Alessandro de' Medici.

Alessandro de' Medici (July 22, 1510 – January 6, 1537) called "il Moro" ("the Moor"), Duke of Penne and also Duke of Florence (from 1532), ruler of Florence from 1530 until 1537. Though illegitimate, he was the last member of the "senior" branch of the Medici to rule Florence and the first to be a hereditary duke. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2024x2487, 334 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Alessandro de Medici, Duke of Florence War of the League of Cognac Siege of Florence (1529-1530) ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2024x2487, 334 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Alessandro de Medici, Duke of Florence War of the League of Cognac Siege of Florence (1529-1530) ... is the 203rd day of the year (204th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1510 (MDX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 6 - Alessandro de Medici assassinated August 25 - The Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior, was formed. ... For other uses, see moor. ... This article is about the nobility title. ... For other uses, see Penne (disambiguation). ... Unofficial Medici Rulers of Florence, 1434-1531 Cosimo de Medici 1434-1464 Piero I de Medici 1464-1469 (The Gouty) Lorenzo I de Medici 1469-1492 (The Magnificent) Giuliano de Medici 1469-1478 Piero II de Medici 1492-1494 Republic restored 1494-1512 Cardinal Giovanni de Medici 1512-1513 Lorenzo... Events May 16 - Sir Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England. ... Florence (or Firenze, Florentia and Fiorenza) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany, and of the province of Florence. ... June 25 - Augsburg confession presented to Charles V of Holy Roman Empire. ... Events January 6 - Alessandro de Medici assassinated August 25 - The Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior, was formed. ... For the board game, see Medici (board game). ...

Life

Born in Florence, he was recognized as the illegitimate son of Lorenzo II de' Medici (grandson of Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent), but many scholars today believe him to be in fact the illegitimate son of Giulio de' Medici (later Pope Clement VII)- nephew of Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent. Historians (such as Christopher Hibbert) believe he had been born to a black serving-woman in the Medici household, identified in documents as Simonetta da Collavechio. The nickname is said to derive from his features (Hibbert 1999: 236). Lorenzo di Piero de Medici (September 9, 1492 - May 4, 1519), Duke of Urbino, grandson of Lorenzo the Magnificent; he was ruler of Florence from 1513 to his untimely death in 1519. ... For other uses, see Lorenzo de Medici (disambiguation). ... For the antipope (1378_1394) see Antipope Clement VII. Clement VII, né Giulio di Giuliano de Medici (1478 – September 25, 1534) was pope from 1523 to 1534. ... For the antipope (1378–1394) see antipope Clement VII. Pope Clement VII (May 26, 1478 – September 25, 1534), born Giulio di Giuliano de Medici, was a cardinal from 1513 to 1523 and was Pope from 1523 to 1534. ... For other uses, see Lorenzo de Medici (disambiguation). ...

The Emblem of Alessandro de' Medici, based on Dürer's Rhinoceros, with the motto "Non buelvo sin vencer" (old Spanish for "I shall not return without victory").^[1] (From Paolo Giovio's Dialogo dell'impresse militari et amorosi, 1557.)

When Emperor Charles V sacked Rome in 1527, the Florentines took advantage of the turmoil in Italy to reinstall the Republic; both Alessandro and Ippolito fled, along with the rest of the Medici and their main supporters, including the Pope's regent, Cardinal Silvio Passerini, with the exception of the eight-year-old Caterina de' Medici, who was left behind. Michelangelo, then occupied in creating a funerary chapel for the Medici, initially took charge of building fortifications around Florence in support of the Republic; he later temporarily fled the city. Clement eventually made his peace with the Emperor, and with the support of Imperial troops, the Republic was overwhelmed after a lengthy siege, and the Medici were restored to power in the summer of 1530. Clement assigned Florence to nineteen-year-old Alessandro, who had been made a duke, an appointment that was purchased from Charles. He arrived in Florence to take up his rule on July 5, 1531, and was created hereditary Duke of Florence 9 months later by the Emperor (for Tuscany lay outside the Papal States), there by signalling the end of the Republic (Hibbert 1999: 250–252; and Schevill 1936: 482, 513–514). This article is on the first Duke of Florence. ... Dürers Rhinoceros is the name commonly given to a woodcut created by German painter and wood carver Albrecht Dürer in 1515. ... Charles (February 24, 1500 – September 21, 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor (as Charles V) from 1519-1558; he was also King of Spain from 1516-1556, officially as Charles I of Spain, although often referred to as Charles V (Carlos Quinto or Carlos V) in Spain and Latin America. ... January 5 - Felix Manz, co-founder of the Swiss Anabaptists, was drowned in the Limmat in Zürich by the Zürich Reformed state church. ... Ippolito de Medici (1511-1535) was the illegitimate only son of Cardinal Giuliano de Medici. ... Cardinal Silvio Passerini (1469‑1529) was taken under the wing of the powerful Florentine Medici family, after his father, Rosado, was imprisoned for too openly supporting the Medici cause during one of the reversals of power in Quattrocento Florence. ... Catherine de Medici (April 13, 1519 – January 5, 1589) was born in Florence, Italy, as Caterina Maria Romola di Lorenzo de Medici. ... For other uses, see Michelangelo (disambiguation). ... For the board game, see Medici (board game). ... June 25 - Augsburg confession presented to Charles V of Holy Roman Empire. ... is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... January 26 - Lisbon, Portugal is hit by an earthquake - thousands die. ...

His many enemies among the exiles helped establish a contemporary assessment that his rule was harsh, debased and incompetent, an assessment about which there is debate among later historians. One relic of his rule sometimes pointed out as a symbol of Medici oppression is the massive Fortezza da Basso, today the largest historical monument of Florence. In 1535 the Florentine opposition sent his cousin Ippolito to appeal to Charles V against some actions of the Duke, but Ippolito died en route; rumors were spread that he had been poisoned at Alessandro's orders (Hibbert 1999: 254). For the board game, see Medici (board game). ... Florence (or Firenze, Florentia and Fiorenza) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany, and of the province of Florence. ... pie is nice Year 1535 was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... Charles (February 24, 1500 – September 21, 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor (as Charles V) from 1519-1558; he was also King of Spain from 1516-1556, officially as Charles I of Spain, although often referred to as Charles V (Carlos Quinto or Carlos V) in Spain and Latin America. ...

In a late replay of the kind of medieval civil politics that had long revolved around pope and emperor, commune and lord, the Emperor supported Alessandro against the republicans. In 1533, he married his natural daughter Margaret of Austria to Alessandro. For his own inclinations, Alessandro seems to have remained faithful to one mistress, Taddea Malespina, who bore his only children. Events January 25 - King Henry VIII of England marries Anne Boleyn, his second Queen consort. ... Margaret of Parma (28 December 1522 - 18 January 1586), duchess of Parma and regent of the Netherlands from 1559 to 1567, was the illegitimate daughter of Charles V. Her mother, Johanna Maria van der Gheynst, a servant of Charles de Lalaing, Seigneur de Montigny, was a Fleming. ...

Death

Portrait of Alessandro de' Medici in the Uffizi.

Medici coat of arms

Four years later his distant cousin Lorenzino de' Medici, nick-named "Lorenzaccio" ("bad Lorenzino"), assassinated him. Lorenzino entrapped Alessandro through the ruse of a promised arranged sexual encounter with Lorenzino's sister Laudomia, a beautiful widow. For fear of starting an uprising if news of his death got out, Medici officials wrapped Alessandro's corpse in a carpet and secretly carried it to the cemetery of San Lorenzo, where it was hurriedly buried. The narrow courtyard between the Uffizis two wings creates the effect of a short, idealized street. ... Image File history File links Armoiries_Médicis. ... Image File history File links Armoiries_Médicis. ... Lorenzino de Medici (March 23, 1514 - February 26, 1548, also spelled Lorenzaccio de Medici) was an Italian writer remembered primarily as the assassin of Alessandro de Medici, duke and ruler of Florence. ...

Lorenzino in a declaration published later, killed Allesandro for the sake of the republic. When the anti-Medici faction failed to rise, Lorenzino fled to Venice, where he was killed in 1548. The Medici supporters (called "Palleschi" from the balls on the Medici arms) ensured that power then passed to Cosimo I de' Medici, the first of the "junior" branch of the Medici to rule Florence. For other uses, see Venice (disambiguation). ... Events Mary I of Scotland sent to France Births September 2 - Vincenzo Scamozzi, Italian architect (died 1616) September 29 - William V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1626) Francesco Andreini, Italian actor (died 1624) Giordano Bruno, Italian philosopher, astronomer, and occultist (burned at the stake) 1600 (died 1600) Honda Tadakatsu, Japanese general... For the board game, see Medici (board game). ... For the board game, see Medici (board game). ... Cosimo I de Medici in Armour by Agnolo Bronzino Cosimo I de Medici (June 12, 1519 – April 21, 1574) was the first Grand Duke of Tuscany, ruling from 1537 to 1574, during the waning days of the Renaissance. ... For the board game, see Medici (board game). ... Florence (or Firenze, Florentia and Fiorenza) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany, and of the province of Florence. ...

Alessandro was survived by two natural children of Taddea's: a son, Giulio (age four at the time of his father's death)married to Lucrezia Gaetani, and a daughter, Giulia married firstly to Francesco Cantelmo, the Count of Alvito and the Duke of Popoli snd then Bernadetto de' Medici, prince of Ottaiano; their descendants include most of the royal houses of Europe-Hapsburg and Bonaparte. Giulio de Medici (ca. ... Giulia di Alessando de Medici (ca. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Habsburg (sometimes spelled Hapsburg, but never so in official use) was one of the major ruling houses of Europe. ... The original arms of the Buonapartes Bonaparte is a French family name that is of Italian origin. ...

External links

• Alessandro de Medici PBS online page discussing his ancestry, and his heirs (Note: this article is known to contain at least one elementary error, involving the well-known Medici tombs.). Updated in A View on Race and the Art World.

Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ...

References

• Hibbert, Christopher (1999). The House of Medici, Its Rise and Fall. 
• Schevill (1936). History of Florence.