corso (200), Pandolfo Puccini (300), Giovanni da Colle (150). |
| Sept. | Umbria | Under the orders of Federico Gonzaga da Bozzolo and the captain general of the Serenissima, the Duke of Urbino Francesco Maria della Rovere, he besieges 400 infantry and 200 imperial cavalry in the abbey of San Pietro in Valle, near Trevi. After several assaults he persuades Piermaria dei Rossi, Alessandro Vitelli and Braccio Baglioni to surrender on terms; the other adversaries are, on the contrary, forced to surrender at discretion. | |||
| Nov. | Umbria | Under the orders of Orazio Baglioni, with Giannetto Albanese he besieges Rodolfo da Varano in the castle of Preci, who has found refuge there after being driven from Camerino by Sciarra Colonna. | |||
| 1528 | |||||
| Apr. | 400 infantry | Campania | At the siege of Naples. In a clash he is seriously wounded in the right thigh by an arquebus shot. This ends his presence at the siege operations and those that will lead to the subsequent defeat. | ||
| 1529 | |||||
| June | Venice | Empire | 400 infantry | On the indication of Francesco Maria della Rovere the Council of Savi grants him a command of 400 infantry and a provision of 40 ducats per pay, for eight pays per year. | |
| July | Lombardy | With Carlo Malatesta da Sogliano he is sent by della Rovere with all the cavalry, 1200 infantry and four pieces of artillery, to the Venetian shores of the Adda to surprise some companies of Spanish infantry commanded by Cesare da Napoli and destroy, at the same time, a boat bridge set up by the adversaries. The imperials, informed of the action, re-cross the river and demolish the structure. | |||
| Aug. | Lombardy | At Sant’Eufemia della Fonte with 341 infantry. | |||
| Sept. | Florence | Empire | Umbria and Veneto | At Spello with 600 arquebusiers when the locality is attacked by the imperials. Forced to surrender, he returns to Lombardy with the Venetians. He supports Roberto da San Severino; with this captain, he falls prisoner at Valeggio sul Mincio in an ambush set by 1000 German cavalry and 600 arquebusiers. | |
| 1530 | |||||
| Jan. | 25 infantry | Veneto | After the signing of peace with the imperials he is transferred to Verona with 25 infantry. | ||
| 1534 | |||||
| Autumn | Urbino | Church | Marche | He serves in the pay of the Duke of Urbino Francesco Maria della Rovere. He commands a colonel of infantry; he is sent to aid Camerino. | |
| 1536 | |||||
| Dec. | Marche | At Castel Durante (Urbania) to prevent passage to the pontificals. | |||
| 1538 | |||||
| Nov. | Urbino | Umbria and Marche | At the death of della Rovere he is charged with defending Gubbio, Cantiano and Pergola from a possible pontifical attack. He transfers to Cagli with the new duke Guidobaldo to coordinate with the other Feltresco captains the war plan. | ||
| 1540 | Marche and Tuscany | At the end of the year he is reported at Pesaro with Aurelio Fregoso. Both pass to the service of the Duke of Florence Cosimo dei Medici, son of Giovanni. | |||
| 1543 | Florence | Ottoman Empire | Tuscany | He goes to the defense of Pisa with 800 infantry when news arrives of the appearance in the Tyrrhenian Sea of the Turkish fleet of Barbarossa; shortly he moves with Rodolfo Baglioni to guard Piombino. At the end of operations he returns to Pisa. | |
| 1544 | Tuscany | He takes the road to Volterra, arrives at Casole d’Elsa and provides aid to the Sienese also threatened by the Turks. | |||
| 1547 | |||||
| ……………. | Tuscany | He is appointed governor of Piombino. | |||
| Summer | Tuscany | He has the task of gathering 1000 infantry, proceeding to Pisa and being ready to embark for Naples: the city has in fact rebelled against the viceroy don Pietro di Toledo because of the introduction of the Inquisition tribunal. | |||
| 1552 | Tuscany | With Girolamo degli Albizzi he officially takes possession of Piombino in the name of the Duke of Florence Cosimo dei Medici. | |||
| 1553 | |||||
| ……………. | Florence | France | Tuscany | He gathers 200 infantry and lays waste to the Maremma. | |
| Aug. | Tuscany | He repels the attack brought to Portoferraio by the Turkish fleet commanded by Dragut and the French fleet of Paulin de la Garde. He is aided by the Tuscan squadron of Jacopo d’Appiano (4 galleys) which, from the harbor mouth, bombards the adversaries. The Turks land near Capo Bianco. With the help of Appiano, who anticipates the adversaries by landing 50 arquebusiers from the galleys, he succeeds with artillery fire to induce the attackers to retreat. 40 dead among the Ottomans. | |||
| 1554 | |||||
| ……………. | Tuscany | He fails to prevent the raids of the Sienese in the territory of Piombino due to the scarcity of troops at his disposal. | |||
| Sept. Nov. | Tuscany | With Carlo Gonzaga he recovers the castles of Buriano, Scarlino, Populonia previously fallen into the hands of the French commanded by Francesco da Sassatello. The conquest of Casole d’Elsa follows. In October he sacks Monterotondo Marittimo seizing the grain stored in that castle. In November, always with Carlo Gonzaga he enters Massa Marittima. | |||
| 1555 | |||||
| Jan. | Tuscany | Still governor of Piombino. He harasses the Sienese, obtains Scarlino through the indication of an inhabitant who showed him a weak and poorly guarded point of the wall circuit. | |||
| Mar. | Tuscany | He conquers the fortress of Colonna. He leaves a strong garrison there and returns to Piombino. | |||
| July | Tuscany | He energetically assumes the defense of the island of Elba assaulted again by the fleet of Dragut, allied with the French: he obtains some reinforcements from Livorno transported by Simeone Rossermini with a galley. He faces the adversaries landed on the beach of Acquaviva with a small contingent of 70 arquebusiers and 30 islanders. Faced with the enemy advance he feigns retreat until he reaches them under the walls of Portoferraio. From the fortress, at his signal, fire is opened against the Turks who are forced, in turn, to retreat after suffering heavy losses (100 killed and many more wounded, most of whom die aboard the galleys). New clashes follow always ending in the same way. | |||
| Sept. | Tuscany | With the cessation of the Ottoman danger he can return to Piombino where he resumes his position as general governor. | |||
| 1557 | |||||
| Jan. | He dies at the beginning of the month. In correspondence with Pietro Aretino who remembers him repeatedly in his letters. Much information about the life of Giovanni dei Medici comes from his memories. Lodovico Domenichi dedicates to him his translation of Xenophon’s work “On the Life of Cyrus, King of the Persians.” In the period 1520-21 he occupies his time transcribing the famous recipe book of Caterina Sforza, mother of Giovanni dei Medici. His name is remembered in the film “Il mestiere delle armi” by Ermanno Olmi. He marries Maddalena d’Ivarra, Countess of Poggio Santa Maria. |
Sources
-“Due occhi aveva il sempieterno Giovanni (dei Medici) ne la fronte de l’affezione, Lucantonio e Pietro Aretino; ma egli era il destro e io il sinistro..Certamente che egli, per disciplina di guerra, per lunghezza di servire e per instabilità di fede, è degno di favore e di preminenza; ché (oltra le faccende fatte, si può dire, da la sua puerizia a Fressolone (Frusolone) e ne la perdita di Roma, dove solo con la compagnia commisse nel suo coraggioso avedimento, combattendo con una sconcia ferita, dimostrò che pure in lui s’era transferito lo spirto di chi lo allevò), i costumi, la gentilezza e la cortesia di sì splendido e generoso capitano avanzano di qualunche altro costumato, gentile e cortese giovane che sia.” Da una lettera a Cosimo dei Medici di PIETRO ARETINO
-“Soldato molto esperto.” LAMBARDI
-“Soldato di gran pregio.” AVICENNA
-“O Capitano mio pien di valore,/ Lucanton, dico, che m’amava assai,/ se fusti vivo di creparé il core!” Da un lamento scritto per la morte di Giovanni dei Medici di G.B. VERINI riportato da MEDIN-FRATI
-“Non esser manco gratioso, gentile et cortese, che nell’arme esperto, et valoroso.” CIAMPI
-“Lucantonio’s prestige amongthe captains of the Black Bands was very high…Had been a member of Giovanni’s personal retinue since the time the future Great Devil had decided to take up the profession of arms. He eventually became Giovanni’s most trusted captain: his “occhio dritto”.., if we are to believe Pietro Aretino, who also claimed that he himself had been his left eye.” ARFAIOLI
-“Chan dil muro romano/ difenderà man vano (ma invano) con alto cuore.” FALUGIO
Featured image: wikimedia
