House of Medici

Golden Age of Florence

Medici Family Coat of Arms

Medici Family Tree• Notable family figures

included:– One Cardinal– Two Popes– Three Gonfaloniers

(Head of Florence)– One Queen of France– Three (at least)

illegitimate sons– Four Dukes– People with REALLY

long names too hard to pronounce

Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici

• Set up a banking business with branches in sixteen European capitals.

• Caused his family rise from the middle class to become the richest family in Italy, and possibly all of Europe.

• First Gonfalonier of the Medici family.• Used his power in the Signory to benefit

the poor, which in turn angered the rich.

Cosimo il Vecchio de’ Medici(Cosimo the Elder)

• As a boy, he had the best education available in the 14th Century.

• After his father died, he was banished by the Albizzi family, but returned and had them banished, a practice he used frequently to maintain power.

• Believed in a balance of power between the five powerful Italian states: Florence, Milan, Naples, Rome, and Venice.

Cosimo’s Cultural Contributions

• Educated as a Humanist.

• Set up a Neo-Platonic acadamy.

• Patronized Artists frequently.

• Spent a lot of his family money on carititable acts, including a public library, the biggest of its time.

• Near the end of his life, he became a devout Catholic.

Piero il Gottoso de’ Medici

• Had a magnanimous character, but being crippled with illness, was limited in what he could do for his state.

• Although not very strong, as he grew older, he gained much support from the Florence populace.

• Continued the stability in Florence set up by his father Cosimo.

Lorenzo “il magnifico”

• At the death of his father, Lorenzo became co ruler of Florence with his brother, Giuliano. He was only twenty at the time.

• Pazzi Conspiracy: The Pazzi family, with the Archbishop of Pisa and his patron, Pope Sixtus IV, attacked Lorenzo and his brother and co-ruler Giuliano in the cathedral of Florence, a terrible sacrilege. Their aim: bring down the Medici and put in a nephew of the pope. – The conspirators succeeded in killing Giuliano, but Lorenzo,

though stabbed, lived. – The conspiracy was brutally put down (against the express

request of Lorenzo), including the lynching of the Archbishop Salviati (from another family in the conspiracy).

Consequences:• Punishment of the Pope's supporters for their part in the

conspiracy– Those directly involved in Giuliano’s death were executed; others hunted

down and killed– In return, the Pope was livid.

• seized all the Medici assets he could find, • excommunicated Lorenzo and the entire government of Florence• put the city under interdict.

– The interdiction ignored, the Pope allied with King Ferrante of Naples to attack Florence, lead by the King's son, Alfonso, of Calabria

– The Florentines promptly excommunicated the Pope, and Lorenzo rallied the citizens.

• Fighting between the pope and his armies and Florence– Continued with little help from traditional Medici allies, Bologna and Milan

(because of power struggles among the Sforza—Milan’s rulers– Deft diplomacy by Lorenzo, who personally traveled to Naples, ended

the war, further increasing his popularity with the Florentines. – Lorenzo’s success enabled him to secure constitutional changes in

Florence that enhanced his power.

Lorenzo the Magnificent, continued• After the Pazzi Conspiracy, was forced to

tighten his hold on Florence to keep power.• Although a tyrant, Lorenzo maintained stability,

including keeping the five states unified to defend against a French Invasion.

• Near the end of his life, he was not successful in business; – several branches of the family bank collapsed

because of bad loans. – Later because of his financial difficulties, Lorenzo

resorted to misappropriating trust and state funds.

• Partly because of his corruption, the Florentine state was in near bankruptcy when Lorenzo died.

• Toward the end of his life, Lorenzo helped bring Savonarola to Florence from exile though the priest believed that Lorenzo and the Florentines were sinful because they strayed into Greco-Roman culture. Savonarola disliked art and music - two things that Lorenzo admired.

Savonarola• Born 1452 to an aristocratic family, he

became a Dominican monk in Bologna and was sent to preach throughout Italy

• 1489: Savonarola settled at the monastery of San Marco, in Florence, where his excellent preaching against the corruption, sensuality, immorality, and excesses of the Renaissance culture of the city drew enormous crowds.

• Lorenzo greatly respected him because of his sincerity, honesty and simple faith..

• Once Lorenzo died, Savonarola’s warnings of disaster and criticisms of Medici rule increased:

• When Charles VIII of France, invited by Sforza rulers of Milan, invaded Italy, he was hailed, even by Savonarola, as one who would cleanse Florence of the corruption and sensuality.

• Charles, forced to leave Florence because of French arrogance and the behavior of his soldiers, put Savonarola in charge of the government of Florence– The republic of Florence was to be an almost democratic Christian

commonwealth, of which God was the sole sovereign, and His Gospel the law:

– the most stringent enactments were made for the repression of vice and frivolity.

• Gambling was prohibited.• Vanities of dress were restrained by sumptuary laws. • Gangs of youth went around the streets enforcing these stringent laws

• Savonarola’s “Bonfire of the Vanities”– His party sent boys from door to door collecting items associated with moral

laxity: mirrors, cosmetics, “lewd” pictures, pagan books, gaming tables, fine dresses, and the works of immoral poets, and burnt them all in a large pile in the Piazza de la Signoria(City Hall) of Florence.

– Fine Florentine Renaissance artwork was lost in Savonarola's notorious bonfires, including paintings by Botticelli thrown in by the artist himself.

– Even the women flocked to the public square to fling down their costliest ornaments

– When one bonfire resulted in a violent riot, Savonarola’s rule began to falter.

• Savonarola equally attacked the Borgia pope’s (Alexander VI) corruption and sensuality – The pope summoned him to Rome to answer charges of

heresy; he refused to appear, so he was forbidden to preach and had to hole up in the monastery in Florence

– He returned to the pulpit despite opposition of the pope– In 1497 came a sentence of excommunication from the

pope; and thus precluded from administering the sacred offices, Savonarola zealously tended the sick monks during the plague

Savonarola’s Downfall• The Franciscans, jealous, and with papal support, challenged

Savonarola’s rule– They set up a trial by fire: a representative of Savonarola and a

representative Franciscan would walk through fire; whoever walked through unscathed would be declared right

– However, fighting over procedures resulted in cancellation of the public “trial by ordeal.” Savonarola lost prestige and public support.

• Finally Alexander VI moved against Florence; the people, no longer caring what happened to Savonarola, invited back the Medicis to rule

• Trial and Execution– Savonarola was brought to trial for falsely claiming to have seen

visions, and uttered prophecies, for religious error, and for sedition. – Under torture he confessed; he afterwards withdrew his admissions.– He was declared guilty and the sentence was confirmed by Rome. On

May 23, 1498, he and two Dominican disciples were hanged and burned in front of the city hall in Florence, still professing their adherence to the Church.

Lorenzo’s Cultural Achievements• Benefited the Arts greatly with the family money,

setting up the Golden Age of Florence.• Wrote poetry, and served as sponsoring patron to

many different artists, including da Vinci, Donatello, Botticelli, and Michelangelo.

• Lorenzo de' Medici died peacefully during the night of April 8th/9th, 1492, at the long-time family villa of Careggi.

• Lorenzo summoned Savonarola to his death bed seeking absolution, but the priest damned Lorenzo, commanding him to confess his sins, indecencies and pride, and to give the Florentines back their liberty. Lorenzo turned his face to the wall to avoid the verbal abuse. As Lorenzo died, the tower of the church of Santa Reparata was allegedly struck by lightning.

Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici

• Blunder at Charles VIII’s Invasion– Shortly after he took over as leader of Florence in

1492, – Charles VIII of France entered Italy in 1494 with a

large army, on his way to Naples to claim the throne, but also to support Lodovico Sforza, il Moro, ex-Regent of Milan, who wished to eject his nephew and replace him as Duke.

– After settling matters in Milan, Charles moved towards Naples, and needed both to pass through Tuscany (Florence), as well as leave troops there to secure his lines of communication.

– Piero attempted to stay neutral, but this was unacceptable to Charles, who invaded Tuscany. Piero attempted a resistance, but did not receive much support from Florence, which was suffering from the influence of Savonarola; even Piero’s cousins deserted to Charles.

• Piero therefore quickly gave up as Charles' army neared Florence, giving Charles everything he demanded, without making any attempt to negotiate better terms.

– The resultant fury in Florence led to the Medici family fleeing, after which the family palazzo was looted.

– The Republic of Florence (with Savonarola the power behind the ruling council) was re-established,

– The Medici family was formally exiled, to wander through the states of Italy and Europe.

• Some years later, in 1503, as the French and Spanish continued their struggle in Italy over the Naples, Piero was drowned in a river, while attempting to flee the aftermath of a battle which the French (with whom he was allied) had lost.

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Decline of the Medicis

• Piero’s son was restored to Florence.

• His son, Lorenzo, did not have a male heir (but his daughter became Queen of France and mother to three French kings).

• Medicis were then expelled again, until Lorenzo’s illegitimate son was restored by outside nations.

Cosimo de Medici(Cosimo I)

• Took power by force after Alessandro was murdered.

• Descendant of a brother to Cosimo the Elder.

• Although he created stability, he took away Florence’s freedom.

• Started as Duke of Florence, and later was named Duke of Tuscany after he invaded.

• Reorganized the government, and created an army.

• Governed Florence throughout his life as absolutist ruler.

• His descendants remained Dukes of Tuscany in an unbroken line for many centuries.