Individual Details
Lorenzo I de' Medici - il Magnifico
(1 Jan 1449 - 8 Apr 1492)
Lorenzo was born in Florence on 1 January 1449, the son of Piero 'il Gottoso' de' Medici and Lucrezia Tornabuoni. Although Lorenzo was only twenty when he succeeded his father, he had already achieved success as a diplomat on several occasions. In 1469 he was married to Clarice Orsini, daughter of Giacomo Orsini di Monterotondo and Maddalena Orsini. Lorenzo was not greatly attracted to her; he loved Lucrezia Donati, whom he could not marry as his choice of a wife had to be guided by political considerations.
The marriage celebration lasted three days, but it must have been a strange feast: the host was absent, the bridegroom was reluctant, and his mother entertained her friends and guests separately on a balcony overlooking the courtyard. However, the marriage of Lorenzo and Clarice was not unhappy. In his letters to his wife there is little sign of real affection, but Clarice was a dutiful wife and was fully occupied by giving birth to ten children, seven of whom survived including a son and two daughters who would have progeny. When she died suddenly in 1488, Lorenzo was away taking the waters for his gout and could not attend her funeral. However he was known to have grieved greatly for her.
Lorenzo's foreign policy was facilitated by the fact that his entire period of rule occurred after the Peace of Lodi. He continued his grandfather's policy of maintaining Florentine independence through good relations with the Sforza of Milan and with the republic of Venice. His most serious problem derived from the more difficult relations with the Church, and led to his attempted assassination in 1478 when his brother Giuliano was murdered by the men of Girolamo Riario, a priest and nephew of Pope Sixtus IV (Francesco della Rovere). Only through the inexperience of his attackers did Lorenzo escape, but he had received a flesh wound in his neck from one of the priest's daggers.
Pope Sixtus was now a bitter enemy of Lorenzo, but through a combination of luck and good diplomacy, Lorenzo managed to thwart the papal ambition and restore peace to Florence. For the last fourteen years of his rule he was able to live to all intents and purposes as a kind of enlightened despot.
In 1489 he took into his house as a permanent guest a young boy of fourteen who, in later years, was to surpass all the artists patronised by the Medici, and who even then was producing work which impressed his patrons and tutors. For the remaining years of Lorenzo's life, Michelangelo studied in the school of sculpture which had been founded in the Medici gardens to compensate for the lack of sculptors Lorenzo felt existed at that time.
Lorenzo was one of the most important and versatile of Italian poets. He wrote formal religious poetry and love songs. Although he ruled Florence and lived at the centre of Italian political life, he was happiest at one of the Medici villas in the countryside near Florence. He was larger than life in almost every aspect; he loved Florentine football, hunting, obscene stories, practical jokes; he fed his own horse and enjoyed the physical aspects of farming; at the same time he sang well, played the lyre, wrote excellent poetry, made architectural drawings, and read Plato. Machiavelli commented that the light and voluptuous side of Lorenzo and his seriousness were 'joined in an almost impossible conjunction'.
Lorenzo was believed to have stated that he had three sons, one good, one wise, and one a fool. It was unfortunate for the Medici dynasty that its destiny rested with the fool, Giuliano; since his eldest brother Piero died young and the wise one, Giovanni, became pope as Leo X.
Source: Leo van de Pas
The marriage celebration lasted three days, but it must have been a strange feast: the host was absent, the bridegroom was reluctant, and his mother entertained her friends and guests separately on a balcony overlooking the courtyard. However, the marriage of Lorenzo and Clarice was not unhappy. In his letters to his wife there is little sign of real affection, but Clarice was a dutiful wife and was fully occupied by giving birth to ten children, seven of whom survived including a son and two daughters who would have progeny. When she died suddenly in 1488, Lorenzo was away taking the waters for his gout and could not attend her funeral. However he was known to have grieved greatly for her.
Lorenzo's foreign policy was facilitated by the fact that his entire period of rule occurred after the Peace of Lodi. He continued his grandfather's policy of maintaining Florentine independence through good relations with the Sforza of Milan and with the republic of Venice. His most serious problem derived from the more difficult relations with the Church, and led to his attempted assassination in 1478 when his brother Giuliano was murdered by the men of Girolamo Riario, a priest and nephew of Pope Sixtus IV (Francesco della Rovere). Only through the inexperience of his attackers did Lorenzo escape, but he had received a flesh wound in his neck from one of the priest's daggers.
Pope Sixtus was now a bitter enemy of Lorenzo, but through a combination of luck and good diplomacy, Lorenzo managed to thwart the papal ambition and restore peace to Florence. For the last fourteen years of his rule he was able to live to all intents and purposes as a kind of enlightened despot.
In 1489 he took into his house as a permanent guest a young boy of fourteen who, in later years, was to surpass all the artists patronised by the Medici, and who even then was producing work which impressed his patrons and tutors. For the remaining years of Lorenzo's life, Michelangelo studied in the school of sculpture which had been founded in the Medici gardens to compensate for the lack of sculptors Lorenzo felt existed at that time.
Lorenzo was one of the most important and versatile of Italian poets. He wrote formal religious poetry and love songs. Although he ruled Florence and lived at the centre of Italian political life, he was happiest at one of the Medici villas in the countryside near Florence. He was larger than life in almost every aspect; he loved Florentine football, hunting, obscene stories, practical jokes; he fed his own horse and enjoyed the physical aspects of farming; at the same time he sang well, played the lyre, wrote excellent poetry, made architectural drawings, and read Plato. Machiavelli commented that the light and voluptuous side of Lorenzo and his seriousness were 'joined in an almost impossible conjunction'.
Lorenzo was believed to have stated that he had three sons, one good, one wise, and one a fool. It was unfortunate for the Medici dynasty that its destiny rested with the fool, Giuliano; since his eldest brother Piero died young and the wise one, Giovanni, became pope as Leo X.
Source: Leo van de Pas
Events
| Birth | 1 Jan 1449 | Florence | |||
| Marriage | 28 Dec 1469 | Clarice Orsini | |||
| Death | 8 Apr 1492 | Carregio |
Families
| Spouse | Clarice Orsini (1453 - 1488) |
| Child | Lucrezia de' Medici (1470 - 1550) |
| Child | Piero de' Medici - il Unfortunato (1471 - 1503) |
| Child | Maddalena de' Medici (1473 - ) |
| Child | Pope Leo X (Giovanni de' Medici) (1475 - 1521) |
| Child | Luisa (Luigia) de' Medici (1477 - 1488) |
| Child | Contessina de' Medici (1478 - 1515) |
| Child | Giuliano de' Medici (1479 - 1516) |
| Father | Piero I. de' Medici - il Gottoso (1416 - 1469) |
| Mother | Lucrezia Tornabuoni (1425 - 1482) |
| Sibling | Giuliano de' Medici (1453 - 1478) |