Giulio de' Medici ( 1533–1598) was the illegitimate son of

Alessandro de' Medici Alessandro is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Alexander. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Alessandro * Alessandro Allori (1535–1607), Italian portrait painter * Alessandro Baricco ...

, the

Duke of Florence The ''Duca della Repubblica Fiorentina'', rendered in English as Duke of the Florentine Republic or Duke of the Republic of Florence, was a title created in 1532 by Pope Clement VII for the Medici family (his own family), which ruled the Republic ...

, and probably of

Taddea Malaspina Taddea Malaspina (1505 - 1559) was an Italian marchesa. She was the mistress (lover), mistress of Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence from the early 1530s to about 1537 and was likely the mother of at least two of his children, Giulio di Ales ...

. Aged about four at the time of his father's assassination, he was passed over as a choice for the succession in favour of

Cosimo I de' Medici Cosimo I de' Medici (12 June 1519 – 21 April 1574) was the second Duke of Florence from 1537 until 1569, when he became the first Grand Duke of Tuscany, a title he held until his death. Life Rise to power Cosimo was born in Florence on 12 ...

, the first of the "junior" branch of the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Muge ...

to rule

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

. He was placed under the guardianship of Cosimo I and raised at his court. In 1562 he was appointed the first knight of the

Order of Saint Stephen The Order of Saint Stephen (Official: Sacro Militare Ordine di Santo Stefano Papa e Martire, "Holy Military Order of St. Stephen Pope and Martyr") is a Roman Catholic Tuscan dynastic military order founded in 1561. The order was created by C ...

, an order founded to combat pirates and Turks in the Mediterranean Sea. As Admiral of the Order, from 1563 to 1566, he was sent to help the Knights Hospitallers during the Siege of Malta in 1565. He also acted as an ambassador, to Mantua in 1565; to Rome in 1571 and again in 1573. Pompeo Litta mistakenly stated that Giulio was married to Lucrezia Gaetani, who was in fact married to his son Cosimo. Giulio had a daughter, Caterina, who became a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

nun at the

Monastero delle Murate Monastero delle Murate (Monastery of Murate) is a former Benedictine convent on Via Ghibellina in Florence, Italy. For about a hundred years, from 1883 to 1985, it was the men's prison in Florence, after which the detainees were transferred to Soll ...

in Florence and died in 1634. He also had two illegitimate sons, Cosimo (1550-1630), who followed him as a knight of the Order of Saint Stephen, and Giuliano (d.1598).

References

External links

Alessandro de Medici

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

online page discussing his father's ancestry, and his heirs; be careful, though, as it contains at least one known error 1530s births 1600 deaths Giulio di Alessandro 16th-century Italian nobility 16th-century Italian military personnel 16th-century Italian diplomats Sons of monarchs {{Italy-noble-stub