Which Family Helped to Fund the Renaissance in Florence?

Italian banking family and political dynasty

Medici
Noble Business firm
Coat of arms of the House of Medici Blazon: Or, five assurance in orle gules, in principal a larger one of the arms of France (viz. Azure, iii fleurs-de-lis or) was granted by Louis XI in 1465.[1]
Country	Republic of Florence 1000 Duchy of Tuscany Papal States Duchy of Urbino
Etymology	Past Medico, Castellan of Potrone, considered the first antecedent of the house
Place of origin	Mugello, Tuscia (present-24-hour interval Tuscany)
Founded	1230; 792 years agone  (1230)
Founder	Giambuono de' Medici[ii]
Final ruler	Gian Gastone de' Medici
Final head	Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici
Titles	Pope (non-hereditary) Grand Duke of Tuscany Duke of Florence Lord of Florence (informal) Duke of Urbino Knuckles of Nemours Prince of Ottajano Queen of France
Members	Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici Cosimo de' Medici Lorenzo de' Medici Pope Leo X Pope Clement 7 Pope Leo XI Catherine de' Medici Cosimo I de' Medici Marie de' Medici
Connected families	Business firm of Orsini House of Habsburg House of Lorraine Business firm of Savoy Firm of Bourbon House of Valois Firm of La Tour d'Auveregne House of Wittelsbach
Distinctions	Order of Saint Stephen
Traditions	Roman Catholicism
Motto	Festina lente [three] ("Bustle slowly")
Heirlooms	Listing Medici Banking concern (1397–1494) K Ducal Crown of Tuscany Medici Vase Medici porcelain
Estate(due south)	Palazzo Vecchio Palazzo Pitti Palazzo Medici Riccardi Several villas in Tuscany
Dissolution	1743 (1743) (Original line)
Cadet branches	xiv cadet branches; still alive merely two: Listing De' Medici of Ottajano De' Medici Tornaquinci of Castellina

The House of Medici ( MED-i-chee,^[iv] Italian: [ˈmɛːditʃi]) was an Italian cyberbanking family unit and political dynasty that commencement began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Democracy of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of Tuscany, and prospered gradually until information technology was able to fund the Medici Bank. This depository financial institution was the largest in Europe during the 15th century, and it facilitated the Medicis' ascension to political ability in Florence, although they officially remained citizens rather than monarchs until the 16th century.

The Medici produced iv popes of the Catholic Church building—Pope Leo Ten (1513–1521), Pope Cloudless 7 (1523–1534), Pope Pius IV (1559–1565)^[5] and Pope Leo XI (1605)—and two queens of France—Catherine de' Medici (1547–1559) and Marie de' Medici (1600–1610).^[6] In 1532, the family caused the hereditary title Duke of Florence. In 1569, the duchy was elevated to the 1000 Duchy of Tuscany after territorial expansion. The Medici ruled the Grand Duchy from its inception until 1737, with the death of Gian Gastone de' Medici. The grand duchy witnessed degrees of economical growth nether the early grand dukes, just was bankrupt by the time of Cosimo III de' Medici (r. 1670–1723).

The Medicis' wealth and influence was initially derived from the textile merchandise guided by the wool guild of Florence, the Arte della Lana. Similar other families ruling in Italian signorie , the Medici dominated their city'due south regime, were able to bring Florence nether their family's power, and created an environment in which art and humanism flourished. They and other families of Italy inspired the Italian Renaissance, such as the Visconti and Sforza in Milan, the Este in Ferrara, the Borgia in Rome, and the Gonzaga in Mantua.

The Medici Banking concern, from when it was created in 1397 to its autumn in 1494, was one of the nearly prosperous and respected institutions in Europe, and the Medici family was considered the wealthiest in Europe for a time. From this base, they acquired political ability initially in Florence and afterward in wider Italy and Europe. They were amongst the earliest businesses to use the full general ledger system of accounting through the evolution of the double-entry bookkeeping system for tracking credits and debits.

The Medici family accept claimed to have funded the invention of the piano and opera,^{[ citation needed ]} financed the construction of Saint Peter'south Basilica and Santa Maria del Fiore, and were patrons of Brunelleschi, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Machiavelli, Galileo and Francesco Redi among many others in the arts and sciences. They were also protagonists of the counter-reformation, from the beginning of the reformation through the Council of Trent and the French wars of religion.

History [edit]

The Medici family came from the agricultural Mugello region^[7] n of Florence, and they are first mentioned in a document of 1230.^[viii] The origin of the proper noun is uncertain. Medici is the plural of doc, pregnant "medical doc".^[9] The dynasty began with the founding of the Medici Banking concern in Florence in 1397.

Rise to power [edit]

For most of the 13th century, the leading banking eye in Italy was Siena. But in 1298, one of the leading banking families of Europe, the Bonsignoris, went bankrupt, and the metropolis of Siena lost its condition equally the banking heart of Italy to Florence.^[10] Until the late 14th century, the leading family unit of Florence was the Business firm of Albizzi. In 1293, the Ordinances of Justice were enacted; effectively, they became the constitution of the Republic of Florence throughout the Italian Renaissance.^[eleven] The city'due south numerous luxurious palazzi were becoming surrounded by townhouses built by the prospering merchant form.^[12]

The main challengers to the Albizzi family were the Medici, commencement under Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, later under his son Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici and great-grandson, Lorenzo de' Medici. The Medici controlled the Medici Depository financial institution—then Europe'southward largest depository financial institution—and an array of other enterprises in Florence and elsewhere. In 1433, the Albizzi managed to have Cosimo exiled.^[13] The next year, yet, a pro-Medici Signoria (borough government) led by Tommaso Soderini, Oddo Altoviti and Lucca Pitti was elected and Cosimo returned. The Medici became the urban center'southward leading family, a position they would hold for the next iii centuries. Florence remained a republic until 1537, traditionally marker the terminate of the High Renaissance in Florence, simply the instruments of republican authorities were firmly under the control of the Medici and their allies, save during intervals after 1494 and 1527. Cosimo and Lorenzo rarely held official posts but were the unquestioned leaders.

The Medici family was connected to most other elite families of the fourth dimension through marriages of convenience, partnerships, or employment, so the family had a central position in the social network: several families had systematic access to the rest of the elite families only through the Medici, perchance similar to banking relationships. Some examples of these families include the Bardi, Altoviti, Ridolfi, Cavalcanti and the Tornabuoni. This has been suggested every bit a reason for the rise of the Medici family.^[14]

Members of the family rose to some prominence in the early 14th century in the wool merchandise, peculiarly with French republic and Espana. Despite the presence of some Medici in the city'southward government institutions, they were still far less notable than other outstanding families such as the Albizzi or the Strozzi. Ane Salvestro de' Medici was speaker of the woolmakers' society during the Ciompi revolt of 1378–82, and one Antonio de' Medici was exiled from Florence in 1396.^[fifteen] Involvement in some other plot in 1400 caused all branches of the family to exist banned from Florentine politics for twenty years, with the exception of 2.

15th century [edit]

Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (c. 1360–1429), son of Averardo de' Medici (1320–1363), increased the wealth of the family through his cosmos of the Medici Bank, and became i of the richest men in the city of Florence. Although he never held any political office, he gained strong popular support for the family unit through his back up for the introduction of a proportional system of tax. Giovanni's son Cosimo the Elderberry, Pater Patriae (father of the country), took over in 1434 as gran maestro (the unofficial caput of the Florentine Republic).^[16]

Cosimo Pater patriae, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Three successive generations of the Medici—Cosimo, Piero, and Lorenzo—ruled over Florence through the greater part of the 15th century. They clearly dominated Florentine representative government without abolishing it altogether.^[17] These three members of the Medici family had great skills in the direction of so "restive and contained a city" every bit Florence. When Lorenzo died in 1492, still, his son Piero proved quite incapable of responding successfully to challenges caused by the French invasion of Italia in 1492, and within two years, he and his supporters were forced into exile and replaced with a republican government.^[17]

Piero de' Medici (1416–1469), Cosimo's son, was only in power for five years (1464–1469). He was called "Piero the Gouty" because of the gout that pained his foot and led to his death. Unlike his father, Piero had fiddling interest in the arts. Due to his affliction, he mostly stayed at home bedridden, and therefore did picayune to further the Medici control of Florence while in power. Equally such, Medici dominion stagnated until the side by side generation, when Piero's son Lorenzo took over.^[18]

Lorenzo de' Medici (1449–1492), called "the Magnificent", was more capable of leading and ruling a city, just he neglected the family banking business, which led to its ultimate ruin. To ensure the constancy of his family's success, Lorenzo planned his children'south hereafter careers for them. He groomed the headstrong Piero II to follow as his successor in ceremonious leadership; Giovanni^[19] (future Pope Leo X) was placed in the church at an early on age; and his daughter Maddalena was provided with a sumptuous dowry to brand a politically advantageous marriage to a son of Pope Innocent VIII that cemented the brotherhood betwixt the Medici and the Roman branches of the Cybo and Altoviti families.^[twenty]

The Pazzi conspiracy of 1478 was an attempt to depose the Medici family by killing Lorenzo with his younger brother Giuliano during Easter services; the assassination attempt concluded with the death of Giuliano and an injured Lorenzo. The conspiracy involved the Pazzi and Salviati families, both rival cyberbanking 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. The conspirators approached Sixtus IV in the hopes of gaining his approval, as he and the Medici had a long rivalry themselves, but the pope gave no official sanction to the plan. Despite his refusal of official approval, the pope nonetheless immune the plot to proceed without interfering, and, afterward the failed bump-off of Lorenzo, also gave dispensation for crimes done in the service of the church. After this, Lorenzo adopted his brother's illegitimate son Giulio de' Medici (1478–1535), the future Pope Clement VII. Lorenzo'southward son Piero II took over as the head of Florence after Lorenzo'south death. The Medici were expelled from Florence from 1494 to 1512 after Piero acceded to all of the demands of invader Charles 8 of France.^[21]

The Medici additionally benefited from the discovery of vast deposits of alum in Tolfa in 1461. Alum is essential as a mordant in the dyeing of sure cloths and was used extensively in Florence, where the main industry was material manufacturing. Earlier the Medici, the Turks were the only exporters of alum, so Europe was forced to buy from them until the discovery in Tolfa. Pius Ii granted the Medici family unit a monopoly on the mining in that location, making them the primary producers of alum in Europe.^[22]

In the dangerous circumstances in which our city is placed, the time for deliberation is past. Action must be taken... I accept decided, with your approving, to canvas for Naples immediately, believing that equally I am the person against whom the activities of our enemies are importantly directed, I may, possibly, by delivering myself into their hands, be the means of restoring peace to our fellow-citizens. As I accept had more award and responsibility among you lot than any private citizen has had in our day, I am more bound than any other person to serve our state, even at the run a risk of my life. With this intention I now get. Perhaps God wills that this war, which began in the blood of my blood brother and of myself, should exist ended by any means. My want is that by my life or my expiry, my misfortune or my prosperity, I may contribute to the welfare of our city... I become total of hope, praying to God to requite me grace to perform what every citizen should at all times exist set up to perform for his country.

— Lorenzo de' Medici, 1479.^[23]

16th century [edit]

The exile of the Medici lasted until 1512, afterwards which the "senior" co-operative of the family—those descended from Cosimo the Elderberry—were able to rule until the assassination of Alessandro de' Medici, get-go Duke of Florence, in 1537. This century-long rule was interrupted only on 2 occasions (between 1494–1512 and 1527–1530), when anti-Medici factions took control of Florence. Following the assassination of Duke Alessandro, power passed to the "inferior" Medici branch—those descended from Lorenzo the Elder, the youngest son of Giovanni di Bicci, starting with his great-great-grandson Cosimo I "the Bully."

Cosimo the Elder and his father started the Medici foundations in banking and manufacturing—including a grade of franchises. The family's influence grew with its patronage of wealth, art, and civilization. Ultimately, information technology reached its zenith in the papacy and connected to flourish for centuries afterward as Dukes of Florence and Tuscany. At least one-half, probably more, of Florence'southward people were employed by the Medici and their foundational branches in business.

Medici popes [edit]

The Medici Hymeneals Tapestry of 1589

The Medici became leaders of Christendom through their two famous 16th century popes, Leo X and Cloudless VII. Both besides served as de facto political rulers of Rome, Florence, and large swaths of Italy known as the Papal States. They were generous patrons of the arts who commissioned masterpieces such as Raphael's Transfiguration and Michelangelo'southward The Last Judgment; nonetheless, their reigns coincided with troubles for the Vatican, including Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation and the infamous sack of Rome in 1527.

Leo 10's fun-loving pontificate bankrupted Vatican coffers and accrued massive debts. From Leo'due south election as pope in 1513 to his death in 1521, Florence was overseen, in plough, by Giuliano de' Medici, Knuckles of Nemours, Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, and Giulio de' Medici, the latter of whom became Pope Clement VII.

Clement VII'south tumultuous pontificate was dominated past a rapid succession of political crises—many long in the making—that resulted in the sack of Rome by the armies of Holy Roman Emperor Charles Five in 1527 and rise of the Salviati, Altoviti and Strozzi as the leading bankers of the Roman Curie. From the time of Clement's election equally pope in 1523 until the sack of Rome, Florence was governed by the young Ippolito de' Medici (hereafter cardinal and vice-chancellor of the Holy Roman Church building), Alessandro de' Medici (future duke of Florence), and their guardians. In 1530, after allying himself with Charles V, Pope Clement Seven succeeded in securing the appointment of Charles V's daughter Margeret of Republic of austria to his illegitimate nephew (reputedly his son) Alessandro de' Medici. Clement also convinced Charles V to name Alessandro as Duke of Florence. Thus began the reign of Medici monarchs in Florence, which lasted two centuries.

After securing Alessandro de' Medici's dukedom, Pope Cloudless VII married off his kickoff cousin, twice removed, Catherine de' Medici, to the son of Emperor Charles V's arch-enemy, King Francis I of French republic—the futurity Rex Henry II. This led to the transfer of Medici blood, through Catherine's daughters, to the royal family unit of Espana through Elisabeth of Valois, and the House of Lorraine through Claude of Valois.

In 1534, following a lengthy illness, Pope Clement Vii died—and with him the stability of the Medici'southward "senior" branch. In 1535, Ippolito Cardinal de' Medici died under mysterious circumstances. In 1536, Alessandro de' Medici married Charles Five's girl, Margaret of Republic of austria; nevertheless, the following year he was assassinated past a resentful cousin, Lorenzino de' Medici. The deaths of Alessandro and Ippolito enabled the Medici's "junior" branch to atomic number 82 Florence.

Medici Dukes [edit]

Another outstanding figure of the 16th-century Medici family unit was Cosimo I, who rose from relatively minor beginnings in the Mugello to attain supremacy over the whole of Tuscany. Against the opposition of Catherine de' Medici, Paul Iii and their allies, he prevailed in various battles to conquer Florence's hated rival Siena and found the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Cosimo purchased a portion of the isle of Elba from the Republic of Genoa and based the Tuscan navy in that location. He died in 1574, succeeded by his eldest surviving son Francesco, whose death without male heirs led to the succession of his younger brother, Ferdinando, in 1587. Francesco married Johanna of Austria, and with his consort produced Eleonora de' Medici, Duchess of Mantua, and Marie de' Medici, Queen of France and Navarre. Through Marie, all succeeding French monarchs (bar the Napoleons) were descended from Francesco.

Ferdinando eagerly assumed the government of Tuscany. He allowable the draining of the Tuscan marshlands, congenital a route network in southern Tuscany and cultivated trade in Livorno.^[24] To augment the Tuscan silk industry, he oversaw the planting of mulberry trees forth the major roads (silk worms feed on mulberry leaves).^[25] In foreign affairs, he shifted Tuscany away from Habsburg^[26] hegemony by marrying the start non-Habsburg marriage candidate since Alessandro, Christina of Lorraine, a granddaughter of Catherine de' Medici. The Castilian reaction was to construct a citadel on their portion of the isle of Elba.^[24] To strengthen the new Franco-Tuscan alliance, he married his niece, Marie, to Henry IV of France. Henry explicitly stated that he would defend Tuscany from Spanish assailment, but later reneged, after which Ferdinando was forced to marry his heir, Cosimo, to Maria Maddalena of Austria to assuage Spain (where Maria Maddalena'southward sister Margaret was the incumbent Queen espoused). Ferdinando as well sponsored a Tuscan expedition to the New World with the intention of establishing a Tuscan colony, an enterprise that brought no result for permanent colonial acquisitions.

Despite all of these incentives for economic growth and prosperity, the population of Florence at the dawn of the 17th century was a mere 75,000, far smaller than the other capitals of Italy: Rome, Milan, Venice, Palermo and Naples.^[27] Francesco and Ferdinando, due to lax distinction between Medici and Tuscan state property, are idea to have been wealthier than their antecedent, Cosimo de' Medici, the founder of the dynasty.^[28] The Grand Duke alone had the prerogative to exploit the country's mineral and salt resources, and the fortunes of the Medici were directly tied to the Tuscan economy.^[28]

17th century [edit]

Ferdinando, although no longer a cardinal, exercised much influence at successive conclaves. In 1605, Ferdinando succeeded in getting his candidate, Alessandro de' Medici, elected Pope Leo Xi. He died the same month, but his successor, Pope Paul V, was too pro-Medici.^[29] Ferdinando'due south pro-papal foreign policy, withal, had drawbacks. Tuscany was overrun with religious orders, not all of whom were obliged to pay taxes. Ferdinando died in 1609, leaving an affluent realm; his inaction in international affairs, however, would have long-reaching consequences down the line.

In France, Marie de' Medici was interim as regent for her son, Louis XIII. Louis repudiated her pro-Habsburg policy in 1617. She lived the remainder of her life deprived of any political influence.

Ferdinando'southward successor, Cosimo Ii, reigned for less than 12 years. He married Maria Maddalena of Austria, with whom he had his 8 children, including Margherita de' Medici, Ferdinando II de' Medici, and an Anna de' Medici. He is most remembered equally the patron of astronomer Galileo Galilei, whose 1610 treatise, Sidereus Nuncius, was dedicated to him.^[30] Cosimo died of consumption (tuberculosis) in 1621.^[31]

Cosimo's elder son, Ferdinando, was not notwithstanding of legal maturity to succeed him, thus Maria Maddalena and his grandmother, Christina of Lorraine, acted as regents. Their commonage regency is known as the Turtici. Maria Maddelana's temperament was analogous to Christina's, and together they aligned Tuscany with the papacy, re-doubled the Tuscan clergy, and allowed the heresy trial of Galileo Galilei to occur.^[32] Upon the death of the last Knuckles of Urbino (Francesco Maria II), instead of claiming the duchy for Ferdinando, who was married to the Duke of Urbino's granddaughter and heiress, Vittoria della Rovere, they permitted it to be annexed past Pope Urban Viii. In 1626, they banned any Tuscan subject from existence educated outside the K Duchy, a constabulary later overturned, but resurrected by Maria Maddalena's grandson, Cosimo III.^[33] Harold Acton, an Anglo-Italian historian, ascribed the turn down of Tuscany to the Turtici regency.^[33]

Grand Knuckles Ferdinado was obsessed with new technology, and had a diversity of hygrometers, barometers, thermometers, and telescopes installed in the Palazzo Pitti.^[34] In 1657, Leopoldo de' Medici, the Grand Duke's youngest blood brother, established the Accademia del Cimento, organized to attract scientists to Florence from all over Tuscany for mutual report.^[35]

Tuscany participated in the Wars of Castro (the last time Medicean Tuscany proper was involved in a conflict) and inflicted a defeat on the forces of Pope Urban Eight in 1643.^[36] The war effort was costly and the treasury so empty because of it that when the Castro mercenaries were paid for, the state could no longer afford to pay interest on government bonds, with the upshot that the interest rate was lowered by 0.75%.^[37] At that time, the economy was and then decrepit that barter trade became prevalent in rural market places.^[36]

Ferdinando died on 23 May 1670 afflicted past apoplexy and dropsy. He was interred in the Basilica of San Lorenzo, the Medici'southward necropolis.^[38] At the time of his decease, the population of the grand duchy was 730,594; the streets were lined with grass and the buildings on the verge of collapse in Pisa.^[39]

Ferdinando's wedlock to Vittoria della Rovere produced two children: Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Knuckles of Tuscany, and Francesco Maria de' Medici, Knuckles of Rovere and Montefeltro. Upon Vittoria'south expiry in 1694, her allodial possessions, the Duchies of Rovere and Montefeltro, passed to her younger son.

18th century: the fall of the dynasty [edit]

Cosimo Iii, the Medicean grand duke, in Grand Ducal regalia

Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, the terminal of the Grand Ducal line, in Minerva, Merkur und Plutus huldigen der Kurfürstin Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici (English: Minerva, Mercury and Pluto pay homage to the Electress Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici) subsequently Antonio Bellucci, 1706

Cosimo III married Marguerite Louise d'Orléans, a granddaughter of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici. An exceedingly discontented pairing, this spousal relationship produced 3 children, notably Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, Electress Palatine, and the concluding Medicean One thousand Duke of Tuscany, Gian Gastone de' Medici.

Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine, Anna Maria Luisa's spouse, successfully requisitioned the nobility Imperial Highness for the 1000 Duke and his family unit in 1691, despite the fact that they had no claim to any kingdom.^[twoscore] Cosimo frequently paid the Holy Roman Emperor, his nominal feudal overlord, exorbitant dues,^[41] and he sent munitions to the emperor during the Battle of Vienna.

The Medici lacked male heirs, and past 1705, the grand ducal treasury was virtually broke. In comparison to the 17th century, the population of Florence declined by fifty%, and the population of the 1000 duchy as a whole declined past an estimated 40%.^[42] Cosimo desperately tried to reach a settlement with the European powers, simply Tuscany's legal condition 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 onetime Republic of Florence was thought to be under imperial suzerainty. Upon the death of his first son, Cosimo contemplated restoring the Florentine democracy, either upon Anna Maria Luisa's decease, or on his own, if he predeceased her. The restoration of the republic would entail resigning Siena to the Holy Roman Empire, merely, regardless, information technology was vehemently endorsed past his government. Europe largely ignored Cosimo's plan. Merely Great United kingdom and the Dutch Republic gave whatever credence to it, and the plan ultimately died with Cosimo III in 1723.^[43]

On 4 April 1718, Great United kingdom, French republic and the Dutch Commonwealth (also later, Austria) selected Don Carlos of Espana, the elder child of Elisabeth Farnese and Philip V of Spain, as the Tuscan heir. By 1722, the electress was not even acknowledged as heiress, and Cosimo was reduced to spectator at the conferences for Tuscany's future.^[44] On 25 Oct 1723, half-dozen days before his decease, Grand Duke Cosimo disseminated a concluding proclamation commanding that Tuscany stay independent: Anna Maria Luisa would succeed uninhibited to Tuscany subsequently Gian Gastone, and the grand knuckles reserved the correct to choose his successor. However, these portions of his proclamation were completely ignored, and he died a few days later on.

Gian Gastone despised the electress for technology his catastrophic marriage to Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg; while she abhorred her blood brother's liberal policies, he repealed all of his father's anti-Semitic statutes. Gian Gastone revelled in upsetting her.^[45] On 25 October 1731, a Spanish disengagement occupied Florence on behalf of Don Carlos, who disembarked in Tuscany in December of the aforementioned year. The Ruspanti, Gian Gastone's bedraggled entourage, loathed the electress, and she them. Duchess Violante of Bavaria, Gian Gastone's sister-in-law, tried to withdraw the 1000 knuckles from the sphere of influence of the Ruspanti past organising banquets. His conduct at the banquets was less than regal; he oftentimes vomited repeatedly into his napkin, belched, and regaled those present with socially inappropriate jokes.^[46] Following a sprained ankle in 1731, he remained bars to his bed for the rest of his life. The bed, often smelling of faeces, was occasionally cleaned by Violante.

In 1736, following the War of the Shine Succession, Don Carlos was disbarred from Tuscany, and Francis 3 of Lorraine was made heir in his stead.^[47] In January 1737, the Castilian troops withdrew from Tuscany, and were replaced past Austrians.

Gian Gastone died on 9 July 1737, surrounded by prelates and his sister. Anna Maria Luisa was offered a nominal regency by the Prince de Craon until the new k duke could peregrinate to Tuscany, but declined.^[48] Upon her brother's death, she received all the House of Medici's allodial possessions.

Anna Maria Luisa signed the Patto di Famiglia ("family pact") on 31 October 1737. In collaboration with the Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke Francis of Lorraine, she willed all the personal property of the Medici to the Tuscan land, provided that nix was ever removed from Florence.^[49]

The "Lorrainers", equally the occupying forces were chosen, were popularly loathed, only the regent, the Prince de Craon, allowed the electress to alive unperturbed in the Palazzo Pitti. She occupied herself with financing and overseeing the construction of the Basilica of San Lorenzo, started in 1604 by Ferdinando I, at a cost to the state of 1,000 crowns per week.^[50]

The electress donated much of her fortune to charity: £4,000 a month.^[51] On xix Feb 1743, she died, and the grand ducal line of the House of Medici died with her. The Florentines grieved her,^[52] and she was interred in the crypt that she helped to complete, San Lorenzo.

The extinction of the main Medici dynasty and the accession in 1737 of Francis Stephen, Knuckles of Lorraine and husband of Maria Theresa of Austria, led to Tuscany's temporary inclusion in the territories of the Austrian crown. 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 person 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.

As a consequence, the grand duchy expired and the territory became a secundogeniture of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty. The start grand knuckles 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. The Habsburgs were deposed in favor of the House of Bourbon-Parma in 1801 (themselves deposed in 1807), simply were after restored at the Congress of Vienna. Tuscany became a province of the United Kingdom of Italy in 1861. However, several extant branches of the House of Medici survive, including the Princes of Ottajano, the Medici Tornaquinci,^[53] and the Verona Medici Counts of Caprara and Gavardo.^[54] (run across Medici family tree)

Legacy [edit]

The greatest accomplishments of the Medici were in the sponsorship of art and architecture, mainly early on and High Renaissance fine art and architecture. The Medici were responsible for a high proportion of the major Florentine works of art created during their period of rule. Their support was critical, since artists generally only began piece of work on their projects after they had received commissions. 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. Cosimo the Elder's notable artistic associates were Donatello and Fra Angelico. In afterward years, the most significant protégé of the Medici family was Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564), who produced piece of work for a number of family members, outset with Lorenzo the Magnificent, who was said to be extremely fond of the immature Michelangelo and invited him to study the family unit collection of antique sculpture.^[55] Lorenzo also served as patron to Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) for vii years. Indeed, Lorenzo was an creative person in his ain right and an author of poetry and song; his support of the arts and letters is seen as a high betoken in Medici patronage.

Medici family unit members placed allegorically in the entourage of a rex from the Three Wise Men in the Tuscan countryside in a Benozzo Gozzoli fresco, c. 1459.

After Lorenzo's death, the puritanical Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola rose to prominence, warning Florentines against excessive luxury. Under Savonarola'due south fanatical leadership, many great works were "voluntarily" destroyed in the Blaze of the Vanities (Feb 7, 1497). The following year, on 23 May 1498, Savonarola and two young supporters were burned at the stake in the Piazza della Signoria, the same location as his bonfire. In addition to commissions for art and architecture, the Medici were prolific collectors and today their acquisitions grade the cadre of the Uffizi museum in Florence. In architecture, the Medici were responsible for some notable features of Florence, including the Uffizi Gallery, the Boboli Gardens, the Dais, the Medici Chapel and the Palazzo Medici.^[56]

Later, in Rome, the Medici popes continued in the family tradition of patronizing artists in Rome. Pope Leo 10 would importantly committee works from Raphael, whereas Pope Clement 7 deputed Michelangelo to paint the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel just before the pontiff's death in 1534.^[57] Eleanor of Toledo, a princess of Spain and wife of Cosimo I the Great, purchased the Pitti Palace from Buonaccorso Pitti in 1550. Cosimo in plow patronized Vasari, who erected the Uffizi Gallery in 1560 and founded the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno – ("Academy of the Arts of Cartoon") in 1563.^[58] Marie de' Medici, widow of Henry IV of France and mother of Louis XIII, is the subject field of a deputed cycle of paintings known equally the Marie de' Medici bicycle, painted for the Luxembourg Palace by court painter Peter Paul Rubens in 1622–23.

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'southward quest for power. Galileo's patronage was eventually abandoned by Ferdinando Two, when the Inquisition accused Galileo of heresy. However, the Medici family unit did afford the scientist a rubber haven for many years. Galileo named the 4 largest moons of Jupiter afterward four Medici children he tutored, although the names Galileo used are non the names currently used.

Main genealogical table [edit]

The table below shows the origins of the Medici:

Medici Family Tree: Origins

This excerpt shows the branch that gave ascent to the celebrated co-operative of the Medici descending from Giovanni "di Bicci", who founded the Medici fortunes:

This is the branch of Cosimo's brother, Lorenzo, called the "Popolano" Branch, which gave rise to the Thousand-Dukes of Tuscany:

Titles [edit]

Listing of heads of the Medici [edit]

Signore in the Democracy of Florence [edit]

Portrait	Name	From	Until	Relationship with predecessor
	Cosimo de' Medici (Pater Patriae)	1434	i Baronial 1464	Son of Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici who was not as prominently involved in Florentine politics, rather more involved in the financial surface area.
	Piero I de' Medici (Piero the Gouty)	i August 1464	2 December 1469	Eldest son of Cosimo de' Medici.
	Lorenzo I de' Medici (Lorenzo the Magnificent)	2 Dec 1469	9 April 1492	Eldest son of Piero I de' Medici.
	Piero Two de' Medici (Piero the Unfortunate)	ix April 1492	8 November 1494	Eldest son of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Overthrown when Charles Viii of France invaded every bit a total republic was restored, first nether the theocracy of Girolamo Savonarola and then statesman Piero Soderini.
	Primal Giovanni de' Medici	31 August 1512	9 March 1513	Brother of Piero the Unfortunate, second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Elected to the Papacy, becoming Pope Leo X.
	Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours	9 March 1513	17 March 1516	Brother of Fundamental Giovanni de' Medici, third son of Lorenzo the Magnificent.
	Lorenzo Ii de' Medici, Duke of Urbino	17 March 1516	4 May 1519	Nephew of Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours, son of Piero the Unfortunate. Begetter of Catherine de' Medici, Queen espoused of French republic.
	Cardinal Giulio de' Medici	4 May 1519	19 November 1523	Cousin of Lorenzo Two de' Medici, Knuckles of Urbino, son of Giuliano de' Medici who was the brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Elected to the Papacy, condign Pope Clement VII.
	Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici	19 November 1523	24 Oct 1529	Cousin of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, illegitimate son of Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours.

Dukes of Florence [edit]

Portrait	Proper noun	From	Until	Relationship with predecessor
	Alessandro il Moro	24 October 1529	6 January 1537	Cousin of Primal Ippolito de' Medici, illegitimate son of Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino or Pope Cloudless VII. Acting signore during imperial Siege of Florence, made Duke in 1531.
	Cosimo I	6 Jan 1537	21 April 1574	Distant cousin of Alessandro de' Medici, Son of Giovanni dalle Bande Nere. dei Popolani line descended from Lorenzo the Elder, Brother of Cosimo de' Medici; too bang-up-grandson of Lorenzo the Magnificent through his mother, Maria Salviati, and his grandmother, Lucrezia de' Medici. 1569, he was made 1000 Duke of Tuscany.

One thousand Dukes of Tuscany [edit]

Portrait	Name	From	Until	Relationship with predecessor
	Cosimo I	half-dozen January 1569	21 April 1574
	Francesco I	21 April 1574	17 Oct 1587	Eldest son of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
	Ferdinando I	17 Oct 1587	17 February 1609	Brother of Francesco I de' Medici, G Duke of Tuscany, son of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Knuckles of Tuscany.
	Cosimo II	17 February 1609	28 February 1621	Eldest son of Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
	Ferdinando II	28 February 1621	23 May 1670	Eldest son of Cosimo Ii de' Medici, Yard Duke of Tuscany.
	Cosimo Three	23 May 1670	31 Oct 1723	Eldest son of Ferdinando II de' Medici, K Duke of Tuscany.
	Gian Gastone	31 October 1723	nine July 1737	2d son of Cosimo III de' Medici, Thou Duke of Tuscany.

Coats of arms [edit]

The origin of the Medici glaze of arms is not recorded. One unproven story traces their ancestry to a knight of Charlemagne's, Averardo, who defeated a giant, Mugello. In reward, Charlemagne is said to have rewarded Averardo with the shield mauled past the giant, with the dents in the shape of assurance, and the giant's lands in Mugello.

Here seen sliced in half, an art historian suggests that whole blood oranges could be the imagery in the Medici coats of arms

Another unproven theory suggests that represented coins copied from the glaze of arms of the Guild of Moneychangers (Arte del Cambio) to which the Medici belonged. That shield was cherry strewn with Byzantine coins (bezants).^{[lxx] [71]} The number of balls also varied with fourth dimension, as shown below. It has also been argued that these coins referenced the three coins or golden balls associated with St. Nicholas, peculiarly every bit the saint was invoked past Italian bankers equally they took oaths.^[72]

As an Italian vocabulary word, "medici" ways "medical doctors" and identifications with the family members equally physicians may be institute among their names as early every bit the eleventh century. Fanciful stories depict the images every bit pills or cupping glasses, a late-medieval medical instrument used to draw claret. Pills did not exist until much latter and bloodletting was non in faddy at the time of the showtime Medici coat of artillery. Art historian Rocky Ruggiero suggests plausibly however, that the images may correspond whole ripe blood oranges that typically are grown in Italian republic. Although cognition of vitamins did non exist at the time, the do good of oranges for certain diseases was recognized and their clan with recommendations by medical doctors suggests to Dr. Ruggiero that this likely is the imagery intended in the coats of arms for the Medici family.^[73]

• 

  Former coat of arms of the Medici used by Giovanni di Bicci and Cosimo the Elder

• 

  The intermediate glaze of arms of the Medici, Or, half dozen balls in orle gules

• 

  The "augmented glaze of arms of the Medici, Or, five balls in orle gules, in chief a larger ane of the artillery of France (viz. Azure, three fleurs-de-lis or) was granted by Louis Eleven in 1465.^[1]

• 

  Great coat of arms of Medici of Ottajano

• 

  Augmented Arms of Medici

• 

  Glaze of Arms of the Grand-Knuckles of Tuscany

• 

  Coat of artillery of Medici popes

• 

  Coat of arms of the Medici Cardinals

• 

  Coat of Artillery of Catherine of Medici, as Queen of French republic

• 

  Glaze of Artillery of Maria of Medici, as Queen of France

• 

  Achievement of the House of de' Medici

• 

  Coat of Arms of the Thou-Duchy of Tuscany

Run into also [edit]

• Medici family tree
• List of popes from the Medici family
• Strozzi family unit (surviving), Pazzi family (extinct) rivals of the Medici
• Castellini Baldissera family (relatives of the Medici)

Notes [edit]

1. ^ ^{a b} John Woodward, A Treatise on Ecclesiastical Heraldry, 1894, p. 162
2. ^ Litta, Pompeo (1827). Famiglie celebri italiane. Medici di Firenze.
3. ^ Luisa Greco (22 May 2015). "Cosimo de Medici e l'affection per le tartarughe con la vela". Toctoc.
4. ^ "Medici". CollinsDictionary.com. HarperCollins. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
5. ^ The family unit of Pius Four, the Medici of Milan, considered itself a co-operative of the House of Medici and was recognized as such by the Florentine Pope Clement VII and by Cosimo I 'de Medici in the early 16th century. Historians accept constitute no proof of an actual connectedness between the Medici of Milan and the Medici of Florence, but this belief was widespread during the life of Pius Iv and the Medici of Florence allowed the Medici of Milan to use their glaze of arms.
6. ^ "Medici Family unit – – Encyclopædia Britannica". Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved 27 September 2009.
7. ^ Malaguzzi, Silvia (2004). Botticelli. Ediz. Inglese. Giunti Editore. ISBN9788809036772 – via Google Books.
8. ^ The Medieval Globe – Europe 1100–1350 past Friedrich Heer, 1998 Germany
9. ^ The proper noun in Italian is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable /ˈmɛ .di.tʃi/ and not on the second vowel.How to say: Medici, BBC News Magazine Monitor—MED-uh-chee in American English.
10. ^ Strathern, p eighteen
11. ^ Kenneth Bartlett, The Italian Renaissance, Chapter 7, p. 37, Book Ii, 2005.
12. ^ "History of Florence". Aboutflorence.com. Retrieved 2015-01-26 .
13. ^ Crum, Roger J. Severing the Cervix of Pride: Donatello's "Judith and Holofernes" and the Recollection of Albizzi Shame in Medicean Florence . Artibus et Historiae, Book 22, Edit 44, 2001. pp. 23–29.
14. ^ Padgett, John F.; Ansell, Christopher K. (May 1993). "Robust Action and the Rise of the Medici, 1400–1434" (PDF). The American Journal of Folklore. 98 (half-dozen): 1259–1319. doi:10.1086/230190. JSTOR 2781822. S2CID 56166159. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-03-03. . This has led to much more than analysis.
15. ^ Machiavelli, Niccolò (1906). The Florentine history written by Niccolò Machiavelli, Volume ane. p. 221. .
16. ^ Bradley, Richard (executive producer) (2003). The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance (Office I) (DVD). PBS Dwelling Video.
17. ^ ^{a b} The Prince Niccolò Machiavelli. A Norton Critical Edition. Translated and edited past Rober Chiliad. Adams. New York. W.West. Norton and Visitor, 1977. p. eight (Historical Introduction).
18. ^ Ulwencreutz, Lars (2013). Ulwencreutz'southward The Imperial Families in Europe V. ISBN9781304581358 . Retrieved 20 September 2018.
19. ^ 15th century Italy.
20. ^ Hibbard, pp. 177, 202, 162.
21. ^ Hibbert, Christopher (1974). The House of Medici: Its rising and fall. New York: William Morrow and Company. ISBN0-688-00339-7. OCLC 5613740.
22. ^ Halvorson, Michael (2014). The Renaissance: All That Matters. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN9781444192964.
23. ^ Hibbert, The Business firm of Medici: Its Ascension and Fall, 153.
24. ^ ^{a b} Unhurt, p. 150.
25. ^ Hale, p. 151.
26. ^ Republic of austria and Spain were ruled past the House of Habsburg; the two are interchangeable terms for the Habsburg domains in the time menstruation in question.
27. ^ Unhurt, p. 158.
28. ^ ^{a b} Hale, p. 160.
29. ^ Hale, p. 165.
30. ^ Strathen, p. 368.
31. ^ Hale, p. 187.
32. ^ Acton, p. 111.
33. ^ ^{a b} Acton, p. 192.
34. ^ Acton, p. 27.
35. ^ Acton, p. 38.
36. ^ ^{a b} Hale, p. 180.
37. ^ Hale, p. 181.
38. ^ Acton, p. 108.
39. ^ Acton, p. 112.
40. ^ Acton, p. 182.
41. ^ Acton, p. 243.
42. ^ Strathern, p. 392.
43. ^ Hale, p. 191.
44. ^ Acton, p. 175.
45. ^ Acton, p. 280.
46. ^ Acton, p. 188.
47. ^ Acton, p. 301.
48. ^ Acton, p. 304.
49. ^ "Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici – Electress Palatine". Retrieved 3 September 2009.
50. ^ Acton, p. 209.
51. ^ Acton, p. 310.
52. ^ Acton, p. 309.
53. ^ Florence Journal; Where the Bodies Are Cached, Modern-Day Medici Feud, Alan Feuer, New York Times, May 4, 2004
54. ^ Hibbert, p. sixty.
55. ^ Howard Hibbard, Michelangelo (New York: Harper and Row, 1974), p. 21.
56. ^ Peter Barenboim, Sergey Shiyan, Michelangelo: Mysteries of Medici Chapel, SLOVO, Moscow, 2006. ISBN 5-85050-825-2
57. ^ Hibbard, p. 240.
58. ^ Official site of the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno of Florence, Brief History (it. leng.)"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2009-06-01 . {{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as championship (link)
59. ^ Two more than sons: Arrigo (?-?), Giovanni (?-?)
60. ^ Three more sons: Talento (?-?), he had a son, Mario died in 1369, Mario had few unremarkable later generations; Jacopo (?-1340) who had a son, Averardo (fl. 1363); Francesco (?-?), who had a son, Malatesta died in 1367.
61. ^ 4 sons: Guccio (from which descended a line extinct in 1670 with Ottaviano), Filippo (?-?), Betto (fl. 1348), Ardinghello (fl. 1345).
62. ^ Ane more son: Giovanni (fl. 1383). Giovanni had a son, Antonio (?-1396) and a nephew, Felice (?-?).
63. ^ Ane son, Coppo, (?-?). Cfr. Mecatti, Giuseppe Maria; Muratori, Lodovico Antonio (1755). Storia cronologica della città di Firenze (in Italian). Vol. Parte prima. Naples: Stamperia Simoniana. p. 157. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
64. ^ Two more brothers unknown.
65. ^ Two more brothers: Andrea (*? †?), Bartolomeo (*? †?).
66. ^ 1 more brother: Pietro (*? †?), line extinct.
67. ^ One more brother: Giovanni (*? †?)
68. ^ One more son: Francesco (†1552?)
69. ^ One more son Bernardo (†1592?)
70. ^ de Roover, Raymond (31 July 2017). The Medici Bank: Its Arrangement, Management, Operations, and Decline. Pickle Partners Publishing. pp. note 1.
71. ^ Mackworth-Young, Rose (29 March 2012). "The Medici balls: Origins of the family's coat of artillery". The Florentine. Florence: B'Gruppo Srl (160). Retrieved 17 October 2017.
72. ^ Clare, Edward G. (1985). St. Nicholas: His Legends and Iconography. Florence: Leo S. Olschki. p. 76.
73. ^ Ruggiero, Rocky, Ph.D., Rebuilding The Renaissance, Episode 93 – Florence: The Medici Dynasty, Making Art and History Come to Life, October 28, 2020, an sound file

References [edit]

• Hibbert, Christopher (1975). The Business firm of Medici: Its Rise and Fall . Morrow. ISBN0-688-00339-7. a highly readable, not-scholarly full general history of the family
• Miles J. Unger, Magnifico: The Bright Life and Fierce Times of Lorenzo de Medici, (Simon and Schuster 2008) is a vividly colorful new biography of this true "renaissance man", the uncrowned ruler of Florence during its golden age
• Ferdinand Schevill, History of Florence: From the Founding of the City Through the Renaissance (Frederick Ungar, 1936) is the standard overall history of Florence
• Cecily Booth, Cosimo I, Duke of Florence, 1921, University Press
• Harold Acton, The Last Medici, Macmillan, London, 1980, ISBN 0-333-29315-0
• Paul Strathern, The Medici—Godfathers of the Renaissance (Pimlico, 2005) is an informative and lively account of the Medici family unit, their finesse and foibles—extremely readable, though with a few factual and typographical errors.
• Lauro Martines, April Blood—Florence and the Plot Against the Medici (Oxford University Press 2003) a detailed business relationship of the Pazzi Conspiracy, the players, the politics of the day, and the fallout of the assassination plot . Though accurate in historic details, Martines writes with a definite 'anti-Medici' tone.
• Bookkeeping in Italian republic
• Herbert Millingchamp Vaughan, The Medici Popes. New York: Grand.P. Putnam's Sons, 1908.
• Jonathan Zophy, A Short History of Renaissance and Reformation Europe, Dances over Burn and Water. 1996. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2003.
• Villa Niccolini (Camugliano), Villa Niccolini, is one of the Medici's tuscany villa previously chosen Villa Medicea di Camugliano, Villa Niccolini is located e from Ponsacco, near a little feudal hamlet, Camugliano.

Farther reading [edit]

• Jean Lucas-Dubreton, Daily Life in Florence in the Fourth dimension of the Medici.

• Danny Chaplin, "The Medici: Rise of a Parvenu Dynasty, 1360–1537."

External links [edit]

• The Medici Archive Project
• Prince Ottaviano de' Medici: Solving a 417-yr-sometime murder mystery (May 4, 2004)
• The Moscow Florentine Society
• Medici Family Tree, featuring portraits and bios of fundamental members of the Medici Dynasty, 1400–1737
• The Medici Family, History Channel. Retrieved viii April 2016. The Medici Family
• The Medici Family of Florence

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Medici