Lorenzo de' medici children
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A name synonymous with the Italian Renaissance, the Medici family arose from humble origins to rule Florence, sponsor artists, and dominate Florentine culture for nearly 300 years.
Their political contributions to Florence are rivaled if not exceeded by their patronage of a few of the Renaissance’s greatest artists, including Sandro Botticelli and Michelangelo.
The city of Florence, like a number of Italian city-states, came to power through conquest and commerce.
The Origins And History Of Medici Family
A relatively obscure city before the 12th century, Florence managed to grow and prosper despite both external conflicts, especially those the city inaugurated against her neighbors in an effort to control the territory around the Arno River; and internal conflicts, the greatest of which was the battle between rival sections of the Guelph family that began around 1300.
The power of Florence depended on trade, especially in wool, and banking. Those families who managed these sources of capital played an important part in ruling the city. While nobility and birth continued
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Catherine de Medici (1519 – 1589)
Catherine de Medici ©Italian-born French queen, regent and mother of three kings of France. She was a powerful influence in 16th century France, particularly during the Wars of Religion.
Caterina Maria Romola di Lorenzo de Medici was born in Florence on 13 April 1519. Her father was Lorenzo de Medici, Duke of Urbino and ruler of Florence and her mother was Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, cousin of Francis I, King of France.
Catherine's mother died when she was two-weeks-old and her father soon afterwards. In 1533, at the age of 14, Catherine's uncle Pope Clement VII arranged her marriage to the duke of Orléans, second son of the king of France.
A year after their marriage, the duke began a long affair with Diane de Poitiers. Diane remained a dominant force in his life for the next 25 years, leaving Catherine sidelined. It was not until ten years after their marriage that Catherine gave birth to their first child. This greatly improved the queen’s position and the couple eventually had seven surviving children.
In 1536, the duke of
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Lorenzo de' Medici
Italian statesman and de facto ruler of Florence (1449–1492)
For other uses, see Lorenzo de' Medici (disambiguation).
Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (Italian:[loˈrɛntsodeˈmɛːditʃi]), known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (Italian: Lorenzo il Magnifico; 1 January 1449 – 8 April 1492),[2] was an Italian statesman, the de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic, and the most powerful patron of Renaissance culture in Italy.[3][4][5] Lorenzo held the balance of power within the Italic League, an alliance of states that stabilized political conditions on the Italian Peninsula for decades, and his life coincided with the mature phase of the Italian Renaissance and the golden age of Florence.[6] As a patron, he is best known for his sponsorship of artists such as Botticelli and Michelangelo. On the foreign policy front, Lorenzo manifested a clear plan to stem the territorial ambitions of Pope Sixtus IV, in the name of the balance of the Italic League of 1454. For these reasons, Lorenzo was the subject of the
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