Giulio di Alessandro de' Medici ( 1532–25 March 1598) was the illegitimate son of

Alessandro de' Medici Alessandro de' Medici (22 July 1510 – 6 January 1537), nicknamed "il Moro" due to his dark complexion, Duke of Penne and the first Duke of the Florentine Republic (from 1532), was ruler of Florence from 1530 to his death in 1537. The first Me ...

, 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 noblewoman of the 16th century. A scion of the Massa branch of the ancient Malaspina family, she was the mistress of Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence, from the early 1530s to about 1537 and wa ...

. 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 and last duke of Florence from 1537 until 1569, when he became the first grand duke of Tuscany, a title he held until his death. Cosimo I succeeded his cousin to the duchy. ...

, the first of the "junior" branch of the

Medici 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 ...

to rule

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 ...

. 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 (officially ''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 ...

, 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 and bore him Angelica de' Medici (1608-1636). Actually Giulio married Angelica Malaspina and had a daughter, Caterina, who became a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

nun at the

Monastero delle Murate Monastero delle Murate (Monastery of Murate) is a former Benedictine convent on Via Ghibellina in Florence, Italy. The religious community dates to 1370 when 12 women became voluntarily reclusive in a shack by the second pillar of the Ponte Rubac ...

in Florence and died in 1634. He also had two illegitimate sons,

Cosimo Cosimo is the Italian form of the Greek name ''Kosmas'' (latinised as ''Cosmas''). Cosimo may refer to: Characters * Cosimo Piovasco di Rondò, hero of Italo Calvino's 1957 novel ''The Baron in the Trees'' Given name Medici family * 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 broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

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 dukes Grand Duchy of Tuscany people {{Italy-noble-stub