Who is medici family

Cosimo was born in the year He lived a long life, not dying until As the first born son of a wealthy banker, Cosimo was well read, well traveled, and well educated. But he was challenged from the get go by Florence's Pazzi and Albizi families. In , threatened by Cosimo's popularity, the Albizi banished Cosimo from Florence. But his exile only lasted one year. In , at the request of the Florentine republic, Cosimo triumphantly returned.

He vanquished his enemies, banished the Albizi, and consolidated his power. Cosimo the Elder became the Michael Corleone of the Medici family. Florence remained a republic. But Cosimo was the de facto ruler. He was the biggest political boss of all the political bosses. Over 37 years, Cosimo created a dynasty that would endure for centuries and produce four popes.

He was also an avid art patron. He sponsored early Renaissance artists and architects like Donatello, Ghiberti, and Michelozzo. It was Cosimo who commissioned Donatello to create his Bronze David , one of the most important statues of the Renaissance.

It's now in Florence's Bargello Museum. In the San Marco Monastery, Cosimo hired acclaimed artist Fra Angelico, the "angelic painter," to lead the painting and fresco work involved in the project. One fresco, The Adoration of the Magi , is located in what was Cosimo's private meditation cell. Another painting, perhaps the artist's most famous work, Annunication , is at the top of a staircase in the north corridor. It caused swelling and joint pain. Born in , Piero was not a particularly distinguished Medici.

While not making a significant mark on Florentine history, Piero was nonetheless a significant arts patron. He commissioned the fresco cycles in the Medici-Riccardi Palace. He encouraged the rise of the talented sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio.

And he commissioned the architect Michelozzo to construct San Miniato al Monte. Piero was married to Lucrezia Tornabuoni. Of their 7 children, 4 survived, including Lorenzo and Giuliano, born in and respectively. Perhaps the most powerful and influential Medici was Cosimo's grandson, Lorenzo. He came into power at just Lorenzo was an extremely charismatic man. He was essentially the John F. Kennedy of the Medici family, who ruled over a Camelot-like atmosphere. He was a warrior, savvy politician, connoisseur of arts, music composer, and even a romantic poet.

His second son became Pope Leo X. Lorenzo the Magnificent essentially kicked off the golden age of the Renaissance, when Florentine arts were at their apex. His palace was a lived in art gallery. At his humanist court, he gathered together the leading artists, intellectuals, and philosophers of the day. Sandro Botticelli was a Medici court painter.

Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were both members of Lorenzo's court for some time. Michelangelo actually lived several years in the Medici Palace Palazzo Medici-Riccardi , learning from the foremost Florentine artists.

Though the people loved the Medici family, other wealthy Florentine families despised them, including the Pazzi family. In , the Pazzi family tried, but failed, to oust the Medici in Florence's most infamous coup attempt. They plotted to kill both Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano during high mass at the Duomo. Giuliano was murdered, stabbed to death. Lorenzo escaped and exacted a swift revenge.

In just a few hours, the Pazzi conspirators including the pope's nephew were captured and killed in a violent manner. They were hung from the second floor ramparts of the Palazzo Vecchio.

Lorenzo eventually died in , of the same gouty ailment as his father. His first born son Piero, succeeded him. But Piero was a disappointment, ruling for only 2 years. Piero had none of the iron or savvy of his father.

He was a rather petulant spoiled rich boy. Think Joffrey from Game of Thrones. He was interested in scientific matters, and had a great armillary sphere constructed by Antonio Santucci, his cosmographer. Ferdinand appointed Galileo to the professorship of mathematics at the university of Pisa in In the year of his accession, Ferdinand married Christina of Lorraine , who was the grand daughter of Catherine de' Medici, Queen of France.

Christina was well-disposed to Galileo and as a favor in return for some services rendered by Galileo when he was still in Padua found a position for his brother in law Benedetto Landucci. Ferdinand and Christina had four sons and four daughters. The eldest son, Cosimo II, ascended the throne upon his father's death in Galileo had tutored Cosimo in mathematics during some summers, and therefore the young Grand Duke knew him well and admired him enough to Cosimo II offer him a court position in , after Galileo had dedicated Sidereus Nuncius to him and his family.

After a bout of fever, in , Cosimo's health deteriorated, and he died in During the outbreak of the plague, in , Ferdinand distinguished himself, but he was not a strong ruler and was unable to protect Galileo from the Inquisition in In , together with his brother Leopold, Ferdinand established the Accademia del Cimento, or Academy of Experiment, a forerunner of more permanent scientific academies, such as the Royal Society of London and the Royal French Academy of Sciences The Accademia del Cimento stopped functioning in The Florentine and Tuscan economy had been slowly stagnating since the end of the sixteenth century.

Cosimo III's rule was one of incompetence and religious intolerance. Gian-Gastone's rule was too short to repair the damage. In , an arrangement was made between Austria, France, England, and the Netherlands that a swap should be made with Lorraine going to France and Tuscany to Austria in return.

In Austrian troops occupied Tuscany. One of Gian Gastone's last acts was to erect a memorial to Galileo in the church of Santa Croce and to inter Galileo remains there. During the transference, several parts of Galileo's skeleton were taken as relics by various people. Gian-Gastone had no male heir, and the House of Medici died with him. The Medici family dominated Florentine politics for two and a half centuries and presided over a cultural achievement that is equalled only by Athens in the golden age.

The family also got its genes mixed with those of most royal families in Europe. Maria's daughters became queens of Spain and England. Sources : J. After only two years in power, he was forced out of the city in , and died in exile. By the early s, few descendants of Cosimo the Elder remained. As Cosimo I, he established absolute power in the region, and his descendants would rule as grand dukes into the s. He also founded the Villa Medici at Rome and brought many priceless works of art to Florence.

When the last Medici grand duke, Gian Gastone, died without a male heir in , the family dynasty died with him. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Michelangelo was a sculptor, painter and architect widely considered to be one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance — and arguably of all time.

His work demonstrated a blend of psychological insight, physical realism and intensity never before seen. His contemporaries Known as the Renaissance, the period immediately following the Middle Ages in Europe saw a great revival of interest in the classical learning and values of ancient Greece and Rome. Against a backdrop of political stability and growing prosperity, the development of new Leonardo da Vinci was a painter, architect, inventor, and student of all things scientific.

The Romanov family was the last imperial dynasty to rule Russia. During the Russian Revolution According to Machiavelli, the ends always justify the means—no matter how cruel, calculating or immoral those means might be.