Bernardetto de' Medici (died

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, after 1576), 1st Lord of Ottajano, was an Italian patrician who moved from

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and established the Ottaiano branch of Medici - one of two Medici branches still extant.

Biography

A member of a cadet branch of the

Medici family 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 grandson Lorenzo "the Magnificent" during the first half of the 15th ...

(the one later called the Princes of Ottajano), he was the son of

Ottaviano de' Medici Ottaviano de' Medici (14 July 1484 – 28 May 1546) was an Italian politician. He was the ancestor of the Princes of Ottajano line of the Medici family. Biography Son of Lorenzo de' Medici and wife Caterina Nerli, he married firstly in 1518 Bar ...

(14 July 1482 - 28 May 1546) and second wife as her second husband (1533) Francesca Salviati (1505 - aft. June 1536). His younger half-brother was

Pope Leo XI Pope Leo XI (; 2 June 153527 April 1605), born Alessandro di Ottaviano de' Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1 April 1605 to his death, on 27 April 1605. His pontificate is one of the briefest in history, ...

. In 1559, he married as her second husband Giulia de' Medici, the illegitimate daughter of Duke Alessandro de' Medici by Taddea Malaspina. In 1567, he bought the Seigniory of Ottaiano in the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

from Cesare I Gonzaga and moved there, probably due to strife with Grand Duke Cosimo I. He died in

after 1576. His son Alessandro (died 1606) was Lord of Ottaiano and General of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

. His descendants unsuccessfully claimed the title of

Grand Duke of Tuscany Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), se ...

after the extinction of the main branch of the Medici family.

Marriage and descendants

Bernardetto married the illegitimate daughter of the Duke Alessandro de 'Medici, Giulia, in 1559. It was her second marriage after the death of her first husband Francesco Cantelmi, Duke of Popoli. They had a son: * Alessandro de' Medici (1560 - 1606). 2nd Lord of Ottajano, General of the Papal States since April 1605, Governor of Borgo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medici, Bernadetto Bernadetto 16th-century Italian nobility 16th-century births 16th-century deaths 16th-century Neapolitan people