The House of Medici was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici and his son Lorenzo "the Magnificent" during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of Tuscany, and prospered gradually in trade until it was able to fund the Medici Bank. This bank was the largest in Europe in the 1400s and facilitated the Medicis' rise to political power in Florence, although they officially remained citizens rather than monarchs until the 16th century.
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 19th Baron de Ros, was an English statesman and poet who exerted considerable political power during the reign of Charles II of England.
Sir Charles Lucas, 1613 to 28 August 1648, was a professional soldier from Essex, who served as a Royalist cavalry leader during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Taken prisoner at the end of the First English Civil War in March 1646, he was released after swearing not to fight against Parliament again, an oath he broke when the Second English Civil War began in 1648. As a result, he was executed following his capture at the Siege of Colchester in August 1648, and became a Royalist martyr after the 1660 Stuart Restoration.
Gian Gastone de' Medici was the seventh and last Medicean grand duke of Tuscany.
Sir Henry Wotton was an English author, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1614 and 1625. When on a mission to Augsburg in 1604, he famously said "An ambassador is an honest gentleman sent to lie abroad for the good of his country".
Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton was an important English aristocrat and courtier. He was suspected throughout his life of being Roman Catholic, and went through periods of royal disfavour, in which his reputation suffered greatly. He was distinguished for learning, artistic culture and his public charities. He built Northumberland House in London and superintended the construction of the fine house of Audley End. He founded and planned several hospitals. Francis Bacon included three of his sayings in his Apophthegms, and chose him as "the learnedest councillor in the kingdom to present to the king his Advancement of Learning." After his death, it was discovered that he had been involved in the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury.
Cosimo III de' Medici was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1670 until his death in 1723, the sixth and penultimate from the House of Medici. He reigned from 1670 to 1723, and was the elder son of Grand Duke Ferdinando II. Cosimo's 53-year-long reign, the longest in Tuscan history, was marked by a series of laws that regulated prostitution and May celebrations. His reign also witnessed Tuscany's deterioration to previously unknown economic lows.
Charles Stewart, 3rd Duke of Richmond KG was an English peer who was the fourth cousin of Charles II of England, being both descended in the male line from John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox.
George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth PC was an English Royal Navy officer and peer who was appointed Admiral of the Fleet by James II of England in September 1688. However, he failed to intercept a Dutch invasion force under William III that landed at Torbay on 5 November 1688 and was dismissed following the Glorious Revolution.
Sir George Lisle was a professional soldier from London who briefly served in the later stages of the Eighty and Thirty Years War, then fought for the Royalists during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Captured at Colchester in August 1648, he was condemned to death by a Parliamentarian court martial and executed by firing squad along with his colleague Charles Lucas.
Gascoigne is a British surname of Old French origin, the regional name of Gascony. The surname first appears on record in England in the early 13th century. Gascoigne or Gascoine may refer to:
Matthew Wren was an English politician and writer. He is now known as an opponent of James Harrington, and a monarchist who made qualified use of the ideas of Thomas Hobbes.
Richard Neville DL served in the English Civil War as a Royalist. He came to prominence as commander at the First Battle of Newbury in 1643 when he commanded the Royalist troops.
Lorenzo Magalotti was an Italian philosopher, author, diplomat and poet.
Sir John Rolle, KB, of Stevenstone, Devon, was an English landowner, Sheriff of Devon in 1682 and MP for Barnstaple (1660) and for Devon (1661–1679). The Travel Journal of Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1642-1723) states of him: "This gentleman is one of the richest in the country, having an estate of six thousand pounds sterling per annum, besides a considerable property in ready money".
The Altoviti are a prominent noble family of Florence, Italy. Since the medieval period they were one of the most distinguished banking and political families appointed to the highest offices of the Republic of Florence, friends and patrons of Galileo Galilei, Vasari, Raphael, and Michelangelo. They had a close personal relationship with the papacy. Through a predominant endogamous marriage policy they established alliances with dynasties of principal and papal nobility as the Medici, Cybo, Rospigliosi, Sacchetti, Corsini, and Aldobrandini.
