The Rule of Lorenzo de’ Medici

Lorenzo de’ Medici was only 20 years old when his father, Piero, passed away. Although he was the de facto head of Florence, Lorenzo still had to consult with the Signoria. Thus, he did not have the power he was supposed to be representing. And, in spite of it all, he had to take decisions and act. Lorenzo, thus, ended up making mistakes that could potentially extract a huge price and had, in its shadows, murder plots and deceit.

Lorenzo as the Head

Piero de’ Medici passed on the 2nd of December 1469. A day later, Lorenzo wrote to the Duke of Milan requesting that the cordial relationship the duke had with his father be continued. The duke agreed and recognized Lorenzo as the head of the Medici family, and as the de facto head of Florence.

Meanwhile, the Medici faction of the Florentine government—comprising roughly 700 wealthy heads of ancient families—gathered and concluded unanimously that Lorenzo must continue to lead his family and be consulted on all matters of state. Lorenzo agreed to this.

Accommodating Lorenzo

At this point, the Medici faction initiated a series of constitutional changes that made special provisions for Lorenzo’s youth.

As written, the Florentine constitution prohibited men under the age of 30 from holding office. This was changed to permit Lorenzo to serve in government should he wish. A number of other constitutional changes were put into effect—all of which were designed to tighten the Medici faction’s hold on the government, and to squash ever-present republican sentiment.

This article comes directly from content in the video series How the Medici Shaped the Renaissance. Watch it now, on Wondrium.

Lorenzo’s Aptitude for Politics

The Florentine aristocrats ought to have known that Lorenzo was much more than a young man whose inclinations tended toward discussions of beauty, the writing of poetry, and the pursuit of sport.

He was a profoundly serious intellectual with an almost unparalleled aptitude for politics. All that Lorenzo had to do was wait patiently as the aristocrats reshaped Florence’s political environment so that it came to fit him as a glove.

Even so, Lorenzo was not the prince or duke of Florence. He was the head of the city’s most influential family, and he had inherited the role adopted by his grandfather and father—chief advisor to the Florentine government.

Consulting the Signoria

Lorenzo’s predecessors, Cosimo and Piero, both had difficulty balancing their duties to family, bank, and government—and frequently the city erupted in violent disputes. Lorenzo, too, faced these same problems.

While he was responsible for selecting Florence’s ambassadors and, therefore, for negotiating with foreign princes on Florence’s behalf, Lorenzo was still required to consult with the Signoria.

Neighbors Attack

Although Lorenzo did not have power yet, he still somehow found himself sitting in the driver’s seat. Hence, inevitably, as would anyone else while learning the ropes, Lorenzo made mistakes along the way.

In the early 1470s, for example, Florence was pulled into a series of wars in the Romagna (a region directly to the east of Florence and Tuscany—just across the Apennine mountains).

It was started by the machinations of Pope Sixtus IV, likely the most corrupt pontiff of the age.

As Lorenzo’s attentions were drawn away from Florence, to the Romagna, the Volterrans—Tuscan neighbors to the south of Florence—united to throw of the yoke of Medici domination. Lorenzo had them punished.

Lorenzo Makes Mistakes

The resulting 1472 sack of Volterra stained Lorenzo’s reputation. The Florentine-funded mercenary captain Duke Federico da Montefelto and his army had besieged and successfully forced Volterra to surrender.

At which point the Florentine Signoria advised Lorenzo to accept the Volterrans’ terms. He refused to accept their capitulation because he believed it was too lenient.

Lorenzo believed that an example had to be made of the Volterran rebellion. Montefeltro and his mercenary army took the city, and they pillaged it, giving no quarter to any of its inhabitants.

A Stain on Lorenzo’s Reputation

When Lorenzo provided 2,000 florins to help rebuild the city, the Florentines and many other Italian states viewed his gift as a form of penance for the sins he allowed to be committed against the people of Volterra.

This harmed his reputation, but what harmed it further still—at least in Florence—was Lorenzo’s constant reliance on non-Florentines.

Reliance on Non-Florentines

Lorenzo consciously began hiring Italians from other states to be his personal secretaries, and even to act in ambassadorial roles. It alienated the aristocratic, pro-Medici faction of the Florentine government. They felt—quite rightly so—that they were being frozen out of power.

Unfortunately, this was far from his intention. What Lorenzo was actually trying to do was offset the power of the Signoria and concentrate it in his own hands—a program that eventually worked, but one for which his family would pay a terrible price in the short term.

Among the old Florentine families who felt the most betrayed by Lorenzo were the wealthy and ancient Pazzi. They felt that the Medici family, and Lorenzo in particular, had consolidated too much power—and that the Florentine aristocracy had been sidelined for too long.

A Plan to Crush the Medici Clan

It is important to underscore that the Pazzi weren’t sympathetic to republican sentiment in Florence. They believed that they, together with a handful of other ancient families, were destined to rule Florence. But, for such dreams to be realized, Lorenzo and the Medici clan had to be crushed.

It all culminated in a plot being hatched to murder Lorenzo and his younger brother, Giuliano. The tentacles of the conspiracy had spread far and wide. It reached from Florence to Pisa and to Rome, which became the meeting place and planning ground for the coup with Lorenzo unaware of the bloodbath that was yet to come.

Common Questions about the Rule of Lorenzo de’ Medici

Lorenzo wrote to the Duke of Milan, requesting that the cordial relationship the duke had with his father be continued.

When Lorenzo provided 2,000 florins to help rebuild the city, the Florentines and many other Italian states viewed his gift as a form of penance for the sins he allowed to be committed against the people of Volterra.

What harmed Lorenzo‘s reputation—at least in Florence—was his constant reliance on non-Florentines.

Keep Reading
Cosimo de’ Medici and the Management of Shadows
The Medici Party’s Fall and Rise to Power in Florence
Cosimo de’ Medici and the Common Good

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uLvNnamirZ2Zrqq42GeaqKVfqbWmedGuo55ln5t6rbvRnqWzp12Zsm65xJ2gnKFfYXlteItlY2U%3D