Ferruccio, Francesco

Ferruccio, Francesco 

(also Francesco Ferrucci). Born Aug. 14, 1489, in Florence; died Aug. 3, 1530, in Gavinana. Florentine military commander and state figure.

Ferruccio served as podesta in the Tuscan towns of Larciano (1519), Campi (1523), and Radda (1527). In 1528 he was sent by Florence as commander of a special detachment to help the French in their campaign against Naples. In 1529–30 he was one of the leaders of the Florentine republic’s struggle against the forces of Charles V and Pope Clement VII, who conspired to restore the Medici family to power in Florence. In 1529 he was appointed military commissioner of the city of Empoli, from which he organized a regular supply route to Florence, which had come under siege. In 1530, as he set out with his troops to aid Florence, Ferruccio was attacked and overpowered by the enemy’s superior forces. The attack was made possible by the treachery of M. Baglioni, who had been put in charge of the defense of Florence in 1529. Although Ferruccio fought bravely, he fell in battle.

REFERENCE

Piskorskii, V. Franchesko Ferruchchi i ego vremia. Kiev, 1891.