Individual Details

Biography

Piero was born in Florence on 15 February 1471, the son of Lorenzo 'il Magnifico' de' Medici, and Clarice Orsini. Known as 'the Unfortunate' and 'the Fatuous', he succeeded his father in 1492, but he lacked the political and diplomatic skills of his forebears. From the beginning, his power was threatened on the one hand by his conspiring Medici cousins Giovanni and Lorenzo, sons of Pier Francesco I of the junior branch, and the preaching of Girolamo Savonarola on the other. His surrender of several Florentine strongholds to the invading French king, Charles VIII, exasperated a nervous populace that accused him of betraying their city.

Two years after beginning his rule, he was forced to flee from Florence and the Palazzo Medici was sacked. He died by drowning, still in exile, after the battle of Garigliano in 1503. By Alfonsina Orsini, daughter of Roberto Orsini, conte di Tagliacozzo, and Catherine San Severino, he had two children, Clara and Lorenzo II, who would both have progeny. Lorenzo II would be the father of the French queen, Catharina de' Medici.