House of Medici

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Medici family
)
Medici
Catholicism
Motto
("make haste slowly")
Heirlooms
Estate(s)
Dissolution1743 (1743) (original line)
Cadet branches14 cadet branches; still alive only 2:

The House of Medici (English:

Mugello region of Tuscany, and prospered gradually until it was able to fund the Medici Bank. 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.

The Medici produced four popes of the Catholic Church—

Cosimo III de' Medici
(r. 1670–1723).

The Medicis' wealth and influence was initially derived from the textile trade guided by the wool guild of Florence, the

signorie, the Medici dominated their city's government, were able to bring Florence under 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 and Della Rovere in Rome, and the Gonzaga in Mantua
.

The Medici Bank, from when it was created in 1397 to its fall in 1494, was one of the most 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 power initially in Florence and later in wider Italy and Europe. They were among the earliest businesses to use the

double-entry bookkeeping system
for tracking credits and debits.

The Medici family have claimed to have funded the invention of the

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

The Medici family came from the agricultural

Mugello region[9] north of Florence, and they are first mentioned in a document of 1230.[10] The origin of the name is uncertain. Medici is the plural of medico, meaning "medical doctor".[11] The dynasty began with the founding of the Medici Bank
in Florence in 1397.

Rise to power

Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, founder of the Medici bank
The Confirmation of the Rule, by Domenico Ghirlandaio

For most of the 13th century, the leading banking centre in Italy was

townhouses built by the prospering merchant class.[14]

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. The Medici controlled the Medici Bank—then Europe's largest bank—and an array of other enterprises in Florence and elsewhere. In 1433, the Albizzi managed to have Cosimo exiled.[15] The next year, however, a pro-Medici Signoria (civic government) led by Tommaso Soderini, Oddo Altoviti and Lucca Pitti was elected and Cosimo returned. The Medici became the city's leading family, a position they would hold for the next three centuries. Florence remained a republic until 1537, traditionally marking the end of the High Renaissance in Florence, but the instruments of republican government 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 time through

Altoviti, Ridolfi, Cavalcanti and the Tornabuoni. This has been suggested as a reason for the rise of the Medici family.[16]

Members of the family rose to some prominence in the early 14th century in the wool trade, especially with

Ciompi revolt of 1378–82, and one Antonio de' Medici was exiled from Florence in 1396.[17]
Involvement in another plot in 1400 caused all branches of the family to be banned from Florentine politics for twenty years, with the exception of two.

15th century

Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (c. 1360–1429), son of Averardo de' Medici (1320–1363), 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. Although he never held any political office, he gained strong popular support for the family through his support for the introduction of a proportional system of taxation. Giovanni's son Cosimo the Elder, Pater Patriae (father of the country), took over in 1434 as gran maestro (the unofficial head of the Florentine Republic).[18]

Cosimo Pater patriae, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

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 certain cloths and was used extensively in Florence, where the main industry was textile manufacturing. Before 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 a monopoly on the mining there, making them the primary producers of alum in Europe.[19]

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

French invasion of Italy in 1492, and within two years, he and his supporters were forced into exile and replaced with a republican government.[20]

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 little interest in the arts. Due to his illness, he mostly stayed at home bedridden, and therefore did little to further the Medici control of Florence while in power. As such, Medici rule stagnated until the next generation, when Piero's son Lorenzo took over.[21]

Altoviti families.[23]

The

Clement VII. Lorenzo's son Piero II took over as the head of Florence after Lorenzo's death. The Medici were expelled from Florence from 1494 to 1512 after Piero acceded to all of the demands of invader Charles VIII of France.[24]

16th century

The exile of the Medici lasted until 1512, after which the "senior" branch of the family—those descended from Cosimo the Elder—were able to rule until the assassination of

Duke of Florence, in 1537. This century-long rule was interrupted only on two 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 "junior" Medici branch—those descended from Lorenzo the Elder, the youngest son of Giovanni di Bicci, starting with his great-great-grandson Cosimo I "the Great".[citation needed
]

Cosimo the Elder and his father started the Medici foundations in banking and manufacturing—including a form of franchises. The family's influence grew with its patronage of wealth, art, and culture. Ultimately, it reached its zenith in the papacy and continued to flourish for centuries afterward as Dukes of Florence and Tuscany. At least half, probably more, of Florence's people were employed by the Medici and their foundational branches in business.[citation needed]

Medici popes

The Medici Wedding Tapestry (1589).

The Medici briefly became leaders of

Protestant Reformation and the infamous sack of Rome in 1527.[citation needed
]

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

Clement VII's tumultuous pontificate was dominated by a rapid succession of political crises—many long in the making—that resulted in the

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.[citation needed
]

After securing Alessandro de' Medici's dukedom, Pope Clement VII married off his first cousin, twice removed, Catherine de' Medici, to the son of Emperor Charles V's arch-enemy, King Francis I of France—the future King Henry II. This led to the transfer of Medici blood, through Catherine's daughters, to the royal family of Spain through Elisabeth of Valois, and the House of Lorraine through Claude of Valois.[citation needed]

In 1534, following a lengthy illness, Pope Clement VII died—and with him the stability of the Medici's "senior" branch. In 1535, Ippolito Cardinal de' Medici died under mysterious circumstances. In 1536, Alessandro de' Medici married Charles V's daughter, Margaret of Austria; however, the following year he was assassinated by a resentful cousin, Lorenzino de' Medici. The deaths of Alessandro and Ippolito enabled the Medici's "junior" branch to lead Florence.[citation needed]

Medici Dukes

Another outstanding figure of the 16th-century Medici family was Cosimo I, who rose from relatively modest beginnings in the

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.[citation needed
]

Ferdinando eagerly assumed the government of Tuscany. He commanded the draining of the Tuscan marshlands, built a road network in southern Tuscany and cultivated trade in

Maria Maddalena of Austria to assuage Spain (where Maria Maddalena's sister Margaret was the incumbent Queen consort). Ferdinando also 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.[citation needed
]

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 (i.e., Rome, Milan, Venice, Palermo, and Naples).[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.[30] The Grand Duke alone had the prerogative to exploit the state's mineral and salt resources, and the fortunes of the Medici were directly tied to the Tuscan economy.[30]

17th century

Ferdinando II

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 also pro-Medici.[31] Ferdinando's pro-papal foreign policy, however, 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 acting as regent for her son,

Louis XIII
. Louis repudiated her pro-Habsburg policy in 1617. She lived the rest of her life deprived of any political influence.

Ferdinando's successor,

Cosimo II, reigned for less than 12 years. He married Maria Maddalena of Austria, with whom he had his eight children, including Margherita de' Medici, Ferdinando II de' Medici, and an Anna de' Medici
. He is most remembered as the patron of astronomer Galileo Galilei, whose 1610 treatise, Sidereus Nuncius, was dedicated to him.[32] Cosimo died of consumption (tuberculosis) in 1621.[33]

Cosimo's elder son, Ferdinando, was not yet of legal maturity to succeed him, thus Maria Maddalena and his grandmother, Christina of Lorraine, acted as regents. Their collective regency is known as the Turtici. Maria Maddelana's temperament was analogous to Christina's, and together they aligned Tuscany with the

Cosimo III.[35] Harold Acton, an Anglo-Italian historian, ascribed the decline of Tuscany to the Turtici regency.[35]

Grand Duke Ferdinado was obsessed with new technology, and had a variety of hygrometers, barometers, thermometers, and telescopes installed in the Palazzo Pitti.[36] In 1657, Leopoldo de' Medici, the Grand Duke's youngest brother, established the Accademia del Cimento, organized to attract scientists to Florence from all over Tuscany for mutual study.[37]

Tuscany participated in the

barter trade became prevalent in rural market places.[38]

Ferdinando died on 23 May 1670 afflicted by

dropsy. He was interred in the Basilica of San Lorenzo, the Medici's necropolis.[40] At the time of his death, 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.[41]

Ferdinando's marriage to Vittoria della Rovere produced two children: Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and

Francesco Maria de' Medici, Duke of Rovere and Montefeltro. Upon Vittoria's death in 1694, her allodial possessions, the Duchies of Rovere and Montefeltro
, passed to her younger son.

18th century: the fall of the dynasty

Cosimo III, the Medicean grand duke, in grand ducal regalia
Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, the last 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) after Antonio Bellucci, 1706

Cosimo III married

Gian Gastone de' Medici
.

Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine, Anna Maria Luisa's spouse, successfully requisitioned the dignity Royal Highness for the Grand Duke and his family in 1691, despite the fact that they had no claim to any kingdom.[42] Cosimo frequently paid the Holy Roman Emperor, his nominal feudal overlord, exorbitant dues,[43] and he sent munitions to the emperor during the Battle of Vienna.

The Medici lacked male heirs, and by 1705, the grand ducal treasury was virtually bankrupt. In comparison to the 17th century, the population of Florence declined by 50%, and the population of the grand duchy as a whole declined by an estimated 40%.[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. Upon the death of his first son, Cosimo contemplated restoring the Florentine republic, either upon Anna Maria Luisa's death, or on his own, if he predeceased her. The restoration of the republic would entail resigning Siena to the Holy Roman Empire, but, regardless, it was vehemently endorsed by his government. Europe largely ignored Cosimo's plan. Only Great Britain and the Dutch Republic gave any credence to it, and the plan ultimately died with Cosimo III in 1723.[45]

On 4 April 1718, Great Britain, France and the Dutch Republic (also later, Austria) selected Don Carlos of Spain, 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.[46] On 25 October 1723, six days before his death, Grand Duke Cosimo disseminated a final proclamation commanding that Tuscany stay independent: Anna Maria Luisa would succeed uninhibited to Tuscany after Gian Gastone, and the grand duke reserved the right to choose his successor. However, these portions of his proclamation were completely ignored, and he died a few days later.

Gian Gastone despised the electress for engineering his catastrophic marriage to Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg; while she abhorred her brother's liberal policies, he repealed all of his father's anti-Semitic statutes. Gian Gastone revelled in upsetting her.[47] On 25 October 1731, a Spanish detachment occupied Florence on behalf of Don Carlos, who disembarked in Tuscany in December of the same year. The Ruspanti, Gian Gastone's decrepit entourage, loathed the electress, and she them. Duchess

Violante of Bavaria, Gian Gastone's sister-in-law, tried to withdraw the grand duke from the sphere of influence of the Ruspanti by organising banquets. His conduct at the banquets was less than regal; he often vomited repeatedly into his napkin, belched, and regaled those present with socially inappropriate jokes.[48] Following a sprained ankle in 1731, he remained confined 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 Polish Succession, Don Carlos was disbarred from Tuscany, and Francis III of Lorraine was made heir in his stead.[49] In January 1737, the Spanish troops withdrew from Tuscany, and were replaced by 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 grand duke could peregrinate to Tuscany, but declined.[50] 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 state, provided that nothing was ever removed from Florence.[51]

The "Lorrainers", as the occupying forces were called, were popularly loathed, but the regent, the Prince de Craon, allowed the electress to live unperturbed in the

Ferdinando I, at a cost to the state of 1,000 crowns per week.[52]

The electress donated much of her fortune to charity: £4,000 a month.[53] On 19 February 1743, she died, and the grand ducal line of the House of Medici died with her. The Florentines grieved her,[54] 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

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 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 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. The Habsburgs were deposed in favor of the House of Bourbon-Parma in 1801 (themselves deposed in 1807), but were later 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,[55] and the Verona Medici Counts of Caprara and Gavardo.[56] (see Medici family tree)

Legacy

Madonna del Magnificat
(circa 1483-1485).

The greatest accomplishments of the Medici were in the sponsorship of

protégé of the Medici family was Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564), who produced work for a number of family members, beginning with Lorenzo the Magnificent, who was said to be extremely fond of the young Michelangelo and invited him to study the family collection of antique sculpture.[57] Lorenzo also served as patron to Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) for seven years. Indeed, Lorenzo was an artist in his own right and an author of poetry and song; his support of the arts and letters is seen as a high point in Medici patronage.[citation needed
]

Medici family members placed allegorically in the entourage of a king from the Three Wise Men in the Tuscan countryside in a Benozzo Gozzoli fresco (c. 1459).

After Lorenzo's death the puritanical Dominican friar

Bonfire of the Vanities (February 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 form the core 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 Belvedere, the Medici Chapel and the Palazzo Medici.[58]

Later, in Rome, the Medici popes continued in the family tradition of patronizing artists in Rome. Pope Leo X would chiefly commission works from

Louis XIII, is the subject of a commissioned cycle of paintings known as the Marie de' Medici cycle, painted for the Luxembourg Palace by court painter Peter Paul Rubens in 1622–23.[citation needed
]

Although none of the Medici themselves were scientists, the family is well known to have been the patrons of the famous

Ferdinando II, when the Inquisition accused Galileo of heresy. However, the Medici family did afford the scientist a safe haven for many years. Galileo named the four largest moons of Jupiter after four Medici children he tutored, although the names Galileo used are not the names currently used.[citation needed
]

Main genealogical table

The table below shows the origins of the Medici:

Medici Family Tree: Origins
Medico di Potrone

*1046 ? †1102
Bono

*1069 ? †1123
Bernardo

*1099 ? †1147
Giambuono de' Medici

*1131 ? †1192
Chiarissimo
*1167 ? †1210
Bonagiunta
*? †1226
Filippo
*? †?
Ugo
*? †?
Galgano
*? †?
Chiarissimo
fl. 1253
Ranieri
*? †?
Averardo I
fl. 1280
Scolaio
fl. 1269
Galgano
fl. 1269
Filippo[61]
*? †1290
Ugolino
*? †1301
Giambuono
*1260 †?
Averardo II[62]
*1270 †1319
Arrigo
*? †?
Bonagiunta
fl. 1278
Arrigo[63]
*? †1348
Bonino
fl. 1312
Cambio[64]
*? †~1356
Alamanno
*? †1355
Bernardo
fl. 1322
Lippo[65]
fl. 1306
Giovenco
*? †1320
Conte
fl. 1330
Salvestro
*? †1346
Guccio
*1298 †1315
Ardingo[66]
fl. 1343
Salvestro di Averardo
Francesco
*? †?
Francesco di Giovenco
Antonio
*? †?
Giuliano II[69]
*? †?
?
Castellina Tornaquinci
Fantino
fl. 1426
Pierangelo
*? †1464
Giovenco
*? †1464?
Antonio
fl. 1493
Domenico
*? †?
Averardo
fl. 1513
Francesco
*? †?
Lorenzo
fl. 1490
Giovenco
*? †?
Francesco
*? †?
Bernardo
*? †?
Giovanni
*? †?
Raffaele
*? †?
Bernardetto[70]
*? †?
Galeotto
*? †1528
Francesco
*? †?
Ottaviano
*1482 †1546
Ottajano
Ottaviano
*1555 †1625
Giulio
*? †?
Leone
* †1596
Galeotto
*? †?
Cosimo
*? †?
Giulio
*? †1626
Raffaele
*? †1624
Nicolò
*? †?
Francesco
*1585 †1664
Leone
*? †1650
Averardo
*? †1685
Giulio
*? †1614
Filippo
*? †1749
Francesco
*? †1722
Pierpaolo
fl. 1737
Francesco
*? †1766
Nicolò Giuseppe
*? †?
Leone
fl. 1759
Averardo
*? †1808
Filippo
fl. 1775
Filippo
*? †1821
Nicola
*? †?
Anna Maria Luisa
*1756 †1797
Bindo Simone Peruzzi
*1729 †1794
Pierpaolo
*? †?
Peruzzi de' Medici

This extract shows the branch that gave rise to the celebrated branch of the Medici descending from Giovanni "di Bicci", who founded the Medici fortunes:

Medico di Potrone
(1046–1102)
Bono di Potrone
(1069–1123)
Bernardo di Potrone
(1099–1147)
Giambuono de' Medici
(1131–1192)
Chiarissimo de' Medici I
(1167–1210)
Filippo di Chiarissimo de' Medici
Averardo de' Medici I
(fl. 1280)
Averardo de' Medici II
(1270–1319)
Salvestro de Medici (il Chiarissimo III)
(1300–1346)
Giovenco de' Medici
(died 1320)
Averardo de' Medici III
(1320–1363)
m. Jacopa Spini
Giuliano de' Medici
(d. 1377)
Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici
(1360–1429)
m. Piccarda Bueri
Antonio de' Medici
(?–1398)
Damian de' Medici
(1389–1390)
Cosimo de' Medici
(the Elder)
(1389–1464)
Contessina de' Bardi
(ca.1390–1473)
Lorenzo de' Medici
(the Elder)
(1395–1440)
m. Ginevra Cavalcanti
Antonio de' Medici
Piero I de' Medici
(the Gouty)
(1416–1469)
Lord of Florence
Lucrezia Tornabuoni
(1425–1482)
Carlo de' Medici
(1430–1492)
Giovanni de' Medici
(1421–1463)
m. Ginevra degli Alessandrini
Francesco de' Medici
(?–ca.1440)
Pierfrancesco de' Medici (the Elder)
(1431–1476)
m. Laudomia Acciaioli
Giovanni de' Medici
(ante 1444–1478)
Maria de' Medici
(1445–1472)
m. Leonetto de' Rossi
Semiramide Appiani
Giovanni the
Popolano

(1467–1498)
m. Caterina
Sforza
Bernardetto de' Medici
(died 1475)
Contessina de' Medici
(1478–1515)
m. Piero Ridolfi
Giuliano de' Medici
(1479–1516)
Duke of Nemours
Giulio de' Medici
(1478–1534)
Pope Clement VII
Averardo de'
Medici
(1488–1495)
Ginevra de'
Medici
m. Giovanni
degli Albizzi
Ippolito de' Medici
(1511–1535)
Cardinal)
Pierfrancesco de' Medici
(the Younger)
(1487–1525)
m. Maria Soderini
Laudomia de'
Medici
m. Francesco
Salviati
Vincenzo de'
Medici
Lorenzo de'
Medici
Giovanni dalle Bande Nere
)
(1498–1526)
Francesca Salviati
m.
Archbishop of Albi
Roberto Strozzi
(ca.1512–1566)
Maddalena de' Medici
(1523–1583)
Ottaviano de' Medici
(1482-1546)
m. Francesca Salviati
Cosimo I de' Medici

(1519–1574)
Grand Duke of Tuscany
Francesco I de' Medici
(1541–1587)
Grand Duke of Tuscany
Claude
(1547–1575)
m. Charles III of Lorraine
Ferdinando I de' Medici

(1549–1609)
Grand Duke of Tuscany
Caterina de' Medici
(?–1634)
Cosimo de' Medici
(ca.1550–ca.1630)
Giuliano de' Medici
Nicolas Henri, Duke of Orléans
(1607–1611)
Gaston, Duke of Orléans
(1608–1660)
Henrietta Maria of France
(1609–1669)
m. Charles I of England
Angela/Angelica de' Medici
(1608–1636)
m. Pietro Altemps
Louis XIII of France
(1601–r.1610–1643)
Anne of Austria
(1601–1666)
Charles II of England
(1630–r.1660–1685)
Mary Henrietta Stuart
(1631–1660)
m. William II of Orange
James II of England
(1633–r.1685-88 –1701)

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


Lodovico de' Medici
(1498–1526)
Maria Salviati
(1499–1543)
Cosimo I
(1519–1574)
Grand Duke 1569–74
Camilla Martelli
(ca.1545–1634)
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
(1503–r.1558–1564)
Cesare d'Este
Ferdinando I
(1549–1609)
Grand Duke 1587–1609
Don Giovanni de' Medici
(1563–1621)
(Unnamed daughter)
(1566–1566)
Eleanor de' Medici
(1566–1611)
m. Vincenzo I Gonzaga
Anna de' Medici
(1569–1584)
Lucrezia de' Medici (1572–1574)Antonio de' Medici
(1576–1621)
Eleanor de' Medici
(1591–1617)
Francesco de' Medici
(1594–1614)
Filippino de' Medici
(1599–1602)
Maria Maddalena de' Medici
(1600–1633)
Charles II of Austria
(1540–1590)
Romola de' Medici
(1568–1568)
Isabella de' Medici
(1571–1572)
Cardinal Bishop of Ostia
Lorenzo de' Medici
(1600–1648)
Federico della Rovere
(1605–1625)
Claudia de' Medici
(1604–1648)
Leopold V of Austria
(1586–1632)
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
(1578–r.1619–1637)
Francesco de' Medici
(1614–1634)
Anna de' Medici
(1616–1676)
Ferdinand Charles of Austria
(1628–1662)
Leopoldo de' Medici
(1617–1675)
Cardinal
Cosimo de' Medici
(1639–1639)
Francesco Maria de' Medici
(1660–1711)
Cardinal
Philip William, Elector Palatine
(1615–1690)
Gian Gastone

(1671–1737)
Grand Duke 1723–37

Titles

List of heads of the Medici

Signore in the Republic of Florence

Portrait Name From Until Relationship with predecessor
Cosimo de' Medici
(Pater Patriae)
1434 1 August 1464 Son of Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici who was not as prominently involved in Florentine politics, rather more involved in the financial area.
Piero I de' Medici
(Piero the Gouty)
1 August 1464 2 December 1469 Eldest son of Cosimo de' Medici.
Lorenzo I de' Medici
(Lorenzo the Magnificent)
2 December 1469 9 April 1492 Eldest son of Piero I de' Medici.
Piero II de' Medici
(Piero the Unfortunate)
9 April 1492 8 November 1494 Eldest son of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Overthrown when Charles VIII of France invaded as a full republic was restored, first under the theocracy of Girolamo Savonarola and then statesman Piero Soderini.
Cardinal 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 Cardinal 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. Father of Catherine de' Medici, Queen consort of France.
Cardinal Giulio de' Medici 4 May 1519 19 November 1523 Cousin of Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, son of
Giuliano de' Medici who was the brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Elected to the Papacy, becoming Pope Clement VII
.
Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici 19 November 1523 24 October 1529 Cousin of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, illegitimate son of Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours.

Dukes of Florence

Portrait Name From Until Relationship with predecessor
Alessandro il Moro 24 October 1529 6 January 1537 Cousin of Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici, illegitimate son of Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino or Pope Clement VII. Acting signore during imperial Siege of Florence, made Duke in 1531.
Cosimo I
6 January 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; also great-grandson of Lorenzo the Magnificent through his mother, Maria Salviati, and his grandmother, Lucrezia de' Medici. 1569, he was made Grand Duke of Tuscany.

Grand Dukes of Tuscany

Portrait Name From Until Relationship with predecessor
Cosimo I
6 January 1569 21 April 1574
Francesco I
21 April 1574 17 October 1587 Eldest son of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
Ferdinando I
17 October 1587 17 February 1609 Brother of Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, son of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke 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, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
Cosimo III
23 May 1670 31 October 1723 Eldest son of Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
Gian Gastone
31 October 1723 9 July 1737 Second son of Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.

Coats of arms

The origin of the Medici coat 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 by the giant, with the dents in the shape of balls, and the giant's lands in Mugello.

Florentine Guild Arms with the Moneychangers in top row 3rd.
Here seen sliced in half, an art historian suggests that whole blood oranges could be the imagery in the Medici coats of arms

The simplest, though also unproven, theory suggests that the balls represented coins copied from the coat of arms of the Guild of Moneychangers (Arte del Cambio) to which the Medici belonged. That shield was red strewn with Byzantine coins (bezants).

St. Nicholas, particularly as the saint was invoked by Italian bankers as they took oaths.[74]

As an Italian vocabulary word, "medici" means "medical doctors" and identifications with the family members as physicians may be found among their names as early as the eleventh century. Fanciful stories depict the images as pills or cupping glasses, a late-medieval medical instrument used to draw blood. Pills did not exist until much later and bloodletting was not a common practice at the time of the first Medici coat of arms. Art historian Rocky Ruggiero suggests plausibly however, that the images may represent whole ripe

blood oranges that typically are grown in Italy. Although knowledge of vitamins did not exist at the time, the benefit of oranges for certain diseases was recognized and their association with recommendations by medical doctors suggests to Ruggiero that this likely is the imagery intended in the coats of arms for the Medici family.[75]

Alternatively, it has been suggested that the Medici coat of arms was initially inspired by symbols drawn from Etruscan votive sculpture, examples of which feature an oval dome with balls (echoing the forms of the Medici shield), as well as six balls within a triangle (as found in the alternative, triangular version of the Medici emblem).[76] This particular influence offers an explanation for the red hue of the Medici balls, the colour of the terracotta sculpture. It would also have reflected the family's interest in Etruscan art and culture.[77] In addition, the notion of Etruscan votive sculpture would have chimed with the participation of the Medici in the religious custom of offering up votive statues, a practice that recalled the ancient Etruscan convention of donating sculptures in the hope of, or gratitude for, divine favour.[78] Such favours would have included the wish for a strong and healthy family, both for the supplicant and their descendants.[79]

  • Old coat of arms of the Medici used by Giovanni di Bicci and Cosimo the Elder
    Old coat of arms of the Medici used by Giovanni di Bicci and Cosimo the Elder
  • The intermediate coat of arms of the Medici, Or, six balls in orle gules
    The intermediate coat of arms of the Medici, Or, six balls in orle gules
  • The "augmented coat of arms of the Medici, Or, five balls in orle gules, in chief a larger one of the arms of France (viz. Azure, three fleurs-de-lis or) was granted by Louis XI in 1465.[1]
    The "augmented coat of arms of the Medici, Or, five balls in orle gules, in chief a larger one of the arms of France (viz. Azure, three fleurs-de-lis or) was granted by Louis XI in 1465.[1]
  • Great coat of arms of Medici of Ottajano
    Great coat of arms of Medici of Ottajano
  • Coat of Arms of the Grand-Duke of Tuscany
    Coat of Arms of the Grand-Duke of Tuscany
  • Coat of arms of Medici popes
    Coat of arms of Medici popes
  • Coat of arms of the Medici Cardinals
    Coat of arms of the Medici Cardinals
  • Coat of Arms of Catherine of Medici, as Queen of France
    Coat of Arms of Catherine of Medici, as Queen of France
  • Coat of Arms of Maria of Medici, as Queen of France
    Coat of Arms of Maria of Medici, as Queen of France
  • Achievement of the House of de' Medici
    Achievement of the House of de' Medici

See also

Notes

  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'amore per le tartarughe con la vela". Toctoc. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  4. CollinsDictionary.com. HarperCollins
    . Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  5. ^ The family of Pius IV, the Medici of Milan, considered itself a branch 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 have found no proof of an actual connection 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 coat of arms.
  6. ^ "Medici Family – – Encyclopædia Britannica". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 27 September 2009.
  7. JSTOR 44083109
    .
  8. ^ "Music and the Medici – The Medici Archive Project" (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  9. – via Google Books.
  10. ^ The Medieval World – Europe 1100–1350 by Friedrich Heer, 1998 Germany
  11. BBC News Magazine Monitor
    MED-uh-chee in American English.
  12. ^ Strathern, p 18
  13. ^ Kenneth Bartlett, The Italian Renaissance, Chapter 7, p. 37, Volume II, 2005.
  14. ^ "History of Florence". Aboutflorence.com. Retrieved 2015-01-26.
  15. ^ Crum, Roger J. Severing the Neck of Pride: Donatello's "Judith and Holofernes" and the Recollection of Albizzi Shame in Medicean Florence . Artibus et Historiae, Volume 22, Edit 44, 2001. pp. 23–29.
  16. S2CID 56166159. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-03-03.. This has led to much more analysis Archived 2021-09-10 at the Wayback Machine
    .
  17. ^ Machiavelli, Niccolò (1906). The Florentine history written by Niccolò Machiavelli, Volume 1. p. 221..
  18. PBS
    Home Video.
  19. .
  20. ^ a b The Prince Niccolò Machiavelli. A Norton Critical Edition. Translated and edited by Rober M. Adams. New York. W.W. Norton and Company, 1977. p. viii (Historical Introduction).
  21. . Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  22. ^ 15th century Italy.
  23. ^ Hibbard, pp. 177, 202, 162.
  24. OCLC 5613740
    .
  25. ^ Hibbert, The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall, 153.
  26. ^ a b Hale, p. 150.
  27. ^ Hale, p. 151.
  28. ^ Austria and Spain were ruled by the House of Habsburg; the two are interchangeable terms for the Habsburg domains in the time period in question.
  29. ^ Hale, p. 158.
  30. ^ a b Hale, p. 160.
  31. ^ Hale, p. 165.
  32. ^ Strathen, p. 368.
  33. ^ Hale, p. 187.
  34. ^ Acton, p. 111.
  35. ^ a b Acton, p. 192.
  36. ^ Acton, p. 27.
  37. ^ Acton, p. 38.
  38. ^ a b Hale, p. 180.
  39. ^ Hale, p. 181.
  40. ^ Acton, p. 108.
  41. ^ Acton, p. 112.
  42. ^ Acton, p. 182.
  43. ^ Acton, p. 243.
  44. ^ Strathern, p. 392.
  45. ^ Hale, p. 191.
  46. ^ Acton, p. 175.
  47. ^ Acton, p. 280.
  48. ^ Acton, p. 188.
  49. ^ Acton, p. 301.
  50. ^ Acton, p. 304.
  51. ^ "Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici – Electress Palatine". Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  52. ^ Acton, p. 209.
  53. ^ Acton, p. 310.
  54. ^ Acton, p. 309.
  55. ^ Feuer, Alan (4 May 2004). "Florence Journal; Where the Bodies Are Buried, Modern-Day Medici Feud, Alan Feuer, New York Times, May 4, 2004". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 29, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  56. ^ Hibbert, p. 60.
  57. ^ Howard Hibbard, Michelangelo (New York: Harper and Row, 1974), p. 21.
  58. ^ Hibbard, p. 240.
  59. ^ Official site of the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno of Florence, Brief History (it. leng.)"Accademia delle Arti del Disegno". Archived from the original on 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  60. ^ Two more sons: Arrigo (?-?), Giovanni (?-?)
  61. ^ 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.
  62. ^ Four sons: Guccio (from which descended a line extinct in 1670 with Ottaviano), Filippo (?-?), Betto (fl. 1348), Ardinghello (fl. 1345).
  63. ^ One more son: Giovanni (fl. 1383). Giovanni had a son, Antonio (?-1396) and a nephew, Felice (?-?).
  64. ^ One 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.
  65. ^ Two more brothers unknown.
  66. ^ Two more brothers: Andrea (*? †?), Bartolomeo (*? †?).
  67. ^ One more brother: Pietro (*? †?), line extinct.
  68. ^ One more brother: Giovanni (*? †?)
  69. ^ One more son: Francesco (†1552?)
  70. ^ One more son Bernardo (†1592?)
  71. ^ de Roover, Raymond (31 July 2017). The Medici Bank: Its Organization, Management, Operations, and Decline. Pickle Partners Publishing. pp. note 1.
  72. ^ Mackworth-Young, Rose (29 March 2012). "The Medici balls: Origins of the family's coat of arms". The Florentine (160). Florence: B'Gruppo Srl. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  73. ^ Clare, Edward G. (1985). St. Nicholas: His Legends and Iconography. Florence: Leo S. Olschki. p. 76.
  74. ^ Ruggiero, Rocky, Ph.D., Rebuilding The Renaissance, Episode 93 – Florence: The Medici Dynasty Archived 2021-08-29 at the Wayback Machine, Making Art and History Come to Life, October 28, 2020, an audio file
  75. ^ Jelbert, Rebeca (2020). "The Medici Coat of Arms and Etruscan Votive Sculpture". The Coat of Arms: Journal for the Heraldry Society (UK). 3: 190–208.
  76. ^ Gáldy, Andrea (2009). Cosimo I de' Medici as Collector: Antiquities and Archaeology in Sixteenth-century Florence. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 46–47, 58.
  77. ^ Kent, Francis (2007). Lorenzo de'Medici and the Art of Magnificence. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 76.
  78. S2CID 163129780
    .

References

Further reading

External links

Royal house
House of Medici
New title Ruling house of the Duchy of Florence
1533–69
Elevated to Grand Dukes of Tuscany
New title
Elevated from Duchy of Florence
Ruling house of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany
1569–1737
Succeeded by