Giovanni delle Bande Nere was born Ludovico de' Medici and adopted the name associated with the black mourning bands carried by his soldiers after Pope Leo X died. The warship therefore bore the condottiero's famous nickname rather than his birth name. His death is often treated as the end of the condottieri period. Extending the label to Napoleon does not fit this definition because Napoleon remained tied to a state and ultimately embodied it rather than hiring an independent military company to successive patrons.
Notable Point · 47:11-48:45
Giovanni's Black Bands and the end of the condottieri age
The cruiser carried Giovanni de' Medici's mourning nickname, while his death is often used to mark the close of the classic condottieri era.