di Medici

The Medici were a Florentine family from Mugello, first recorded in 1230. They grew rich in wool before Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici founded the Medici Bank in 1397, the foundation of their power. Cosimo the Elder became effective ruler of Florence in 1434; his grandson Lorenzo the Magnificent patronised Botticelli and Michelangelo.

The Pazzi conspiracy of 1478 killed Lorenzo's brother Giuliano. The family was driven out after Charles VIII of France invaded in 1494 and returned in 1512. Medici became popes Leo X in 1513 and Clement VII in 1523; Alessandro took the hereditary title Duke of Florence in 1532.

After Alessandro's assassination in 1537, the branch under Cosimo I took over; he became Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1569. The grand dukes ruled until 1737, when Gian Gastone de' Medici died and Tuscany passed to the Habsburg-Lorraine.