Hello everyone and welcome back to LearnAmo! In this video we will talk about “Medici”. No, not them, I'll try again.
In this video we will talk about the Medici, Ok now we’ve got it: one of the greatest, more powerful and richest Italian families of all time, which have remained in power for about 300 years. They have been popes, kings and patrons, they have promoted art and culture and they have donated to Their territory glory and prestige that can no longer be replicated. The roots of the Medici family sink in the Valley del Mugello, one of the most beautiful places in Italy, about 30 kilometers from Florence and more precisely in the Medici Villa of Cafaggiolo.
Okay, maybe the name is not The best. Definitely the first Medici worthy mentioning is Giovanni de 'Medici, called Bicci. Giovanni immediately learned the trade of banker and so he opens the Family bank, the Banco Medici.
In 1397 he moved its seat in Florence, at that time ruled by the Signoria, made up of nobles. Giovanni however, who wasn't silly, thanks to its fruitful activity manages to get an armchair at the Palace of the Signoria, and this is where the rise to success and power of the Medici begins, thanks Bicci! Giovanni, in reality, is Not interested in politics.
What he really cares about is the money and prestige of his family. In short, he wants to get rich and important, but who can blame him? So He works to fill the pockets of the bank and at the same time invests in family wool mill.
But don’t worry, he Does not think only of himself, in fact he also cares about the people and his popularity grows when he decides to impose a fair reform of the land registry. Something like "the richer you are, the more you pay". Doing so, he fills the coffers of the city And he helps the poorest, receiving the title of Friend of the People.
With his money Giovanni, who loves beautiful things, finances various works of art, including the completion of the Church of San Lorenzo by Filippo Brunelleschi, which in reality does not see finished because He dies first. The bank and all his wealth then pass to his son Cosimo, known as Pater Patriae, or The Elder Well, it doesn't seem like it. Anyway, Cosimo is really the Pater Patrie, since he succeeds not only to consolidate but also to expand wealth and prestige of the Medici family and their bank, becoming the richest man of his time.
The then Bernard Arnault or Jeff Bezos, To be clear. With him, the blood of the Medici blends with noble blood, since he marries the scion of one of the oldest and most prestigious families of the time, Contessina de'Bardi. But the other noble families of the Signoria, like the Albizzi and the Strozzi, don't look kindly on these merchants who are getting richer And richer.
In fact, in the meantime the Medici Bank has become no less than the official bank of the Pope. Therfore, Albizzi and Strozzi accuse Cosimo of wanting to establish a dictatorship, they incarcerate him and try to Kill him. But he manages to escape and is exiled.
He passes a Golden exile in Venice and then returns As a winner in Florence a year later, during a political crisis. He then sends his opponents into exile and begins to commission artistic works left and right, among which stands out, without a shadow of doubt, the construction of the Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, by the hand of Filippo Brunelleschi. Incredible work that no one, for years, had been able to fulfill.
The he also commissions to Michelozzo Michelozzi the realization of the Medici Palace. [Music] If Cosimo is so powerful and influential, amazing and incredible, his son does not quite have the same charisma as his rather. His health is quite precarious due to gout, a disease that it prevents you from doing many things and this saddens a lot his father, whom hoped in a cool son like him.
But Cosimo Finds relief when he notices that his nephew Lorenzo, son of Piero, has many of his own gifts. Genetics doesn't fail that much. When Cosimo dies, Piero, called Il Gottoso, for obvious reasons, remains in power for five years and then It’s the turn of his son Lorenzo, which, like his brother Giuliano, has received a humanistic education and a good political preparation.
Like his grandfather, shows a great enthusiast and financier of great works and artists, and it is thanks to him that Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo, can give free rein to their creativity. But he is also a supporter of poetry, of philosophy, of the sciences, all things that give him the title of Lorenzo the Magnificent. The Medici now aim to have a say also in the Roman affairs of the Pope, so Lorenzo marries Clarice Orsini, scion of one of the noblest roman lineages.
During his administration, Lorenzo has to face what has gone down in history as one of the most important events related to this family, the Pazzi conspiracy. . no, they weren't crazy people, but an important Florentine noble family.
On April 26, 1478, during the mass In Santa Maria del Fiore, the two young Medici are attacked. Giuliano comes stabbed and dies, while Lorenzo comes slightly injured, thanks to the fact that his faithful friend Francesco Nori protects him with his body, sacrificing himself for him. Lorenzo is saved by hiding in the sacristy.
Lorenzo's revenge for the killers of his brother and his friend is terrible: public execution of all those responsible for the Conspiracy, in the square. From the point of Politic view, thanks to his extraordinary gift of eloquence, he is very skilled in diplomacy and manages to keep a peace general in Italy. But if Lorenzo is a great man of politics, art and culture, he is really weak in the management of the bank and its money.
At his death, for gout just like his father, the bank is collapsing because of his wrong investments. If the story of Cosimo the Elder e Lorenzo the Magnificent fascinates you e you want to know more about these two great people and their family, you can watch the beautiful tv series in three seasons entitled "The Medici", available on various platforms of video streaming. If you are outside of Italy and you have problems accessing the catalog of Italian streaming sites such as Amazon Prime Video, Netflix or Rai Play, or Mediaset Play, you can use NordVPN, the sponsor of this video.
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Oh yes! After Lorenzo the Magnificent, the power and the bank pass to his son Piero, said the Unfortunate or the Fatuo, rather than say unlucky, I would say that he is truly incompetent. He has no talent or political sense, let alone passion for art: it squanders all the family money, he doesn't know how to govern and after two years, in 1494, he is sent into exile.
The reputation of the Medici family recovers when Piero's brother, Giovanni, becomes Pope Leo X in 1513. And since he has more brother's artistic sense, he commissions to Michelangelo the construction of the New Sacristy, where today the bodies of Lorenzo the Greatest and his brother Giuliano rest. The artistic sense is also demonstrated by his beautiful rooms in Palazzo Vecchio.
And it is with him that the Medici family can return to Florence in 1512. The Medici continue their power in Rome when Giulio de Medici, son of a relationship of Giuliano, and then entrusted to the care of Lorenzo il Magnificent, becomes Pope Clement VII in 1523. He appoints as new lord of the city of Florence Alessandro, said the Moore, because of his olive complexion.
Son of Lorenzo II, Duke Of Urbino as well as the only son of Piero The Fatuo. Despite the bad reputation of Alexander, said to be cruel and vicious, both because of his behavior and because he wants to centralize power in his hands, Alexander is killed by a hitman from Lorenzino de Medici, also called Lorenzaccio, who was one of his sons, (never can’t even trust your relatives! ).
After The murder, he leaves everything and runs away away in exile. . well.
. Good job! With the death of Alessandro, it closes the primary branch of the Medici and, since it remains an empty place to the government, this is filled by a youngster, Cosimo, great-grandson of Lorenzo the Magnificent, as the son of the daughter of Lorenzo's daughter, what a mess!
However, Cosimo comes to power at only 18 years old, becoming Cosimo I de’ Medici, and he show the nobles that they want manipulate him, that he actually has a great charisma and in no time, he takes Absolute power and gets rid of his enemies. In 1539 he marries Eleonora of Toledo, daughter of the Spanish viceroy of Naples. With him Tuscany gradually becomes a modern state, well administered and the power Of the family is consolidated again, as it had only happened with the greatest.
For example, he expan Palazzo Pitti transforming it into his new one home and connects it, through the Vasari Corridor, to the Palazzo Vecchio, which later becomes his official residence. Like: "I am the state". Oh no, that was Louis XIV.
As if this Was not enough, he also carries out i Boboli Gardens. In 1569 he comes appointed Grand Duke of Tuscany, by Pope Pius V. But how does the history of the Medici end?
Their power continues through thick and thin, between capable and incompetent rulers. Worthy of note is certainly Ferdinand I, son of Cosimo I, who gets build the wonderful Chapel of the Principi, located in the Chapels Medicee, near the New Sacristy of Michelangelo. As a burial place of the Medici family, this Beautiful chapel is all made in colors muted and dark, in porphyry and granite for give her a burial mood.
In the niches There should have been the statues of all the Medici buried there, but in fact We can find only those of Ferdinando I and his son Cosimo II. The latest exponents of Medici family are distinguished by the bigotry and the extreme pomp of theirs court, to the detriment of the people who instead lives in extreme poverty due to very high fees, to support the rhythm of life of the Grand Dukes. After the death of Cosimo III, 1723, the Medici dynasty can said to be finished, since of his three Children, one dies without heirs, another is homosexual and another is sterile.
After more than 300 years of domination, the history of the Medici comes to an end. European sovereigns decide the fate of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, which passes to the Habsburg-Lorraine. And here we certainly must mention a woman who had a fundamental role for the city of Florence and its artistic and cultural heritage, that his ancestors had commissioned: Anna Maria Luisa de ' Medici, daughter of Cosimo III.
In fact, she stipulates with the Lorraines the "Family Pact", which provides that The Lorraines cannot carry, textual words, << or to raise outside the capital and the state of Grand Duchy . . .
Galleries, Paintings, Statues, Libraries, Gioje and other precious things. . .
So that they remained for ornament of the State, for the benefit of the Public and to attract the curiosity of Foreigners >>. The pact was respected by the new Grand Dukes, who then allowed the city to preserve its art and its beauty down to us. Well, here it ends our brief summary of the 300 years of the Medici family, among the most important, rich and prestigious ones of Italy.
If you are not too tired and want to know more about the history of Italy, do not miss the dedicated video to the unification of Italy and all of its protagonists, which you find as Always, up in the card and down in the Description. For all other lessons of Italian grammar and culture, exercises and more, go to our website learnamo. com, and don't forget to follow LearnAmo also on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok and Pinterest.
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