After Lorenzo's death the puritanical Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola rose to prominence, warning Florentines against excessive luxury. They were and still are a pretty big name, is what we're saying. The Medici family were wool merchants and bankers. Cosimo the Elder, the first of the Medici to gain notable political status in Florence, married the daughter of a very prestigious Florentine family. Elected to the Papacy, becoming Pope Leo X. Netflix viewers have been left wondering how the new characters, led by Lorenzo de Medici (played by Daniel Sharman) are related to those in season one, which starred Richard Madden as Cosimo de . The Medici were expelled from Florence from 1494 to 1512 after Piero acceded to all of the demands of invader Charles VIII of France. Galileo's patronage was eventually abandoned by Ferdinando II, when the Inquisition accused Galileo of heresy. Although none of the Medici themselves were scientists, the family is well known to have been the patrons of the famous Galileo Galilei, who tutored multiple generations of Medici children and was an important figurehead for his patron's quest for power. In 1569, the duchy was elevated to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany after territorial expansion. The line of Chiarissimo II failed to gain power in Florence in the 14th century. I go full of hope, praying to God to give me grace to perform what every citizen should at all times be ready to perform for his country. In 1626, they banned any Tuscan subject from being educated outside the Grand Duchy, a law later overturned, but resurrected by Maria Maddalena's grandson, Cosimo III. This bank was the largest in Europe during the 15th century and facilitated the Medicis' rise to political power in Florence, although they officially remained citizens rather than monarchs until the 16th century. Through Marie, all succeeding French monarchs (bar the Napoleons) were descended from Francesco. Cosimo was in Italy, Eleanora in Spain. The Medici controlled the Medici Bankthen Europe's largest bankand an array of other enterprises in Florence and elsewhere. Brother of Piero the Unfortunate, second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent. [57] Lorenzo also served as patron to Leonardo da Vinci (14521519) for seven years. In 1512, thanks in part to the efforts of Pieros younger brother Giovanni (a cardinal at the time and the future Pope Leo X), the Medici family was able to return to Florence. Alessandro proved to be cruel and brutally authoritarian. . Part 1 covers the Medici family from almost the earliest (relatively) well-documented generation to Salvestro, who established a brief populist dictatorship as I discuss here, and Vieri, who would take in his impoverished cousin Giovanni di Bicci and put him on the path to becoming a wealthy banker. Finally, all were consumed by a passion for arts and letters and for building. Why did the Medici family lose power? including all of the Roman Catholic royal families of Europebut they are not patrilineal Medici. The Medici family had up to ten bank branches: in Avignon, Venice, Rome, Naples, Milan, Pisa, Geneva, Lyon, Bruges, and London. The few years of this period are often considered to be the apogee of the Medici age. This MEDICI index was pre-built so it loads quickly. Cosimo the Elder and his father started the Medici foundations in banking and manufacturingincluding a form of franchises. The family also got its genes mixed with those of most royal families in Europe. Despite the presence of some Medici in the city's government institutions, they were still far less notable than other outstanding families such as the Albizzi or the Strozzi. This page was last edited on 17 January 2023, at 23:27. After Ferdinands son Cosimo II (who supported the work of the mathematician, philosopher and astronomer Galileo Galilei) died in 1720, Florence and Tuscany suffered under ineffectual Medici rule. He commanded the draining of the Tuscan marshlands, built a road network in southern Tuscany and cultivated trade in Livorno. It would also have reflected the family's interest in Etruscan art and culture. After this, Lorenzo adopted his brother's illegitimate son Giulio de' Medici (14781535), the future Pope Clement VII. The line of the Princes of Ottajano, an extant branch of the House of Medici who were eligible to inherit the grand duchy of Tuscany when the last male of the senior branch died in 1737, could have carried on as Medici sovereigns but for the intervention of Europe's major powers, which allocated the sovereignty of Florence elsewhere. Europe largely ignored Cosimo's plan. Cosimo in turn patronized Vasari, who erected the Uffizi Gallery in 1560 and founded the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno ("Academy of the Arts of Drawing") in 1563. Following the assassination of Duke Alessandro, power passed to the "junior" Medici branchthose descended from Lorenzo the Elder, the youngest son of Giovanni di Bicci, starting with his great-great-grandson Cosimo I "the Great.". Ferdinando died in 1609, leaving an affluent realm; his inaction in international affairs, however, would have long-reaching consequences down the line. Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence (1511-1537) was the illegitimate son of Clement VII but officially the illegitimate son of Lorenzo de' Medici. Cosimo (Cosimo I) "Granduca di Toscana, Duca di Firenze" de' Medici formerly Medici. His work demonstrated a blend of psychological insight, physical realism and intensity never before seen. As I have had more honour and responsibility among you than any private citizen has had in our day, I am more bound than any other person to serve our country, even at the risk of my life. In 1293, the Ordinances of Justice were enacted; effectively, they became the constitution of the Republic of Florence throughout the Italian Renaissance. Some of these villagers, in the 12th century perhaps, became aware of the new opportunities afforded by commerce and emigrated to Florence. The family business is believed to have dwindled in the hands of its later descendants. But in 1298, one of the leading banking families of Europe, the Bonsignoris, went bankrupt, and the city of Siena lost its status as the banking centre of Italy to Florence. Gian Gastone died on 9 July 1737, surrounded by prelates and his sister. [48] Following a sprained ankle in 1731, he remained confined to his bed for the rest of his life. Later, in Rome, the Medici popes continued in the family tradition of patronizing artists in Rome. The name in Italian is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable /m .di.ti/ and not on the second vowel. Eldest son of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. After the Medici and until the unification o. In general, the later Medici line renounced the older generations republican sympathies and established more authoritarian rule, a change that produced stability in Florence and Tuscany, but led to the regions decline as a cultural hub. Tuscany was overrun with religious orders, not all of whom were obliged to pay taxes. The Medici remained in exile until 1512 when the descendants of Cosimo de Medici returned and ruled until 1537. The curtains closed on almost 300 years of Medici rule in Florence with the death of Gian Gastone de' Medici, the seventh family member to serve as grand duke of Tuscany. When Giovanni (Dustin Hoffman) dies, his son Cosimo (Richard Madden, Games of Thrones 's Robb Stark) knows foul play was involved and sets out to solve the whodunnit. The main challengers to the Albizzi family were the Medici, first under Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, later under his son Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici and great-grandson, Lorenzo de' Medici. Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, the first patron of the arts in the family, aided Masaccio and commissioned Filippo Brunelleschi for the reconstruction of the Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence in 1419. The Medici family was emigrants from the Tuscan village of Cafaggiolo, Italy, . After only two years in power, he was forced out of the city in 1494, and died in exile. The Medici were responsible for a high proportion of the major Florentine works of art created during their period of rule. The first grand duke of the new dynasty, Francis I, was a great-great-great-grandson of Francesco I de' Medici, thus he continued the Medicean Dynasty on the throne of Tuscany through the female line. https://www.history.com/topics/renaissance/medici-family. His two sons were Piero (1416-69) and Giovanni (1424-63). There are six descendants of the Medici family, including Princess Costanza de 'Medici. Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (c. 13601429), son of Averardo de' Medici (13201363), increased the wealth of the family through his creation of the Medici Bank, and became one of the richest men in the city of Florence. [29] Francesco and Ferdinando, due to lax distinction between Medici and Tuscan state property, are thought to have been wealthier than their ancestor, Cosimo de' Medici, the founder of the dynasty. However, the Medici family did afford the scientist a safe haven for many years. The grand duchy witnessed degrees of economic growth under the early grand dukes, but was bankrupt by the time of Cosimo III de' Medici (r. 16701723). WikiTree is a community of genealogists growing an increasingly-accurate collaborative family tree that's 100% free for everyone forever. Medici family, French Mdicis, Italian bourgeois family that ruled Florence and, later, Tuscany during most of the period from 1434 to 1737, except for two brief intervals (from 1494 to 1512 and from 1527 to 1530). 1535-1605). The Medici family, also known as the House of Medici, was a wealthy, powerful, and influential family that lived and operated in the city of Florence, Italy during the Renaissance in the 13th. To ensure the continuance of his family's success, Lorenzo planned his children's future careers for them. Giovanni . View Site Catherine d'Medici - King's College Catherine de' Medici was born to the Medici family of Florence in 1519. After Lorenzos premature death at the age of 43, his eldest son Piero succeeded him, but he soon infuriated the public by accepting an unfavorable peace treaty with France. But then decay set in. [44] Cosimo desperately tried to reach a settlement with the European powers, but Tuscany's legal status was very complicated: the area of the grand duchy formerly comprising the Republic of Siena was technically a Spanish fief, while the territory of the old Republic of Florence was thought to be under imperial suzerainty. It is said that Alessandro had his cousin Ippolito killed shortly before he himself was done away with by another vengeful member of the clan. The Medici family, also known as the House of Medici, first attained wealth and political power in Florence, Italy, in the 13th century through its success in commerce and banking. Francesco Maria de' Medici, Duke of Rovere and Montefeltro, Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, Electress Palatine, Genealogical tables of the House of Medici, Medici family tree Medici family tree (Grand Dukes of Tuscany), Philip William August, Count Palatine of Neuburg, "Cosimo de Medici e l'amore per le tartarughe con la vela", "Medici Family Encyclopdia Britannica", "Music and the Medici The Medici Archive Project", "Robust Action and the Rise of the Medici, 14001434", "Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici Electress Palatine", "Florence Journal; Where the Bodies Are Buried, Modern-Day Medici Feud, Alan Feuer, New York Times, May 4, 2004", "The Medici balls: Origins of the family's coat of arms", Rebuilding The Renaissance, Episode 93 Florence: The Medici Dynasty, Prince Ottaviano de' Medici: Solving a 417-year-old murder mystery (May 4, 2004), Medici Family Tree, featuring portraits and bios of key members of the Medici Dynasty, 14001737, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=House_of_Medici&oldid=1134291888, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing Italian-language text, Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from April 2022, Articles containing explicitly cited English-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, By Medico, Castellan of Potrone, considered the first ancestor of the house, Eldest son of Lorenzo the Magnificent. In fact, more than a dilemma, the biblical sin of usury (charging excessive interest in money lending) created a significant . Instead, the branch of the family descending from Giovanni di Bicci de'Medici's other son, Lorenzo the Elder, continued the dynasty. Lorenzo's son Piero II took over as the head of Florence after Lorenzo's death. The greatest accomplishments of the Medici were in the sponsorship of art and architecture, mainly early and High Renaissance art and architecture. Ultimately, it reached its zenith in the papacy and continued to flourish for centuries afterward as Dukes of Florence and Tuscany. Ferdinando, although no longer a cardinal, exercised much influence at successive conclaves. The latter died before his father, who in death received the title "Father of His Country." Pope Leo X would chiefly commission works from Raphael, whereas Pope Clement VII commissioned Michelangelo to paint the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel just before the pontiff's death in 1534. [10] The origin of the name is uncertain. The Medici produced four popes of the Catholic ChurchPope Leo X (15131521), Pope Clement VII (15231534), Pope Pius IV (15591565)[5] and Pope Leo XI (1605)and two queens of FranceCatherine de' Medici (15471559) and Marie de' Medici (16001610). Just supporting arts and culture can attract trade and commerce, tourism and . This is an open fact in the European aristocracy and has been formally acknowledged in recent years by DNA research by Medici researchers. Giovanni de Medici first brought the family to prominence in Florence by starting the Medici bank. At the b ottom left, the representation of the river divinity of the Arno can be seen. Are there descendants of the Medici family? He died the same month, but his successor, Pope Paul V, was also pro-Medici. By agreement of the European powers (Austria, France, England and the Netherlands), control over Tuscany passed to Francis of Lorraine, whose marriage to Hapsburg heiress (and mother of Marie Antoinette) Maria Theresa of Austria would begin the long European reign of the Hapsburg-Lorraine family. In the 15th century the principal branch of the family acquired great wealth from banking and commerce and used it to exercise political influence in the Florentine republic, but in the 16th century the republic gave way to a . Giovanni was a self made man with a rags to riches story, bringing his family from abject obscurity to nationwide fame. The conspiracy involved the Pazzi and Salviati families, both rival banking families seeking to end the influence of the Medici, as well as the priest presiding over the church services, the Archbishop of Pisa, and even Pope Sixtus IV to a degree. 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