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Maria De' Medici (1540–1557)
Maria de' Medici (April 3, 1540 – November 19, 1557) was the eldest child of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Eleonora di Toledo. She was a member of the famous Medici family. Life She was engaged to Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara, but died at the age of seventeen, before the marriage could take place. She was educated with her brothers and was among the brightest of the children. When her brother Francesco didn't understand his Greek lesson, his tutors called on Maria to explain it to him. Maria kept herself somewhat aloof from her younger brothers and sisters. She grew into an elegant, highly educated, and decorous young woman. According to one unreliable legend, recounted in Edgcumbe Staley's ''The Tragedies of the Medici'', Maria was lovely and kept closely guarded from men, but managed to meet a young lover, Malatesta de' Malatesti, in secret. According to the story, she was stabbed in the heart by her father after he caught the young lovers together. Cosimo t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maria Salviati
Maria Salviati (17 July 1499 – 29 December 1543) was a Florentine noblewoman, the daughter of Lucrezia di Lorenzo de' Medici and Jacopo Salviati. She married Giovanni delle Bande Nere and was the mother of Cosimo I de Medici. Her husband died 30 November 1526, leaving her a widow at the age of 27. Salviati never remarried; after her husband's death she adopted the somber garb of a novice, which is how she is remembered today as numerous late portraits show her attired in black and white.For information on portraits of Maria Salviati see Carl Brandon Strehlke, ''Pontormo, Bronzino, and the Medici: The Transformation of the Renaissance Portrait in Florence'' ( Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2004) cats. 30 and 46. Life Maria Salviati was born in Florence. She descended from two of Florence's most powerful banking families: the Salviati on her father's side, and the de' Medici on her mother's. Her maternal grandfather was Lorenzo "il Magnifico". When her cousin, Alessandro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
García Álvarez De Toledo, 1st Duke Of Alba
García Álvarez de Toledo y Carrillo de Toledo, 1st Duke of Alba de Tormes ( – 20 June 1488) was a Spanish nobleman, military leader and politician, whose family had presided over the lands of Alba de Tormes since the year 1369. Biography He was the son of Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 1st Count of Alba de Tormes and of Mencía Carrillo de Toledo, Lady of Bercimuelle In 1470 The title of duke was granted to Garcia Alvarez de Toledo. In 1472, King Henry IV of Castile elevated the County of Alba de Tormes into a hereditary Duchy. The first Duke of Alba fought in the War of the Castilian Succession on the side of the future Queen Isabella I of Castille against her niece, Juana la Beltraneja. Marriage and issue In 1448, he married María Enríquez de Quiñones, daughter of Fadrique Enríquez, Admiral of Castile, with whom he had 5 sons and 4 daughters. A granddaughter, María de Toledo y Rojas, married Diego Colón, son of Christopher Columbus. They had the following chi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clarice Orsini
Clarice Orsini (1453–1488) was the daughter of Iacopo Orsini, and his wife and cousin Maddalena Orsini both from the Orsini family, a great Roman noble house and was the wife of Lorenzo de' Medici. Life Clarice and Lorenzo married 4 June 1469, with a four-day celebration. The marriage was arranged by Lorenzo's mother Lucrezia Tornabuoni, who wanted her eldest son to marry a woman from a noble family to enhance the social status of the Medicis. Their marriage was unusual for Florence at the time in that they were nearly the same age. Clarice's dowry was 6,000 florins. The political nature of her marriage meant that she was often called upon by each side of her family to influence the other. This included Lorenzo helping her brother Rinaldo get selected as Archbishop of Florence. She was also called on by others throughout the area to support their requests to her husband. People sought her support in the easing of taxes and releasing family members from exile or priso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lorenzo De' Medici
Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (; 1 January 1449 – 8 April 1492) was an Italian statesman, banker, ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Also known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (''Lorenzo il Magnifico'' ) by contemporary Florentines, he was a magnate, diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists, and poets. As a patron, he is best known for his sponsorship of artists such as Botticelli and Michelangelo. He 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. 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 Italian League of 1454. For these reasons, Lorenzo was the subject of the Pazzi conspi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucrezia Landriani
Lucrezia Landriani (born c. 1440 – living 17 August 1507) was the mistress of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan, and the mother of his renowned illegitimate daughter, Caterina Sforza, Lady of Imola, Countess of Forlì. Lucrezia had three other children by the Duke, and two by her husband. Biography Around 1450 Lucrezia married Cristoforo Lampugnani, son of Lucrezia Visconti and Giovanni Andrea Lampugnani. Later, she married Count Gian Piero Landriani, a courtier at the ducal court and a close friend of Galeazzo Maria Sforza (24 January 1444 – 26 December 1476), son of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan and Bianca Maria Visconti, Duchess of Milan. Galeazzo Maria would become Duke of Milan upon the death of his father on 8 March 1466. Lucrezia was born in Milan around 1440; nothing further, however, is known of her early years, or her parentage. A contemporary portrait of Lucrezia painted by Domenico Veneziano, shows her to have been quite beautiful, with blonde hair, blue ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galeazzo Maria Sforza
Galeazzo Maria Sforza (24 January 1444 – 26 December 1476) was the fifth Duke of Milan from 1466 until his assassination a decade later. He was notorious for being lustful, cruel, and tyrannical. He was born to Francesco Sforza, a popular condottiero and ally of Cosimo de' Medici who would gain the Duchy of Milan in 1450, and Bianca Maria Visconti. He married into the Gonzaga family; on the death of his first wife Dorotea Gonzaga, he married Bona of Savoy. Cruel and vengeful, he was "a man who did great follies and dishonest things not to write." Life Galeazzo Maria Sforza was born in Fermo, near the family's castle of Girifalco, the first son of Francesco Sforza and Bianca Maria Visconti. At the death of his father (8 March 1466), Galeazzo was in France at the head of a military expedition to help King Louis XI of France against Charles I of Burgundy. Called back home by his mother, Galeazzo returned to Italy by an adventurous trip under a false name. The false ident ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierfrancesco Di Lorenzo De' Medici
Pierfrancesco de' Medici the Elder (1430 – 19 July 1476) was an Italian nobleman, banker, diplomat, and a member of the House of Medici of Florence. Biography Born in Florence, he was the son of Lorenzo the Elder and Ginevra Cavalcanti, thus a nephew of Cosimo de' Medici and cousin to Piero the Gouty, ''de facto'' lords of the city from 1459. Pierfrancesco was orphaned in 1440 and was raised by his uncle Cosimo. He served the Republic of Florence as ambassador (to the pope in 1458 and to the Duchy of Mantua in 1463) and as ''Priore delle Arti'' ("Prior of the Guilds") in the Florentine municipal government (1459). After Cosimo's death (1464), Pierfrancesco was initially a supporter of Piero the Gouty, but later sided against him; he was among the conspirators who participated in Luca Pitti's failed coup in 1466. Forgiven by Piero, he thenceforth took care of the family bank. From his marriage with Laudomia di Agnolo Acciaioli he had two sons: Lorenzo (1463–1503) and Giov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fadrique Álvarez De Toledo, 2nd Duke Of Alba
Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo y Enríquez, 2nd Duke of Alva (in full, es, Don Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo y Enríquez de Quiñones, segundo Duque de Alba de Tormes, segundo marqués de Coria, conde de Salvatierra, señor del estado de Valdecorneja y del estado de Huéscar) ( – 19 October 1531) was a Spanish nobleman, military leader and politician. Life and career He was the eldest son of García Álvarez de Toledo, 1st Duke of Alba, and his wife, María Enríquez de Quiñones, daughter of Fadrique Enríquez de Mendoza and younger half-sister to Juana Enríquez, Queen of Aragon. Fadrique was very close to the Catholic Monarchs. His father had fought in the War of the Castilian Succession on the side of the future Queen Isabella I of Castille against her niece Juana la Beltraneja, and his mother was the younger half-sister of Juana Enríquez y Fernandez de Cordoba, making him the first cousin of Ferdinand II of Aragon. He participated in the conquest of Granada, and already as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucrezia De' Medici (1470–1553)
Lucrezia Maria Romola de' Medici (4 August 1470 – between 10 and 15 November 1553) was an Italian noblewoman, the eldest daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici and Clarice Orsini and mother of Maria Salviati and Giovanni Salviati. Her portrait was considered (as a newborn) as the baby Jesus in Our Lady of the Magnificat of Sandro Botticelli. Life She was married in February 1488 to Jacopo Salviati. She brought a dowry of 2000 florins to the marriage. When her brothers were exiled from Florence, she was in a difficult spot, as Jacopo was a supporter of the new rulers. In August 1497 she spent 3000 ducats to support a plot to return her brother Piero to power. When it failed, the men participating in the plot were executed, but the Francesco Valori, leader of Florence, could not consider harming a woman. She continued to work to build support for the Medici family, including negotiating the marriage of her niece, Clarice de' Medici (1493-1528), to Filippo Strozzi the Younger ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacopo Salviati
Jacopo Salviati (15 September 1461 – 6 September 1533) was a Florentine politician and son-in-law of Lorenzo de' Medici. On 10 September 1486 he married Lorenzo's daughter Lucrezia de' Medici, with whom he had ten children. The son of Giovanni Salviati and Maddalena Gondi, he devoted himself to the economic affairs of the family, becoming very wealthy. He then engaged in political life. He was Prior of the Guilds (see Guilds of Florence) in 1499 and 1518, then ''gonfaloniere'' of Justice in 1514. In 1513, he was appointed ambassador to Rome. When his brother-in-law was elected as Pope Leo X, Jacopo benefited significantly. He was granted a salt monopoly in Romagna, and became a high officer in the Vatican treasury. He earned an income from these of 15000 ducats each year. He tried to prevent the Siege of Florence (1529–1530), but without result, and was among the advisers of Pope Clement VII during his meeting with Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. In 1531, he was part of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caterina Sforza
Caterina Sforza (1463 – 28 May 1509) was an Italian noblewoman, the Countess of Forlì and Lady of Imola, firstly with her husband Girolamo Riario, and after his death as a regent of her son Ottaviano. Caterina was a noblewoman who lived a life maintaining her responsibilities with her family and power as a ruler in the courts. Her status and image was shaped by the masculine and feminine roles she took on throughout her lifetime as a ruler, wife, widow, and mother, in addition to the cultural activities she participated in during Renaissance Italy. The descendant of a dynasty of noted condottieri, from an early age, Caterina distinguished herself through her bold and impetuous actions taken to safeguard her possessions from possible usurpers and to defend her dominions from attack, when they were involved in political intrigues. In her private life, Caterina was devoted to various activities, including experiments in alchemy and a love of hunting, dancing, and horse riding. S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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