[9] With his brother Giuliano, he participated in jousting, hawking, hunting, and horse breeding for the Palio, a horse race in Siena. Where is Long Pond Studio Located in Taylor Swift's 'Folklore' Movie? In 1469, aged 20, he won first prize in a jousting tournament sponsored by the Medici. He reached out to the traditional military arm of the papacy, King Ferdinand I of Naples, who sent his son, Alfonso II of Naples, to invade the Florentine Republic. Lorenzo de’ Medici was essentially a despot during his reign of power over Florence. [40] According to Williamson and others, the statues of the lesser Lorenzo and Giuliano were carved by Michelangelo to incorporate the essence of the famous men. What We Know So Far. Mediceo Avanti il Principato (filza LI), for Archivio di Stato di Firenze. We also offer a guided Inferno walking tour, which follows the footsteps of Robert and Sienna, as well as an an eBook with an audio version. His life coincided with the mature phase of Italian Renaissance, and his death coincided with the end of the Golden Age of Florence. He held the balance of power within the Italic League, an alliance of s… Lorenzo, like his grandfather, father, and son, ruled Florence indirectly through surrogates in the city councils, threats, payoffs, and strategic marriages.Although Florence flourished under Lorenzo’s rule, he effectively reigned as a despot, and people had little political freedom. Stream It Or Skip It: 'Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions' on Disney+, a Surprise Companion to Taylor Swift's Surprise Album. Lorenzo de' Medici (Italian pronunciation: [loˈrɛntso de ˈmɛːditʃi], 1 January 1449 – 8 April 1492)[1] was an Italian statesman, de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Simonetta Vespucci is a name commonly associated with both the Medici family of Florence and the artist Sandro Botticelli. The Donatis were a declining noble family from Florence. This page was last edited on 21 November 2020, at 10:23. Lorenzo was both ruler and scholar. Stream It Or Skip It: 'Superintelligence' on HBO Max, A Melissa McCarthy Vehicle That Squanders a Decent Pseudo-Sci-Fi Concept, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Uncle Frank' on Amazon Prime, a Clumsy Dramedy From Filmmaker Alan Ball, Stream It or Skip It: 'Happiest Season' on Hulu Is a Queer Christmas Miracle, Ed Murray, Bill Murray's Brother and 'Caddyshack' Inspiration, Dies at 76, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Bombshell' on Hulu, an Empty, Sensationalist Take on the Takedown of Male Chauvinism, 'The New World' Makes For A Very Malick Thanksgiving, 'Home for the Holidays' at 25: The Thanksgiving Movie That Has Everything, Is 'Citizen Kane' On Netflix? [40], Lorenzo's heir was his eldest son, Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici, known as "Piero the Unfortunate". Though he was distinguished, respectable, and prepared to be Pope, Clement VII, who was Lorenzo’s adopted son, has been nicknamed “The most unfortunate of Popes,” as he inherited an unstable Europe, a Christian church dealing with the Protestant Reformation, as well as the emergence of nation-states in the continent. Because of its fairly public role in domestic life, it’s doubtful that Lorenzo actually kept a mute woman in his sports locker. The incident came to be known as the ‘Pazzi Conspiracy’. 1,635, This story has been shared 1,465 times. Required fields are marked *. Moreso, they felt a smooth transition of power was necessary to keep chaos from raining down on the city. Factinate is a fact website that is dedicated to finding and sharing fun facts about science, history, animals, films, people, and much more. André Chastel, Art et Humanisme à Florence au temps de Laurent le Magnifique (Paris, 1959). He was a magnate, diplomat, politician, and patron of scholars, artists, and poets. Cosimo had started the collection of books that became the Medici Library (also called the Laurentian Library), and Lorenzo expanded it. But the brotherly love was doomed early on in Lorenzo’s political career. For a period of five years, Michelangelo lived with Lorenzo de’ Medici and dined at his family table. Was it cancer, gout, or some kind of poison that was slipped into his goblet? Who Is The Greatest Female Warrior In History. An infuriated Lorenzo sent an army of mercenaries to the city, who promptly ransacked it. He even won the tournament, in which the sons of the important families of Florence competed. Let’s just…, The Truth Always Comes Out: Dark Family Secrets Exposed, Entrancing Facts About Madame de Pompadour, France's Most Powerful Mistress, Tragic Facts About Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s First Wife, 24 Extraordinary Facts About Harry James Potter. At the age of 16, Lorenzo entered politics and demonstrated excellent qualities in administering the family’s fortunes. To placate his city, Lorenzo decided to introduce his new wife through a jousting tournament held to celebrate his 20th birthday. He ruled just as all the men before him did, meaning he threatened, bribed, and arranged marriages in order to maintain dominance. On Easter Sunday, 26 April 1478, in an incident called the Pazzi conspiracy, a group headed by Girolamo Riario, Francesco Pazzi, and Francesco Salviati, the Archbishop of Pisa, with the blessing of his patron Pope Sixtus IV, attacked Lorenzo and his brother and co-ruler Giuliano in the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in an attempt to seize control of the Florentine government. © Copyright 2020 by Factinate.com. Our credibility is the turbo-charged engine of our success. Stream It Or Skip It: 'Underwater' on HBO, an 'Aliens' Wannabe Except with Kristen Stewart at the Bottom of the Ocean, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Body Cam' on Amazon Prime, a Somewhat Ambitious Creepfest About Ghosts and Police Brutality, 7 'Found Footage' Horror Movies You Can Stream Right Now, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Sputnik' on Hulu, a Satisfyingly Gory Russian Creature Feature. Husbands hiding things from wives, mothers from children, and generation from generation. Because of these efforts, he aligned with Sultan Mehmed II and the Ottoman Empire, which allowed trade to flourish and wealth to be accumulated by the family even as the bank was in decline. By several accounts, Giuliano was more handsome. MA thesis. The affair likely had continued until his death in 1492; however, it did not produce any children. Lorenzo died on April 8, 1492, at the family villa of Careggi. Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? News of the conspiracy spread throughout Florence and was brutally put down by the populace through such measures as the lynching of the Archbishop of Pisa and the death of the Pazzi family members who were involved. When he was only 19, he won a large jousting competition that was held by his family. He was a writer, a poet and a great patron: in these capacities he did so much to beautify his beloved Florence. Pictures by Wikimedia Commons and Lorenzo il Magnifico by Riccardo M. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). 1,723, This story has been shared 1,667 times. Guiliano would die of stab wounds inflicted by the Pazzi family, who sought to seize Florence. 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.