Il Duca di Firenze, rendered in English as The Duke of Florence, was a title created in 1532 by Pope Clement VII. There were effectively only two dukes, Alessandro de' Medici and Cosimo de' Medici, the second duke being elevated to The Grand Duke of Tuscany, causing the Florentine title to become subordinate to the greater Tuscan title. [1]
In 1532, Pope Clement VII, who was born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, appointed Alessandro de' Medici as duke over the Republic of Florence, the de' Medici family having acted as de facto rulers over the city of Florence since 1434 when Cosimo "Il Vecchio" de Medici (also known by his supporters as Pater Patriae, or "Father of his country"), returned to the city from his short-lived exile in the Republic of Venice by the Alberti and Strozzi families who were also political rivals of the Medici family. The duchy would bolster de' Medici power and influence in the region, which had just a few years prior been restored by Emperor Charles V after political upheaval against the de' Medici pope and de' Medici rulers of Florence in 1527. Alessandro is also believed by historians to have been the illegitimate son of either Pope Clement VII or Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino. [1] [2]
In 1535, a delegation of Florentine nobles, which included the Pazzi family who previously conspired to assassinate Lorenzo de' Medici and was headed by Alessandro’s cousin Ippolito de' Medici, sought to gain the assistance of Emperor Charles V & I to depose Alessandro. Charles rejected the delegations’ appeals, as Alessandro had been wedded to the emperor's daughter Margaret of Parma. [1]
Alessandro ruled as duke less than four years, being assassinated by Lorenzino de' Medici on 6 January 1537. With no legitimate issue, Cosimo de' Medici was chosen to succeed his distant relative by Florentine officials. Cosimo completely overhauled the bureaucracy and administration of Florence, and, in 1542, the Imperial Armed Forces stationed in Florence by Charles V & I were withdrawn. [1]
On 17 April 1555, Florentine and Spanish forces occupied the Republic of Siena after a brief conflict. Philip II of Spain bestowed the territory on Cosimo as a hereditary fiefdom in July 1557. In 1548, Cosimo purchased Elba from the Republic of Genoa and based his new developing navy there. Cosimo founded the port city of Livorno and allowed the city’s inhabitants to enjoy freedom of religion. The ducal family moved into the Palazzo Pitti in 1560. Cosimo commissioned the architect Vasari to build the Uffizi as offices for the Medici bank. Finally, Cosimo was elevated to The Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1569 by Pope Saint Pius V. This effectively ended the Duchy of Florence, which became subordinate to the more elevated grand ducal title. The de' Medici continued to rule over Florence and Tuscany until their extinction in 1737 after the death of Gian Gastone de' Medici, who had no children. [1]
Pope Leo XI, born Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici, was Pope from 1 to 27 April 1605. His pontificate is one of the briefest in history having lasted under a month. He was from the prominent House of Medici originating from Florence. Medici's mother opposed his entering the priesthood and sought to prevent it by having him given secular honours, but after her death he eventually was ordained a priest in 1567. In his career he served as Florence's ambassador to the pope, Bishop of Pistoia, Archbishop of Florence, papal legate to France, and as the cardinal Prefect for the Congregation of the Bishops and Religious. He was elected to the papacy in the March 1605 papal conclave and served as pope for 27 days.
Alessandro de' Medici called "il Moro" due to his dark complexion, Duke of Penne and also Duke of Florence, was ruler of Florence from 1531 to his death in 1537. The first Medici to rule Florence as a hereditary monarch, Alessandro was also the last Medici from the senior line of the family to lead the city. His assassination at the hands of a distant cousin, Lorenzaccio, caused the duchy of Florence to pass to Cosimo I de Medici, from the family's junior branch.
Tuscany is named after its pre-Roman inhabitants, the Etruscans. It was ruled by Rome for many centuries. In the Middle Ages, it saw many invasions, but in the Renaissance period it helped lead Europe back to civilization. Later, it settled down as a grand duchy. It was conquered by Napoleonic France in the late 18th century and became part of the Italian Republic in the 19th century.
Cosimo III de' Medici was the penultimate (sixth) Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany. 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 ultra-reactionary laws which regulated prostitution and banned May celebrations. His reign also witnessed Tuscany's deterioration to previously unknown economic lows. He was succeeded by his elder surviving son, Gian Gastone, when he died, in 1723.
Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1587 to 1609, having succeeded his older brother Francesco I.
Luca Pitti (1398–1472) was a Florentine banker during the period of the republic presided over by Cosimo de' Medici. He was a loyal friend and servant to the Medici and the republic. He was awarded a knighthood, and received lavish presents from both the Signory of Firenze and the Medici family as a reward for helping maintain the government during the last years of Cosimo's rule when Cosimo was too old and feeble to maintain power alone.
Eleanor of Toledo (Italian: Eleonora di Toledo, born Doña Leonor Álvarez de Toledo y Osorio, was a Spanish noblewoman who was the wife of Cosimo I de' Medici and the Duchess of Florence. Although Eleanor is often referred to as the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, she predeceased the creation of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. She is credited with being the first modern first lady, or consort. She served as regent of Florence during the absence of her spouse.
Vittoria della Rovere was Grand Duchess of Tuscany as the wife of Grand Duke Ferdinando II. She had four children with her husband, two of whom would survive infancy: the future Cosimo III, Tuscany's longest-reigning monarch, and Francesco Maria, a prince of the Church. At the death of her grandfather Francesco Maria della Rovere, she inherited the duchy of Urbino which reverted to her second son, Francesco Maria, at her death. She was later entrusted with the care of her three grandchildren. Her marriage brought a wealth of treasures to the House of Medici, which can today be seen in the Palazzo Pitti and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Filippo Strozzi the Younger was a Florentine banker, and the most famous member of the Strozzi family in the Renaissance. He is best remembered as a tragic hero and defender of the lost Florentine republic against the Medici dukes – yet this is almost entirely a nineteenth-century fiction of nationalist historians and dramatists. He had been one of the staunchest supporters of the Medici in Florence and Rome.
The Order of Saint Stephen is a Roman Catholic Tuscan dynastic military order founded in 1561. The order was created by Cosimo I de' Medici, first Grand Duke of Tuscany. The last member of the Medici dynasty to be a leader of the order was Gian Gastone de Medici in 1737. The order was permanently abolished in 1859 by the annexation of Tuscany to the Kingdom of Sardinia. The former Kingdom of Italy and the current Italian Republic also did not recognize the order as a legal entity but tolerates it as a private body.
The Grand Ducal Crown of Tuscany was a ducal crown created by the Medicean Grand Dukes of Tuscany.
Bindo Altoviti (1491-1557) of the House of Altoviti was one of the most influential papal bankers of his generation and patron to the arts cultivating close friendships with artists as Vasari, Cellini, Raphael and Michelangelo
Antonio Altoviti was an Italian Catholic archbishop, son of Bindo Altoviti and archbishop of Florence from 1548 to 1573.