Iacopo IV Appiani was an Italian condottiero and lord of Piombino

Principality of Piombino

The Principality of Piombino was a state of Italy, which existed from 1399 to 1805, when Napoleon absorbed it into the Principality of Lucca and Piombino...

 of the Appiani dynasty in the Renaissance.

He was born in Piombino

Piombino

Piombino is an Italian town and comune of circa 35,000 inhabitants in the province of Livorno . It lies on the border between the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea, in front of Elba Island and at the northern side of Maremma.-Overview:...

, the son of Iacopo III Appiani

Iacopo III Appiani

Iacopo III Appiani was Prince of Piombino of the Appiani dynasty in the Renaissance.He was born in Piombino, the illegitimate son of Emanuele Appiani...

, of whom he continued the traditional alliance with the Aragonese court of Naples. He was captain of the Neapolitan Army

Kingdom of Naples

The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...

 (1479–1483), of the Este army (1483–1485) and of the army of the Republics of Siena

Republic of Siena

The Republic of Siena , was a state originating from the city of Siena in Tuscany, Central Italy.It existed for over four hundreds years, from the late 11th century until the year 1555, when was defeated by the rival Duchy of Florence in alliance with the Spanish crown...

 (1495–1498) and Florence

Republic of Florence

The Republic of Florence , or the Florentine Republic, was a city-state that was centered on the city of Florence, located in modern Tuscany, Italy. The republic was founded in 1115, when the Florentine people rebelled against the Margraviate of Tuscany upon Margravine Matilda's death. The...

 (1498–1501). Later he served the king of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon.

In 1501 his territories in southern Tuscany were occupied by Cesare Borgia

Cesare Borgia

Cesare Borgia , Duke of Valentinois, was an Italian condottiero, nobleman, politician, and cardinal. He was the son of Pope Alexander VI and his long-term mistress Vannozza dei Cattanei. He was the brother of Lucrezia Borgia; Giovanni Borgia , Duke of Gandia; and Gioffre Borgia , Prince of Squillace...

, but Iacopo could return in 1503 after the death of Borgia's power protector and father, Pope Alexander VI

Pope Alexander VI

Pope Alexander VI , born Roderic Llançol i Borja was Pope from 1492 until his death on 18 August 1503. He is one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, and his Italianized surname—Borgia—became a byword for the debased standards of the Papacy of that era, most notoriously the Banquet...

. In this period he received Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...

 in his court. In 1509 he was made Prince of the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

.

He died at Piombino in 1510.