Medici

The Medici family was a powerful and influential Florentine family, whose capital derived from the textile trade guided by the guild of the Arte della Lana. Becoming bankers, later politicians, clergy and nobles, the Medici attained their greatest prominence in the Renaissance as members became key characters, during the 15th and 16th centuries. The male line of the Medici was extinct in 1737 (see below). The so-called "senior" branch of the family, those descended from Piero de' Medici (the Gouty) (and thereafter from his son Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent), ruled until the assassination of Alessandro de' Medici (the Moor) in 1537. Thereafter, power passed to the so-called "junior" branch, those descended from Lorenzo de' Medici (the Elder), starting with his great-great-grandson Cosimo I de' Medici.

Table of contents

1 Notable members were: 2 Medici family tree 1360 to 1675: 3 Further reading

Notable members were:

\n* Cosimo de' Medici (the Elder) (1389-1464), founder of the Medici political dynasty\n* Lorenzo de' Medici (the Magnificent) (1449-1492), leader of Florence during the Golden Age of the Renaissance\n* Giovanni de' Medici (1475-1523), would become Pope Leo X\n* Giulio de' Medici (1478-1534), would become Pope Clement VII\n* Cosimo I de' Medici (1519-1574), first Grand Duke of Tuscany, restored the Medici lustre\n* Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589), queen of France\n* Maria de' Medici (1573-1642), queen and regent of France

Medici family tree 1360 to 1675:

Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (1360-1464)\n |\n +-Cosimo de' Medici (the Elder) (1389-1464)\n | |\n | +-Piero I de' Medici (the Gouty) (1416-1469), Lord of Florence\n | | |\n | | +-Giuliano de' Medici (1453-1478)\n | | | |\n | | | +-Giulio de' Medici (1478-1534), Pope Clement VII\n | | |   |\n | | |   +-Alessandro de' Medici (the Moor) (1511-1537), Duke of Tuscany\n | | |     |\n | | |     + Giulio de' Medici (ca. 1533-1600)\n | | |     |\n | | |     + Giulia de' Medici (ca. 1535-??)\n | | |\n | | +-Lorenzo de' Medici (the Magnificent) (1449-1492), Lord of Florence\n | |   |\n | |   +-Lucrezia de' Medici (1470-1550)\n | |   | |\n | |   | +-Maria Salviati (1499-1543), wife of Giovanni dalle bande nere (see below)\n | |   | |\n | |   | +-Francesca Salviati\n | |   |   |\n | |   |   +- Alessandro de' Medici (1535-1605), Pope Leo XI\n | |   |\n | |   +-Piero II de' Medici (the Unfortunate) (1472-1503), Lord of Florence\n | |   | |\n | |   | +-Lorenzo II de' Medici (1492-1519), Duke of Urbino\n | |   |   |\n | |   |   +-Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589), wife of Henry II of France\n | |   |\n | |   +-Maddalena de' Medici (1473-1528)\n | |   |\n | |   +-Giovanni de' Medici (1475-1521), Pope Leo X\n | |   |\n | |   +-Giuliano de' Medici (1479-1516), Duke of Nemours\n | |   |   |\n | |   |   +-Ippolito de' Medici (1511-1535), Cardinal\n | |   |\n | |   +-Contessina de' Medici (??-1515), wife of Piero Ridolfi\n | |\n | +-Giovanni de' Medici (1421-1483)\n | |\n | +-Carlo de' Medici (1430-1492)\n |\n +-Lorenzo de' Medici (the Elder) (1395-1464)\n   |\n   +-Pierfrancesco de' Medici (the Elder) (1430-1476)\n     |\n     +-Lorenzo the Popolano (1463-1503), Lord of Piombino\n     | |\n     | +-Pierfrancesco de' Medici (the Younger) (1487-1525)\n     |   |\n     |   +-Laudomia de' Medici\n     |   |\n     |   +-Lorenzino de' Medici (1514-1548) (also called Lorenzaccio)\n     |   |\n     |   +-Giuliano the Medici (ca. 1520-1588)\n     |   |\n     |   +-Maddalena de' Medici (?-1583)\n     |\n     +-Giovanni the Popolano (1467-1498)\n       |\n       +-Giovanni dalle Bande Nere (1498-1526)\n         |\n         +-Cosimo I de' Medici (1519-1574), Grand duke of Tuscany\n           |\n           +-Francesco I de' Medici (1541-1587), Grand duke of Tuscany\n           | |\n           | +-Eleanora de' Medici (1567-1611)\n           | |\n           | +-Maria de' Medici (1573-1642), wife of Henry IV of France\n           | |\n           | +-Antonio de' Medici (1576-1621)\n           |\n           +-Isabella de' Medici (1542-1576)\n           |\n           +-Giovanno de' Medici (1543-1562), bishop of Pisa and cardinal\n           |\n           +-Lucretia de' Medici (1545-1562), wife of Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrana and Modena\n           |\n           +-Ferdinando I de' Medici (1549-1609), Grand duke of Tuscany\n           | |\n           | +-Cosimo II de' Medici (1590-1621), Grand duke of Tuscany\n           | | |\n           | | +-Ferdinando II de' Medici (1610-1670), Grand duke of Tuscany\n           | | | |\n           | | | +-Cosimo III de' Medici (1642-1723), Grand duke of Tuscany\n           | | |   |\n           | | |   +-Ferdinando III de' Medici (1663-1713)\n           | | |   |\n           | | |   +-Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici (1667-1743)\n           | | |   |\n           | | |   +-Gian Gastone de' Medici (1671-1737), Grand duke of Tuscany\n           | | |\n           | | +-Giovanno Carlo de' Medici (1611-1663), Bishop of Sabina\n           | | |\n           | | +-Margherita de' Medici (1617-1675), wife of Odoardo I Farnese, count of Parma\n           | | |\n           | | +-Anna de' Medici (1616-1676), wife of archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria\n           | | |\n           | | +-Leopoldo de' Medici (1617-1675), Cardinal\n           | |\n           | +-Claudia de' Medici (1604-1648), wife of archduke Leopold V of Austria\n           |\n           +-Pietro de' Medici (1554-1604)\n           |\n           +-Virginia de' Medici (1568-1615), wife of Cesare d'Este, Duke of Modena

Further reading

\n* Christopher Hibbert, The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall (Morrow-Quill, 1980) is an excellent and highly readable overall history of the family\n* Ferdinand Schevill, History of Florence: From the Founding of the City Through the Renaissance (Frederick Ungar, 1936) is the standard overall history of Florence