Medici family summary

Clement VII was the pope from 1523 to 1534. An illegitimate son of Giuliano de’ Medici (not to be confused with Giuliano de’ Medici, duc de Nemours, his cousin), he was reared by his uncle Lorenzo the Magnificent. He was made archbishop of Florence and cardinal in 1513 by his cousin Pope Leo X,

Cosimo I was the second duke of Florence (1537–74) and first grand duke of Tuscany (1569–74). Cosimo was the great-great-grandson of Lorenzo the Elder, the son of Giovanni di Bicci and brother of Cosimo the Elder, and was thus a member of a branch of the Medici family that had taken an active part

Cosimo de’ Medici was the founder of one of the main lines of the Medici family that ruled Florence from 1434 to 1537. The son of Giovanni di Bicci (1360–1429), Cosimo was initiated into affairs of high finance in the corridors of the Council of Constance, where he represented the Medici bank. He

Lorenzo de’ Medici was a Florentine statesman, ruler, and patron of arts and letters, the most brilliant of the Medici. He ruled Florence with his younger brother, Giuliano (1453–78), from 1469 to 1478 and, after the latter’s assassination, was the sole ruler from 1478 to 1492. Upon the death of