Stefano Dall’Aglio. The Duke’s Assassin

The Duke’s Assassin: Exile and Death of Lorenzino de’ Medici revisits one of the most (in)famous events of sixteenth-century Florentine history: the assassination in 1537 of the first Duke of Florence, Alessandro de’ Medici, by his cousin and confidant Lorenzo de’ Medici, widely known as Lorenzino. The backdrop of this murder was the growing political control of Florence by the Medici family and the opposition to them of committed republicans, who succeeded in ousting the Medici in 1494–1512 and again in 1527–1530. After the latter episode, the Medici and their partisans became convinced that only princely authority could secure them in Florence, and the rapprochement of Pope Clement VII (Giulio de’ Medici) with Holy Roman emperor Charles V permitted the elevation of the illegitimate Alessandro (probably the pope’s own son) to the title of duke in 1532. The Habsburg-Medici alliance was confirmed when Alessandro was allowed to marry the emperor’s illegitimate daughter while the republicans were forced into exile or resigned themselves to acquiescence.

Ancient history · Art · Emperor · Opposition (politics) · Political science · Politics · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Law · Medieval and Early Modern Justice · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies