Medici
The Medici family was a powerful and influential Florentine family from the 13th to 17th century. The family produced three popes, numerous rulers of Florence, and later members of the French royalty.
From humble beginnings (the origin of the name is uncertain, though it probably reflects a medical trade - medico), the family first achieved power through banking. The Medici Bank was one of the most prosperous and most respected in Europe. From this base, the family acquired political power initially in Florence, and later in the wider Italy and Europe.
Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici was the first Medici to enter banking, and while he became influential in Florentine government, it wasn't until son Cosimo the Elder took over that in 1434 as Gran maestro that the Medici became unofficial head of state of the Florentine republic. The "senior" branch of the family - those descended from Cosimo the Elder; ruled until the assassination of Alessandro de' Medici, the first duke of Florence, in 1537. Power then passed to the "junior" branch - those descended from Lorenzo the Elder, younger son of Giovanni de Bicci, starting with his great-great-grandson Cosimo I the Great.
Art and architecture
The most significant accomplishments of the Medici were in Art and Architecture, within which the portfolio of talent employed by Medici is a "Who's Who?" of Renaissance art and architecture. Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, the first patron of art in the family, aided Masaccio and ordered the reconstruction of the Church of San Lorenzo. Cosimo the Elder's notable artistic associates were Donatello and Fra Lippi. The most significant addition to the list over the years was Michelangelo, who produced work for a number of Medici, beginning with Lorenzo the Magnificent. In addition to commissions for art and architecture, the Medici were prolific collectors and today their acquisitions form the core of the Uffizi museum in Florence.In Architecture, the Medici are responsible for some notable features of Florence, including the Uffizi Gallery, the Pitti Palace, the Boboli Gardens, and the Belvedere.
- Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici personally commissioned Brunelleschi to reconstruct the Church of San Lorenzo in 1419.
- Cosimo the Elder also commissioned Brunelleschi to finish the uncompleted dome of Santa Maria del Fiore. The dome, the largest in the world at that time, was finished in 1436.
- Eleonora of Toledo, wife of Cosimo I the Great, purchased Pitti Palace from Buonaccorso Pitti in 1550.
- Cosimo I the Great patronized Vasari who erected the Uffizi Gallery in 1560 and founded the Academy of Design in 1562.
- Marie de Medici, widow of Henri IV and mother of Louis XIII, is used by Peter Paul Rubens in 1622-23 as the subject in his oil painting Marie de' Medici, Queen of France, Landing in Marseilles.
Notable members
- Salvestro de' Medici (1331-1388), led the assault against the revolt of the Ciompi, became dictator of Florence, and banished in 1382
- Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (1360-1429), restored the family fortune and made the Medici family the wealthiest in Europe
- Cosimo the Elder (1389-1464), founder of the Medici political dynasty
- Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449-1492), leader of Florence during the Golden Age of the Renaissance
- Giovanni de' Medici (1475-1523), also known as Pope Leo X
- Giulio de' Medici (1478-1534), also known as Pope Clement VII
- Cosimo I the Great (1519-1574), First Grand Duke of Tuscany and restored the Medici lustre
- Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589), Queen of France
- Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici (1535-1605), also known as Pope Leo XI
- Marie de' Medici (1573-1642), Queen and Regent of France
Florentine reckoning
The Florentine calendar was used in Italy in the middle ages. In this system, the new day begins at sunset. When the reference of a birth was, for example, "two hours into the day", this meant two hours after sunset. This means a birth date of August 12th would, by modern reckoning, be considered to be August 11th.The year also began not on January 1st but rather on March 25th, which is why some dates are in apparent one-year discrepancy. For example, a birth date of March 10, 1552 in Florentine reckoning translates to March 10, 1553 in modern reckoning. This was not unusual; before the conversion to the Gregorian calendar in 1583, the French year began on Easter day, the Venetian year on March 1st, and the English year on March 25th (until 1752). Italy was one of the few nations to immediately convert from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian: October 4, 1582 was followed by October 15, 1582 (Gregorian).
Medici family tree (1360 - 1675)
Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (1360-1429)
│
├─Antonio de' Medici (?-1398)
│
├─Damian de' Medici (1389-1390)
│
├─Cosimo de' Medici (the Elder) (1389-1464)
│ │
│ ├─Piero I de' Medici (the Gouty) (1416-1469), Lord of Florence
│ │ │
│ │ ├─Lorenzo de' Medici (the Magnificent) (1449-1492), Lord of Florence
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ ├─Lucrezia de' Medici (1470-1550)
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ ├─Maria Salviati (1499-1543), wife of Giovanni dalle bande nere (see below)
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ └─Francesca Salviati
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ └─Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici (1535-1605), Pope Leo XI
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ ├─Piero II de' Medici (the Unfortunate) (1471-1503), Lord of Florence
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ ├─Lorenzo II de' Medici (1492-1519), Duke of Urbino
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ ├─Alessandro de' Medici (the Moor) (1510-1537), Duke of Florence
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ ├─Giulio de' Medici (ca. 1533-1600)
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ └─Cosimo de' Medici (?-?)
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ └─Angela/Angelica de' Medici (1608-1636)
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ └─Giulia de' Medici (ca. 1535-?)
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ └─Caterina Maria Romola di Lorenzo de' Medici (Catherine de' Medici) (1519-1589), wife of Henry II of France
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ └─Clarissa de' Medici (1493-1528)
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ ├─Maddalena de' Medici (1473-1528)
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ ├─Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici (1475-1521), Pope Leo X
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ ├─Giuliano de' Medici (1479-1516), Duke of Nemours
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ └─Ippolito de' Medici (1511-1535), Cardinal
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ └─Contessina de' Medici (?-1515), wife of Piero Ridolfi
│ │ │
│ │ └─Giuliano de' Medici (1453-1478)
│ │ │
│ │ └─Giulio de' Medici (1478-1534), Pope Clement VII
│ │
│ ├─Giovanni de' Medici (1421-1463)
│ │ │
│ │ └─Cosimo de' Medici (1452-1461)
│ │
│ └─Carlo de' Medici (1430-1492)
│
└─Lorenzo de' Medici (the Elder) (1395-1440)
│
└─Pierfrancesco de' Medici (the Elder) (1431-1476)
│
├─Lorenzo the Popolano (1463-1503), Lord of Piombino
│ │
│ └─Pierfrancesco de' Medici (the Younger) (1487-1525)
│ │
│ ├─Laudomia de' Medici (1463-?)
│ │
│ ├─Lorenzino de' Medici (1514-1548) (also called Lorenzaccio)
│ │
│ ├─Giuliano the Medici (ca. 1520-1588), Archbishop of Alby
│ │
│ └─Maddalena de' Medici (?-1583)
│
└─Giovanni the Popolano (1467-1498)
│
└─Lodovico de' Medici (Giovanni dalle Bande Nere) (1498-1526), the most famous soldier of all the Medici
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└─Cosimo I de' Medici (1519-1574), Grand duke of Tuscany
│
├─Bia de' Medici (1537-1542)
│
├─Maria de' Medici (1540-1557)
│
├─Francesco I de' Medici (1541-1587), Grand duke of Tuscany
│ │
│ ├─Eleonora de' Medici (1566-1611), wife of Vincenzo I Gonzaga, duke of Mantua
│ │
│ ├─Romola de' Medici (1568-1568)
│ │
│ ├─Anna de' Medici (1569-1584)
│ │
│ ├─Isabella de' Medici (1571-1572)
│ │
│ ├─Lucrezia de' Medici (1572-1574)
│ │
│ ├─Marie de' Medici (1573-1642), wife (1612) of Henry IV of France
│ │
│ ├─Antonio de' Medici (1576-1621), adopted
│ │
│ └─Filippo de' Medici (1577-1582)
│
├─Isabella de' Medici (1542-1576)
│
├─Giovanni de' Medici (1543-1562), bishop of Pisa and cardinal
│
├─Lucrezia de' Medici (1545-1561), wife (1560) of Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara and Modena
│
├─Pietro (Pedricco) de' Medici (1546-1547)
│
├─Garzia de' Medici (1547-1562)
│
├─Antonio de' Medici (1548-1548)
│
├─Ferdinando I de' Medici (1549-1609), Grand duke of Tuscany
│ │
│ ├─Cosimo II de' Medici (1590-1621), Grand duke of Tuscany
│ │ │
│ │ ├─Maria Cristina de' Medici (1609-1632)
│ │ │
│ │ ├─Ferdinando II de' Medici (1610-1670), Grand duke of Tuscany
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ ├─Cosimo de' Medici (1639-1639)
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ ├─Cosimo III de' Medici (1642-1723), Grand duke of Tuscany
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ ├─Ferdinando III de' Medici (1663-1713)
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ ├─Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici (1667-1743)
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ └─Gian Gastone de' Medici (1671-1737), Grand duke of Tuscany
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ └─Francesco Maria de' Medici (1660-1711), Cardinal
│ │ │
│ │ ├─Giovanni Carlo de' Medici (Giancarlo) (1611-1663), Bishop of Sabina, created cardinal in 1644
│ │ │
│ │ ├─Margherita de' Medici (1612-1679), wife (1628) of Odoardo I Farnese, duke of Parma
│ │ │
│ │ ├─Matteo de' Medici (1613-1667)
│ │ │
│ │ ├─Francesco de' Medici (1614-1634)
│ │ │
│ │ ├─Anna de' Medici (1616-1676), wife of archduke Ferdinand Charles of Austria
│ │ │
│ │ └─Leopoldo de' Medici (1617-1675), created cardinal in 1667
│ │
│ ├─Eleonora de' Medici (1591-1617)
│ │
│ ├─Caterina de' Medici (1593-1629), wife of Ferdinando Gonzaga, duke of Mantua
│ │
│ ├─Francesco de' Medici (1594-1614)
│ │
│ ├─Carlo de' Medici (1595-1666)
│ │
│ ├─Filippino de' Medici (1599-1602)
│ │
│ ├─Lorenzo de' Medici (1600-1648)
│ │
│ ├─Maria Maddalena de' Medici (1600-1633)
│ │
│ └─Claudia de' Medici (1604-1648), wife (1620-1622) of Federico della Rovere, only son of the duke of Urbino, and, later (1626), of archduke Leopold V of Austria
│
├─Anna de' Medici (1553-1553)
│
├─Pietro de' Medici (1554-1604)
│
├─(Unnamed daughter) (1566-1566)
│
├─Giovanni de' Medici (1567-1621)
│
└─Virginia de' Medici (1568-1615), wife of Cesare d'Este, Duke of Modena
Further reading
- Christopher Hibbert, The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall (Morrow-Quill, 1980) is an excellent and highly readable overall history of the family
- Ferdinand Schevill, History of Florence: From the Founding of the City Through the Renaissance (Frederick Ungar, 1936) is the standard overall history of Florence
- Niccolo Machiavelli, History of Florence and of the Affairs of Italy: From the Earliest Times to the Death of Lorenzo the Magnificent (Niccolo Machiavelli, 1521-25) is one of Machiavelli's most important works
- Paul Strathern, The Medici - Godfathers of the Renaissance (Pimlico, 2005) is an informative and lively account of the Medici family, their finesse and foibles - extremely readable.
- Lauro Martines, "April Blood - Florence and the Plot Against the Medici" (Oxford University Press 2003) a detailed account of the Pazzi Conspiracy, the players, the politics of the day, and the fallout of the assasination plot . Though accurate in historic details, Martines writes with a definate 'anti-Medici' tone.
Documentaries
- PBS/Justin Hardy, Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance Four-hour documentary, covering the rise and fall of the family from Giovanni through the abandonment of Galileo by Ferdinand II. Very watchable and informative, available on DVD & Video.