Giovanni de' Medici, in full Giovanni di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, later known as il Popolano (the

commoner A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...

) (21 October 1467 – 14 September 1498) was an Italian nobleman of the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Muge ...

House of Florence. He was the son of Pierfrancesco di Lorenzo de' Medici, and therefore a member of a secondary branch of the family.

Biography

Giovanni was born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

on 21 October 1467. After his father's death (1476), he and his elder brother Lorenzo (il Popolano) came under the tutelage of their cousins Giuliano and

Lorenzo Lorenzo may refer to: People * Lorenzo (name) Places Peru * San Lorenzo Island (Peru), sometimes referred to as the island of Lorenzo United States * Lorenzo, Illinois * Lorenzo, Texas * San Lorenzo, California, formerly Lorenzo * Lorenzo State ...

(il Magnifico), and were educated by humanists such as

Marsilio Ficino Marsilio Ficino (; Latin name: ; 19 October 1433 – 1 October 1499) was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance. He was an astrologer, a reviver ...

and

Angelo Poliziano Agnolo (Angelo) Ambrogini (14 July 1454 – 24 September 1494), commonly known by his nickname Poliziano (; anglicized as Politian; Latin: '' Politianus''), was an Italian classical scholar and poet of the Florentine Renaissance. His sch ...

. They conceived a passion for classical studies and books, and later created a large library of manuscripts and codexes. Later their relationship with Lorenzo il Magnifico deteriorated, mostly for economic reasons (Lorenzo had kept for himself the Popolanos' inheritance, instead of simply administering it). After Lorenzo il Magnifico's death, they were among the opponents of Lorenzo's successor, Piero (il Fatuo), who exiled them in April 1494. The following November, Lorenzo and Giovanni returned to Florence in the wake of

Charles VIII of France Charles VIII, called the Affable (french: l'Affable; 30 June 1470 – 7 April 1498), was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. He succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13.Paul Murray Kendall, ''Louis XI: The Universal Spider'' (New ...

's invasion of Italy, as Piero had been ousted by a Republican revolution in the city. Their support for

Girolamo Savonarola Girolamo Savonarola, OP (, , ; 21 September 1452 – 23 May 1498) or Jerome Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar from Ferrara and preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He was known for his prophecies of civic glory, the destruction ...

gained them the ''Popolano'' ("commoner", "plebeian") nickname. He was to marry

Luisa de' Medici Luisa de' Medici (25 December 1476 – 1488) was an Italian noble. She was the daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici and Clarice Orsini Clarice Orsini (1453–1488) was the daughter of Iacopo Orsini, and his wife and cousin Maddalena Orsini both ...

, but she died in 1488 at aged 11. In 1497 Giovanni married

Caterina Sforza Caterina Sforza (1463 – 28 May 1509) was an Italian noblewoman, the Countess of Forlì and Lady of Imola, firstly with her husband Girolamo Riario, and after his death as a regent of her son Ottaviano. Caterina was a noblewoman who lived a ...

, Lady of

Forlì Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna. The city is situated along the Via Em ...

and

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical r ...

. They had a son, baptized Ludovico. However, after Giovanni's death soon afterwards, Caterina renamed the baby Giovanni. He became known as Giovanni delle Bande Nere. Giovanni il Popolano died on 14 September 1498 in Santa Maria in Bagno,

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct Sovereignty, sovereign rule of ...

, aged 30. {{DEFAULTSORT:Medici, Giovanni Il Popolano 1467 births 1498 deaths Ambassadors of the Republic of Florence Giovanni il Popolano Medieval Italian diplomats 15th-century people of the Republic of Florence 15th-century diplomats