Medici family
Medici family. Florentine mercantile family that ruled Florence for most of the period from 1434 to 1737. Giovanni (1360-1429) founded the wealth of the family and was succeeded by his son, Cosimo (1389-1464), who dominated the Florentine government and was a great patron of the arts and literature. He was succeeded by his son Piero (1416-69), who was virtually bedridden, and his grandson, Lorenzo the. Magnificent (1449-92) Lorenzo was of great influence in Florence and his patronage was more lavish than his grandfather’s. During his life Florence became the centre of Renaissance culture. His son Giovanni (1475-1521) became Pope Leo X (1513), while his daughter Catherine (1519-89) became queen of France on her marriage to Henry II (1533). A patron of the arts, she had considerable political influence, and was the mother of Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III.
