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The first de facto Lord (Italian: Signore) in the history of the Republic of Florence was Cosimo de' Medici.Thanks to his moderate policy, Cosimo managed to maintain power for over thirty years until his death, ruling the state silently through his trusted men and thus allowing the consolidation of his family, the Medici, in the government of Florence.
Piero di Cosimo de' Medici, known as Piero the Gouty (Italian: Piero "il Gottoso"), (1416 – 2 December 1469) [1] was the de facto ruler of Florence from 1464 to 1469, during the Italian Renaissance.
Cosimo de' Medici was born in Florence to Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici and his wife Piccarda Bueri on 27 September 1389. [6] At the time, it was customary to indicate the name of one's father in one's name for the purpose of distinguishing the identities of two like-named individuals; thus, Giovanni was the son of Bicci, and Cosimo's name was properly rendered Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici.
The House of Medici (English: / ˈ m ɛ d ɪ tʃ i / MED-itch-ee, UK also / m ə ˈ d iː tʃ i / mə-DEE-chee; [4] Italian: [ˈmɛːditʃi]) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici and his grandson Lorenzo "the Magnificent" during the first half of the 15th century.
Lorenzo's grandfather, Cosimo de' Medici, was the first member of the Medici family to lead the Republic of Florence and run the Medici Bank simultaneously. As one of the wealthiest men in Europe, the elder Cosimo spent a very large portion of his fortune on government and philanthropy, for example as a patron of the arts and financier of public works. [7]
Cosimo's family, the Medici dynasty, had been ruling the Florentine Republic, the predecessor of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, since 1434, first as Lords of Florence and later as Dukes. [2] The title of Grand Duke, was in fact the second title of recognition within the Tuscan politics given by a Pope to the Medici family, the first being that of ...
Cosimo I de' Medici Coat of arms of House of Medici. In 1569, Cosimo de' Medici had ruled the Duchy of Florence for 32 years. During his reign, Florence purchased the island of Elba from the Republic of Genoa (in 1548), [8] conquered Siena (in 1555) [9] and developed a well-equipped and powerful naval base on Elba.
The Renaissance began during Cosimo's de facto rule of Florence, the seeds of which had arguably been laid before the Black Death tore through Europe. Niccolò Niccoli was the leading Florence humanist scholar of the time.