Caterina Sforza

Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (1360-1429) was a Florentine banker who founded the Medici Bank around 1397, building it into one of the largest and most respected financial institutions in Europe through careful management and close ties to the papacy. He avoided the ostentation of rival families, cultivated a reputation for civic modesty, and served in senior offices of the Florentine republic without seeking overt political dominance. His sons Cosimo and Lorenzo the Elder inherited both the bank and its fortune, and it was Cosimo who transformed the family's wealth into lasting political power. Giovanni is regarded as the founder of the Medici dynasty, laying the financial foundation on which four centuries of Medici influence in Florence and beyond were built.

Cosimo de' Medici (1389-1464), known as Cosimo the Elder and later honored as Pater Patriae ('Father of the Fatherland'), transformed his father Giovanni di Bicci's banking fortune into effective political control of the Republic of Florence. Though he held no formal title beyond ordinary republican offices, he dominated the city's government from behind the scenes for three decades through alliances, patronage, and careful management of public opinion. A discerning patron of the arts and humanist learning, he funded Brunelleschi's architecture and Donatello's sculpture, and built the Medici Bank into the most powerful financial institution in Europe. His grandson Lorenzo the Magnificent would later be seen as completing the political and cultural project Cosimo began.

Lorenzo de' Medici (1395-1440), called Lorenzo the Elder to distinguish him from his more famous great-nephew, was the younger son of Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici and the brother of Cosimo de' Medici. He worked alongside Cosimo in the family bank but did not seek the same political prominence in Florence. His son Pierfrancesco de' Medici founded what became known as the 'Popolano' or junior branch of the family, a line that later produced Giovanni dalle Bande Nere and, through him, Cosimo I, the first Grand Duke of Tuscany. Though less celebrated than his brother's descendants, Lorenzo the Elder's branch ultimately inherited rule over Florence when the senior line failed.

Piero di Cosimo de' Medici (1416-1469), known as Piero the Gouty for the severe arthritis that afflicted him, was the son of Cosimo de' Medici and Contessina de' Bardi and led Florence for five years after his father's death in 1464. Despite chronic illness that often confined him to bed, he survived a conspiracy against Medici rule in 1466 and preserved the family's dominant position in the city. He married Lucrezia Tornabuoni, a poet in her own right, and together they raised Lorenzo the Magnificent and Giuliano de' Medici, ensuring a smooth succession of Medici leadership. He was also a discerning collector who continued his father's patronage of Florentine artists.

Pierfrancesco de' Medici (1430-1476) was the son of Lorenzo de' Medici the Elder and grandson of Giovanni di Bicci, heading the junior, 'Popolano' branch of the family descended from Cosimo the Elder's brother. He and his branch held a significant share of the family bank's capital but, unlike his cousins descended from Cosimo, largely stayed out of the front rank of Florentine politics during his lifetime. His two sons, Lorenzo and Giovanni di Pierfrancesco, both called 'il Popolano', continued the branch; Giovanni's marriage to Caterina Sforza produced Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, whose own son Cosimo I would eventually inherit rule over Florence after the senior Medici line died out in the sixteenth century.

Lorenzo de' Medici (1449-1492), known as Lorenzo the Magnificent, was the de facto ruler of Florence from 1469 until his death and is the figure most closely associated with the Medici name. Grandson of Cosimo de' Medici and son of Piero the Gouty and Lucrezia Tornabuoni, he survived the Pazzi conspiracy of 1478, in which his brother Giuliano was murdered, and went on to steer Florence through decades of shifting Italian alliances with considerable diplomatic skill. An accomplished poet himself, he was the leading patron of the High Renaissance, supporting Michelangelo, Botticelli, and the Platonic Academy of Marsilio Ficino. His sons included Pope Leo X and Giuliano, Duke of Nemours, and his granddaughter was Catherine de' Medici, future queen of France.

Giuliano de' Medici (1453-1478) was the younger brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent and co-ruler of Florence alongside him. On 26 April 1478 he was stabbed to death in Florence Cathedral during the Pazzi conspiracy, a plot by the rival Pazzi family and allies within the papacy to overthrow Medici rule; Lorenzo survived a simultaneous attack and moved swiftly to suppress the conspirators. Giuliano was admired for his athleticism and courtly manner and was celebrated in Renaissance poetry, including works by Poliziano. Shortly after his death, a son, Giulio de' Medici, was born to his mistress; Giulio was raised within the Medici household and later became Pope Clement VII.

Piero de' Medici (1472-1503), called Piero the Unfortunate, succeeded his father Lorenzo the Magnificent as head of the family in 1492 but lacked his father's political skill. Facing the French invasion of Italy under Charles VIII in 1494, he agreed to humiliating terms that ceded Florentine fortresses without consulting the city's government, provoking a popular uprising that expelled the Medici from Florence. He spent the rest of his life in exile attempting unsuccessfully to regain power, and died in 1503 during a military campaign in southern Italy, having never recaptured Florence. His son Lorenzo II, Duke of Urbino, later restored the family to power, and his granddaughter was Catherine de' Medici.

Giovanni de' Medici (1475-1521) was the second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, made a cardinal in his teens through his father's influence with the papacy, and elected Pope Leo X in 1513, becoming the first Medici pope. His pontificate was marked by lavish patronage of art and architecture in Rome, continuing the Medici tradition of cultural sponsorship, but also by the sale of indulgences that helped provoke Martin Luther's protest in 1517 and the start of the Protestant Reformation. He restored Medici rule in Florence after the family's earlier expulsion and used his position to advance Medici family interests across Italy. He died in 1521 without legitimate children, and his cousin Giulio later became Pope Clement VII.

Lorenzo de' Medici (1492-1519), grandson and namesake of Lorenzo the Magnificent, was made Duke of Urbino in 1516 by his uncle Pope Leo X after a campaign to seize the duchy from its ruling family. He governed Florence on behalf of the Medici papacy and married Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, a French noblewoman, in 1518. Both parents died within weeks of each other in 1519, shortly after the birth of their only child, Catherine de' Medici, who was raised as a ward of the family and later became queen of France. Niccolo Machiavelli dedicated The Prince to Lorenzo, though the two are not known to have had a close relationship. He is traditionally identified as the father of Alessandro de' Medici, first Duke of Florence.

Alessandro de' Medici (1510-1537) became the first Medici to hold the hereditary title Duke of Florence, installed in 1532 by his relative Pope Clement VII with the backing of Emperor Charles V, whose illegitimate daughter Margaret of Austria he married. He is traditionally recorded as the son of Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, though some historians believe his father was actually Clement VII himself; his mother is generally identified as a servant in the Medici household. His autocratic rule proved unpopular, and in 1537 he was assassinated by his cousin Lorenzino de' Medici. Having no legitimate heir, he was succeeded by Cosimo I, from the junior branch of the family, ending the senior line's direct rule over Florence.