The descendants of Cosimo de' Medici's brother Lorenzo (great-uncle of Lorenzo the Magnificent) spawned a line of Grand Dukes of Tuscany, beginning with Cosimo I (1519-1574), and another Queen of France . In 1433, the Albizzi managed to have Cosimo exiled. 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catastrophic marriage to Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg; while she abhorred her brother's liberal policies, he repealed all of his father's anti-Semitic statutes. They were more than beneficent and ostentatious patrons of the arts; they were also enlightened and were probably the most magnificent such patrons that the West has ever seen. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Medici-family, Art Encyclopedia - The Medici Family, Florence, Medici Family - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Medici family - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), 63 Questions from Britannicas Most Popular Visual Arts Quizzes. However, the Medici family did afford the scientist a safe haven for many years. 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. The Medici family were wool merchants and bankers. 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. The Medici produced four popes of the Catholic ChurchPope Leo X (15131521), Pope Clement VII (15231534), Pope Pius IV (15591565)[5] and Pope Leo XI (1605)and two queens of FranceCatherine de' Medici (15471559) and Marie de' Medici (16001610). The latter died before his father, who in death received the title Father of His Country. Piero di Cosimo de Medici maintained and strengthened the political fortunes of the family. These descendants included Cosimo I, who became Duke of Florence in 1537 and grand duke of Tuscany in 1569. This century-long rule was interrupted only on two occasions (between 14941512 and 15271530), when anti-Medici factions took control of Florence. Ancestors. With that said, there was a . He also was the leader of the Florence merchants. Born in Rome, she is most known as the wife of Lorenzo de' Medici (Lorenzo the Magnificent), de facto ruler . [23], The Medici additionally benefited from the discovery of vast deposits of alum in Tolfa in 1461. In 1535, Ippolito Cardinal de' Medici died under mysterious circumstances. Cosimo the Elder and his father started the Medici foundations in banking and manufacturingincluding a form of franchises. There, by the following century, the Medici were counted among the wealthy notables, although in the second rank, after leading families of the city. He was interred in the Basilica of San Lorenzo, the Medici's necropolis. The descendants of Cosimo I ruled into the 18th century in relative stability. Giovannis elder son, Cosimo de Medici (1389-1464), rose to political power in 1434 and ruled Florence as an uncrowned monarch for the rest of his life. Click here for live data and advanced tools for collaboration, genetic genealogy, surname projects, etc. [37], 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 VIII in 1643. By 1722, the electress was not even acknowledged as heiress, and Cosimo was reduced to spectator at the conferences for Tuscany's future. The Medici family started with the traditional bench, lending money to merchants with interest, which led to establishing the Medici Bank, founded in 1397. Henry and Catherine became the ancestors of monarchs of several countries. In general, the later Medici line renounced the older generations republican sympathies and established more authoritarian rule, a change that produced stability in Florence and Tuscany, but led to the regions decline as a cultural hub. READ MORE:7 Things You May Not Know About the Medicis. The Medici, however, were able to escape this fate and even took advantage of it to establish themselves among the citys elite. The curtains closed on almost 300 years of Medici rule in Florence with the death of Gian Gastone de' Medici, the seventh family member to serve as grand duke of Tuscany. In France, Marie de' Medici was acting as regent for her son, Louis XIII. [26] To augment the Tuscan silk industry, he oversaw the planting of mulberry trees along the major roads (silk worms feed on mulberry leaves). The conspiracy involved the Pazzi and Salviati families, both rival banking families seeking to end the influence of the Medici, as well as the priest presiding over the church services, the Archbishop of Pisa, and even Pope Sixtus IV to a degree. The Medici family had a long and powerful influence in European history for hundreds of years. 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 de' Medici, the older brother, established the family's political base. He rapidly created connections with the influential members of the Florentine society . 15 Feb 1471, d. 28 Dec 1503. Another branch of the family, descended from Salvestros distant cousin Giovanni di Bicci de Medici, would begin the great Medici dynasty. That November, the ship landed on the shores of Cape Cod, in present-day Massachusetts. In 1378, Salvestro de' Medici proposed a reform widening the suffrage within the Republic, attracting the sympathy of the population for his family. The Medicis' wealth and influence was initially derived from the textile trade guided by the wool guild of Florence, the Arte della Lana. Giulia de' Medici. But in 1381, when the popular government fell, he had to go into exile. Born 13 April 1519 - Florence, Toscana, Italy. In the dangerous circumstances in which our city is placed, the time for deliberation is past. . By the 1520s, nonetheless, the descendants of Cosimo the Elder had become few in number. Clarice Orsini (c. 1453 - 29 July 1487) was the daughter of Jacopo (Giacomo) Orsini (see Orsini family), lord of Monterotondo and Bracciano, and his wife and cousin Maddalena Orsini. With Vieri this branch of the Medici was to disappear definitively from history. Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici were married on October 28, 1533, and their marriage produced ten children. [38], Ferdinando died on 23 May 1670 afflicted by apoplexy and dropsy. One unproven story traces their ancestry to a knight of Charlemagne's, Averardo, who defeated a giant, Mugello. WikiTree is a community of genealogists growing an increasingly-accurate collaborative family tree that's 100% free for everyone forever. For example: Direct descendants of early Carolingian Kings of Italy - are also either direct descendants or distant cousins of Cosimo I de' Medici, Duke of Florence & Grand . In a separate pan, fry the bread crumbs with the . [78] Such favours would have included the wish for a strong and healthy family, both for the supplicant and their descendants. Her name was the Contessina de' Bardi. They first came to power in 1613, and over the next three centuries, 18 Romanovs took the Russian throne, including Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Alexander I and Nicholas II. Tuscany became a province of the United Kingdom of Italy in 1861. Thus began the reign of Medici monarchs in Florence, which lasted two centuries. 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. 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. The last ruler of the House of Medici was Gian Gastone, who died in 1737. When Giovanni (Dustin Hoffman) dies, his son Cosimo (Richard Madden, Games of Thrones 's Robb Stark) knows foul play was involved and sets out to solve the whodunnit. [19] These three members of the Medici family had great skills in the management of so "restive and independent a city" as Florence. The Medici briefly became leaders of Christendom through their two famous 16th century popes, Leo X and Clement VII. He served on the Florentine board of war, called the Dieci (The Ten), and held other posts. The Medici family can be traced to the Mugello valley just north of Florence where they were mentioned in a document from the year 1230. In the 15th century the line of Cosimo the Elder set up a hereditary principate in Florence but without legal right or title, hence subject to sudden overthrow; crowns burgeoned, however, on the last branches of their genealogical tree, for two of them were dukes outside Florence, their last heir in a direct line became queen of France (Catherine de Mdicis), and their final offspring, Alessandro, was duke of Florence. Anna Maria Luisa signed the Patto di Famiglia ("family pact") on 31 October 1737. Image Credit How the Medici Family Continues to Influence the World The Medici family were businesspeople. Secrets and Romance of the de' Medicis. Despite his refusal of official approval, the pope nonetheless allowed the plot to proceed without interfering, and, after the failed assassination of Lorenzo, also gave dispensation for crimes done in the service of the church. 2. Later, in Rome, the Medici popes continued in the family tradition of patronizing artists in Rome. [1], Coat of Arms of the Grand-Duke of Tuscany, 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 the Grand-Duchy of Tuscany, Italian banking family and political dynasty, "Medicis" redirects here. Lorenzo the Elder and His Heirs. I go full of hope, praying to God to give me grace to perform what every citizen should at all times be ready to perform for his country. Deceased 5 January 1588 - Blois, France,aged 68 years old. Giulia Romola di Alessandro de' Medici [1] (c. 1535 - c. 1588) was the illegitimate, possibly multiracial, [2] daughter of Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence and his mistress Taddea Malaspina . "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. [76] This particular influence offers an explanation for the red hue of the Medici balls, the colour of the terracotta sculpture. The familys roots supposedly are linked to one of Charlemagnes eighth-century knights, named Averardo. He initiated the Medici's rise to power. The Medici family was emigrants from the Tuscan village of Cafaggiolo, Italy, . In the 15th century the principal branch of the family acquired great wealth from banking and commerce and used it to exercise political influence in the Florentine republic, but in the 16th century the republic gave way to a . The Medicis were an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence during the first half of the 15th century; they owned the largest bank in Europe, which. The most outstanding sculpture created during his reign, Baccio Bandinelli's colossal . [53] On 19 February 1743, she died, and the grand ducal line of the House of Medici died with her. Why did the Medici family lose power? The Medicis produced four popes (Leo X, Clement VII, Pius IV and Leo XI), and their genes have been mixed into many of Europes royal families. 1535-1605). As these descendants lost their grip on the banking empire, economic troubles with debt-ridden foreign nationals and the Pazzi conspiracy - a coup by rival banking families backed by the Catholic Church to usurp Medici control in Florence - had brought the Medici Bank to an end. The Medici were responsible for a high proportion of the major Florentine works of art created during their period of rule. The few years of this period are often considered to be the apogee of the Medici age. He commanded the draining of the Tuscan marshlands, built a road network in southern Tuscany and cultivated trade in Livorno. The 18th century in relative stability leaders of Christendom through their two famous 16th century popes Leo. X27 ; s rise to power the discovery of vast deposits of in... The ship landed on the Florentine society of vast deposits of alum in Tolfa in.! 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