The Medici Family Notes

1. Cosimo is his son and he takes over Florence
2. Lorenzo is Cosimo's grandson
• Lorenzo is the patron of Michelangelo
• Lorenzo would give money to Michelangelo to create sculptures, paintings, tombs
3. Michelangelo created the sculpture of David, "the Pieta," images in the Sistine Chapel
4. In the Italian Renaissance they took a lot of pride in the Italian history of antiquity
• They were painting and sculpting in styles that they thought classical antiquity was like
5. We tie humanist in with Lorenzo
6. When Cosimo died Florence faced uncertainty
7. Lorenzo was born into great privilege as a scholar
8. Lorenzo is not the businessman that Cosimo was
9. He begins to have ill relations with the pope
10. The Pazzi family were rivals of the Medici family
11. Lorenzo was not good at being diplomatic
• The Vatican owed the Medici family money and he insisted that they repaid it
• The Vatican created an alliance with the Pazzi so that they could take out the Medici family
12. The Pazzi took matters into their own hands
• Rumors of the conspiracy spread of their plan to assassinate the Medici brothers
• On Easter Sunday at mass in the cathedral in 1478, they assassinated Guiliano de Medici was stabbed and killed
• Lorenzo was wounded but not killed
• The plotters were killed
• Medici power now hung by a thread
13. Lorenzo heard that the pope had ordered troops to wipe out the Medici
14. Lorenzo fled Florence
• He traveled to Naples in 1479
• He arrives with money and gifts
15. Lorenzo had saved Florence from destruction
16. Lorenzo was hailed by Florence when he returned
17. His experiences changed him and he worked to protect his family
18. He adopted his brother's son who could now be the heir
19. Lorenzo commissioned work from artists
• He discovered Leonardo Davinci
20. Botticelli was Leonardo's rival
• He created "The Birth of Venus"
21. Savonarola challenged the Medici and believed they lived in excess
22. He believed that they were sinful for the paintings and they way lived
23. Lorenzo's wife died of Tuberculosis in 1487
24. In 1488 he established the first art school in history
• This is where he first spotted Michelangelo
• He brought Michelangelo into his family to live with his seven children
25. Lorenzo is Michelangelo's patron
26. His talent was traditional but also classical legends
27. Michelangelo was born in 1475 and lived to 1564; his last name is Buonarroti
28. He first began with marble and stone sculpting
29. He was an arrogant man; he was abusive and antisocial
30. Savonarola believed that Lorenzo was leading to the downfall of Florence
31. Florence was split between people who wanted a secular lifestyle and those who agreed with Savonarola
32. Florence had reached new heights of culture, but Lorenzo loosened his grip on the family business
33. Some of the Medici banks were forced to close and the family's network was falling apart
34. Lorenzo's friends saw that Savonarola's predictions were beginning to come true
35. Lorenzo became ill and he turned to the Church
36. Giovanni was already a cardinal (Lorenzo's son)
37. Lorenzo knew he was dying and he feared eternal damnation
• He brought Savonarola to his death bed and he damned Lorenzo
38. He died at the age of 43, fearing hell
39. Botticelli embraced Christianity with the change of the world around him
40. Prostitutes were beaten and homosexuals burned; artwork and jewelry were burned
41. Savonarola organized a public burning of books, wigs, cosmetics, and jewelry
42. Even Botticelli joined in and burnt his paintings for fear of damnation
43. This time was known as the Bonfire of the Vanities
44. Florence was in search of salvation and had become a vision of hell
45. Lorenzo put too much of his effort into the arts and forgot about the political side
46. At this time popes were in it for money and power rather than the religious side
47. The principalities warred against each other
• Most powerful were Milan, Florence, Pisa, Sienna, Genoa, Ferrara, Mantua, Verona, Venice
48. In the north of Italy there was ongoing feuding between the Vatican and the Holy Roman Empire
49. During the 15th century many of the powerful city states annexed the smaller cities
• Annexed- took them and made them part of their own
50. Florence was one of the cities that annexed the town of Pisa in 1406
51. Nearby Milan annexed areas around it to grow larger
52. There was constant battle going on throughout central Italy
• Usually carried out by mercenaries
• Soldiers from around Europe were lead by Italian generals in campaigns
• One of the major strategies of these campaigns was siege warfare
• You surround the town and starve them out
53. There were also major battles going on at sea
54. By 1454, Florence, Milan, and Venice were the three major powers in Central Italy
• They signed the Treaty of Lodi
• Will last for a few decades
• Relative peace in central and northern Italy
55. Exploration happens during this time
• Columbus goes to Spain to get money to sail to the New World
• When the Spanish explorers get to South America they find raw materials
• Raw materials have a lot to do with bolstering the economies of these countries
56. The Albizzi used to be the leading family in Florence and they were very jealous of the Medici
57. Giovanni Medici created the bank
58. Cosimo made it become the biggest bank
59. The Medici were so popular in Florence because they had money, the pope liked them because they bankrolled him into the papacy
60. The Medici are very much the beloved family in Florence