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2 Medici family tree (Grand Dukes of Tuscany) 3 Structure of the family tree lines. 4 The descendants line. Toggle The descendants line subsection. 4.1 Origins.
- Overview
- Line of Chiarissimo II
- Line of Cosimo the Elder
Medici family, Italian bourgeois family that ruled Florence and, later, Tuscany during most of the period from 1434 to 1737, except for two brief intervals (from 1494 to 1512 and from 1527 to 1530). It provided the Roman Catholic Church with four popes (Leo X, Clement VII, Pius IV, and Leon XI) and married into the royal families of Europe (most notably in France, in the persons of Queens Catherine de Médici and Marie de Médicis).
Three lines of Medici successively approached or acquired positions of power. The line of Chiarissimo II failed to gain power in Florence in the 14th century. 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 Médicis), and their final offspring, Alessandro, was duke of Florence. In the 16th century a third line renounced republican notions and imposed its tyranny, and its members made themselves a dynasty of grand dukes of Tuscany.
The Medici were originally of Tuscan peasant origin, from the village of Cafaggiolo in the Mugello, the valley of the Sieve, north of Florence. Some of these villagers, in the 12th century perhaps, became aware of the new opportunities afforded by commerce and emigrated to Florence. There, by the following century, the Medici were counted among the wealthy notables, although in the second rank, after leading families of the city. After 1340 an economic depression throughout Europe forced these more powerful houses into bankruptcy. The Medici, however, were able to escape this fate and even took advantage of it to establish themselves among the city’s elite. But their policy of consolidating their position by controlling the government—the work of the descendants of Chiarissimo II (himself the grandson of the first known Medici)—resulted in 50 years of serious misfortunes for the family (1343–93).
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His grandson Salvestro took up his policy of alliance with the popolo minuto (“common people”) and was elected gonfalonier, head of the signoria, the council of government, in 1378. Salvestro more or less willingly stirred up an insurrection of the ciompi, the artisans of the lowest class, against his rivals and, after the rebellion’s victory, was not above reaping substantial monetary and titular advantages. But in 1381, when the popular government fell, he had to go into exile. His memory, however, was still alive in 1393, when the popolo magro (“lean people”) once more thought it possible to take over the signoria. The mob hastened to seek out Salvestro’s first cousin, Vieri, who was, however, able to fade away without losing face. With Vieri this branch of the Medici was to disappear definitively from history.
A distant cousin of Salvestro was Averardo de’ Medici (or Bicci), whose progeny became the famous Medici of history. His son Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici (1360–1429), considered the first of the great Medici, inherited the family business based on cloth and silk manufacturing and on banking operations and made the family powerfully prosperous. Giovanni’s two sons, Cosimo (1389–1464) and Lorenzo (1394–1440), both of whom acquired the appellation of “the Elder,” founded the famous lines of the Medici family.
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Cosimo de’ Medici, the older brother, established the family’s political base. He served on the Florentine board of war, called the Dieci (The Ten), and held other posts. His two sons were Piero (1416–69) and Giovanni (1424–63). 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. He also fathered two sons, one of whom, Giuliano (1453–78) was assassinated. The second son, Lorenzo (1449–92), became in his own time Il Magnifico (“The Magnificent”).
Lorenzo de’ Medici deservedly holds an honoured place in the history of Florence and Italy. Inheriting from his forebears a deep respect for arts and letters, he became a poet himself as well as a patron of artists and a skilled statesman. His three children, Piero (1472–1503), Giovanni (1475–1521)—later Leo X—and Giuliano (1479–1516), played contrasting roles in the city’s history. Assuming the mantle of family power from Lorenzo, Piero alienated the people of Florence by siding with the French. Because of this act, considered a betrayal, the Medici had to flee Florence (1494). Giovanni, at that time a cardinal, used his influence with Pope Julius II to bring the family back to positions of power. Giuliano, who received the French title of duc de Nemours, was in poor health and died relatively young.
Piero, oldest of the children of Lorenzo the Magnificent, fathered one son, also named Lorenzo (1492–1519), who in turn had a daughter, Catherine (1519–89), who became queen of France as wife of Henry II; three of her four sons became kings of France. Giovanni, second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, became Pope Leo X. In commemoration of the deaths of Giuliano and Lorenzo, the two who had died relatively young, the family commissioned Michelangelo to complete the famous Medici Tombs in Florence. The few years of this period are often considered to be the apogee of the Medici age. The period has even been called “the century of Leo X.” From 1513 to 1521, surrounded by five nephews and cousins whom he had named cardinals, Leo X reigned less over Christianity than over arts and letters in the style of his father, the Magnificent, too occupied with patronage to pay sufficient attention to an unimportant monk by the name of Martin Luther. By the 1520s, nonetheless, the descendants of Cosimo the Elder had become few in number. To ensure that a Medici of the Cosimo line would continue to rule Florence, Pope Clement VII, nephew of Lorenzo the Magnificent, installed Alessandro (1511–37), reputedly his own illegitimate son, as hereditary duke of Florence. In the same year, 1532, Clement VII abolished the city’s old constitution.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Medici Family Tree, featuring portraits and bios of key members of the Medici Dynasty, 1400–1737; The Medici Family, History Channel. Retrieved 8 April 2016. The Medici Family; The Medici Family of Florence
Nov 9, 2009 · Learn about the Medici family, a powerful Florentine dynasty that rose to prominence in the 13th century and became patrons of the Renaissance. Explore their rise and fall, their political and cultural influence, and their famous members such as Cosimo, Lorenzo, Catherine and Leo X.
- 9 min
Nov 16, 2022 · Learn about the Medici family, a powerful and influential dynasty that ruled Florence during the Italian Renaissance. Discover their origins, achievements, decline and legacy through a detailed family tree and historical facts.
The Medici Genealogical Tree - Florence. Discover the fascinating history of the Medici family, the most powerful and influential dynasty in Renaissance Italy, through their genealogical tree displayed in the Medici Chapel. Learn about their origins, marriages, alliances, and achievements, and admire the artistic and architectural legacy they left behind in Florence.
Jan 30, 2023 · Learn about the Medici family, a banking and political dynasty that ruled Florence and Tuscany for three centuries. Discover the three branches of the Medici family, their popes, queens, artists and patrons of the Renaissance.
