Author: Amy Hopper
Lorenzo di Piero di Cosimo de Medici was born to Piero di Cosimo de Medici and Lucrezia Tornabuoni on 1st January 1449 CE and was the middle child of four siblings Maria, Bianca, Lucrezia and Giuliano.
Born in Firenze (Florence, Italy), Lorenzo arrived at a time when political upheaval and the Black Death dominated the Renaissance landscape. If being born into such a setting wasn't enough, he was also born into one of Firenze’s most affluent and political families of the day: the Medicis. The de Medici name is Florentine in origin and translates as ‘of the medical doctors’, yet from the time of Cosimo de Medici (b1415 - d1464), the family aligned itself towards politics and humanities, both of which moulded Lorenzo into his future life.
As a child, Lorenzo benefitted from the teachings of some of the greatest minds of the Renaissance period: John Argyropoulos, Marsilio Ficino and Gentile de Becchi. Lorenzo’s keen mind and manner caught the attention of his father, Piero, and as such, Piero tasked Lorenzo with maintaining diplomatic relations between the Medici family, Firenze and the rest of Italy. Such important duties usually fell under the jurisdiction of mature, experienced diplomatici and not a young man, but such was Lorenzo’s skill, Piero sent Lorenzo to negotiate with Pope Sixtus VI in 1471 CE.
Pope Sixtus VI aligned himself with the Medicis’ political rivals, the Pazzi family of Firenze, and wanted to implement the land surrounding Firenze as a papal state with the support of the Pazzis. The land would then fall under the direct rule of Pope Sixtus VI and his cardinal successors. With the Pazzi rivals at his side, that spelled dark, political trouble for the Medicis.
Such trouble came to a head in 1478 CE when the Pazzi launched a vicious plot, inspired by Pope Sixtus VI, to assassinate the Medicis and usurp them as the rulers of Firenze. Giuliano, Lorenzo’s younger brother, suffered nineteen stab wounds to his body and a fatal slash wound to his head, his assassins leaving him on the steps of the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Florence Cathedral) in pursuit of Lorenzo. Lorenzo, having spent majority of his childhood between jousting, hunting, fighting and diplomacy, defended himself against his assailants and escaped with minor injuries into the safety of the cattedrale. Their way to Lorenzo barred, the conspirators then attempted to capture Firenze’s Signoria (town hall).
The people of Firenze rose up in force, condemning the attack and bringing swift justice to all the assailants with the exception of Pope Sixtus VI. Those of the Pazzi not killed in the fighting fled Firenze and those unable to flee, hung from the Palazzo della Signoria (the public square of the town hall). The remaining members of the Pazzi family were banished from Firenze and their land requisitioned.
In the aftermath of the failed conspiracy, Pope Sixtus VI launched a papal war on Firenze and called on King Ferdinand I of Naples for military aid. Lorenzo, now the figurehead of the Medici family after Giuliano’s passing, was excommunicated by Pope Sixtus VI and Firenze interdicted. For two years, Lorenzo’s troops and Ferdinand’s army fought for control of the city-state and its surrounding territories, when, in 1480 CE, Lorenzo approached the King in person and brokered peace between them. King Ferdinand I, in honour of the truce, lifted the interdiction from Firenze and withdrew his forces.
Following the failed coup d'etat and the two year war, Lorenzo implemented a number of reforms into Firenze society, quelling the rivalries amongst noble houses and bringing balance to the warring city-states around Firenze, ushering in a period of peaceful rule.
Lorenzo’s life came to pass on April 9th 1492 CE after he was bed bound by an infection in his leg that turned gangrenous. Lorenzo was laid to rest in the Capella Medici (Chapel of the Medici) and he remains there to this day.
This post was kindly written by Amy Hopper - be sure to check out her blog Amy's Writing Desk & her Facebook page.