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  • Dynasty
  • Florence and France
  • 1360 to 1589

The Medici family tree, from the bank to the throne of France

This Medici family tree follows eight generations of one Florentine family, from the banker Giovanni di Bicci to Catherine de’ Medici and her sons, the last Valois kings of France. Every statement in the article under the chart has a numbered source.

The chart of the Medici family tree

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The Medici family tree in portraits, eight rows deep, from Giovanni di Bicci and Piccarda Bueri at the top to Catherine de’ Medici, Henry II and four Valois children.

Select a person on the chart, and the row about them opens from here.

One generation of the Medici family tree stands on each row, from the founder of the bank to four Valois children.

Drawn from the Medici template of the library. Select a person to find the row in the people table.

the bank is founded
1397
generations
8
Medici popes
2
people on the chart
23
The key

How to read this Medici family tree

Read the Medici family tree from the top down, one generation to a row, with children hanging from the line between their parents.

  • A double ring is the centre

    It marks Catherine de’ Medici, where Florence meets the French crown.

  • An outline has no likeness

    No portrait of Fioretta Gorini is known.

Offices

The Medici family tree in office

The Medici family tree holds a banker, men who led Florence without a title, two popes and a queen of France.16

The Medici on the chart who held office.
PersonOfficeHeld
Portrait of Giovanni di BicciGiovanni di BicciGonfaloniere of Justice1421, for two months
Portrait of Cosimo the ElderCosimo the ElderFirst citizen, without high office1434 to 1464
Portrait of Lorenzo the MagnificentLorenzo the MagnificentLeader of the state1469 to 1492
Portrait of Piero the UnfortunatePiero the UnfortunateLeader of the state1492 to 1494
Portrait of Leo XLeo XPope1513 to 1521
Portrait of Lorenzo, Duke of UrbinoLorenzo, Duke of UrbinoCaptain-general of Florence1515 to 1519
Portrait of Clement VIIClement VIIPope1523 to 1534
Portrait of Catherine de’ MediciCatherine de’ MediciQueen of France, then regent1547 to 1559, 1560 to 1563

Sources58111218192124

1397 to 1429

Where the Medici family tree begins

The Medici family tree begins with Giovanni di Bicci, who founded the Medici Bank in Florence in 1397.1817 Its Rome branch handled papal finances, and other branches stood in Venice, Geneva, London and Bruges.17 He was gonfaloniere for two months in 1421 and paid for the sacristy of San Lorenzo, where he and Piccarda Bueri were buried.1815

1434 to 1469

Cosimo the Elder and Piero the Gouty

Cosimo married Contessina de’ Bardi in about 1415.20 Exiled in 1433, he returned in 1434 and ruled through wealth and allies, with little formal office.1916 After his death the Signoria named him Father of the Fatherland.19

His son Piero married Lucrezia Tornabuoni, a poet of sacred verse, in 1444.12 In 1466 he raised armed men against a party led by Luca Pitti, and its leaders fled or were exiled.1

1469 to 1492

Lorenzo the Magnificent and the Pazzi conspiracy

Lorenzo the Magnificentled Florence 1469 to 1492

Portrait of Lorenzo the Magnificent
Born
1 January 1449, Florence
Married
Clarice Orsini, 4 June 1469
Wounded
26 April 1478, Florence Cathedral
Died
8 April 1492, Careggi

Sources32122

Lorenzo led the state from 1469, aged twenty, and married Clarice Orsini that year.213 On Sunday 26 April 1478, at High Mass in the cathedral, the Pazzi and their allies struck. Giuliano died of nineteen blows, and Lorenzo escaped with a wound to the neck.22421 Archbishop Salviati was hanged from a window of the Palazzo della Signoria, and Sixtus IV excommunicated Lorenzo.22 A month later Giuliano’s son Giulio was born, probably to Fioretta Gorini, and Lorenzo raised him.23

Botticelli’s Adoration of the Magi. The Virgin and Child sit under a ruined shed, the three kings kneel before them and Florentines in rich robes crowd both sides.
Botticelli painted this Adoration about 1475. Most scholars find Cosimo, his sons and his grandsons Lorenzo and Giuliano among the figures.[^w-adoration] Sandro Botticelli, about 1475 to 1476, public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
1492 to 1512

Piero the Unfortunate and the fall of 1494

Piero succeeded his father in 1492.5 His wife, Alfonsina Orsini, was related to him, so the marriage needed a papal dispensation.6 In 1494 he agreed to give Pisa and Livorno to Charles VIII of France, and the Signoria disowned him. He fled and drowned in the Garigliano in 1503.5 The bank was wound up.17 The family returned in 1512.13

1513 to 1534

Two popes in the Medici family tree

Giovanni, the second son of Lorenzo, was made a cardinal at thirteen and elected pope as Leo X on 11 March 1513.1311 His brother Giuliano was made Duke of Nemours in 1515.7

Giulio was declared legitimate in 1513 and made a cardinal by his cousin.2314 He was elected as Clement VII in November 1523, on the 18th by the Catholic Encyclopedia and the 19th by Wikipedia.1423 In 1534 his court upheld the first marriage of Henry VIII.14 He died that September.12

1519 to 1589

Catherine de’ Medici and the last Valois kings

Catherine de’ Mediciqueen of France 1547 to 1559

Portrait of Catherine de’ Medici
Born
13 April 1519, Florence
Married
Henry, Duke of Orléans, 28 October 1533
Regent
For Charles IX, from December 1560
Died
5 January 1589, Blois

Sources924

Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino from 1516, married Madeleine de La Tour d’Auvergne in 1518. Their daughter Catherine was born in April 1519, and both parents died within a month.824

Clement VII married Catherine to Henry, second son of Francis I. Henry became king in 1547 and died of a tournament wound in 1559.2310 Elisabeth married Philip II of Spain.28 Francis II died at sixteen, and Catherine governed for Charles IX, who was ten.259 In 1589 a friar killed Henry III, the last Valois king.27

1397 to 1589

A timeline of the Medici family tree

  2. The Pazzi conspiracy

    Giuliano is killed.

  3. Leo X is elected

    The first Medici pope.

  5. Henry III dies

    The Valois line ends.

Sources1317222427

Twenty-three people

The people on the chart

Each person on the Medici family tree has a row. Choose a period to list the people alive in it.

Who was alive

All 23 people on the chart are listed.

The people on the chart, in the order of its rows.
PortraitPersonYearsLifeOn the chart
Portrait of Giovanni di BicciGiovanni di BicciFounder of the bank1360–1429He founded it in 1397.

Sources18

Portrait of Piccarda BueriPiccarda BueriWife of Giovanni1368–1433Buried with him in San Lorenzo.

Sources15

Portrait of Cosimo the ElderCosimo the ElderFirst citizen of Florence1389–1464Named Father of the Fatherland.

Sources19

Portrait of Contessina de’ BardiContessina de’ BardiWife of Cosimoc. 1390–1473From a banking family.

Sources20

Portrait of Piero the GoutyPiero the GoutySon of Cosimo1416–1469He put down the party of 1466.

Sources1

Portrait of Lucrezia TornabuoniLucrezia TornabuoniWife of Piero1427–bef. 1482A poet of sacred verse.

Sources2

Portrait of Lorenzo the MagnificentLorenzo the MagnificentLeader of Florence1449–1492He survived the Pazzi conspiracy.

Sources21

Portrait of Clarice OrsiniClarice OrsiniWife of Lorenzoc. 1452–1488Seven of her children lived.

Sources3

Portrait of Giuliano di PieroGiuliano di PieroBrother of Lorenzo1453–1478Killed in the cathedral in 1478.

Sources4

FGFioretta GoriniMother of Clement VIINot recordedProbably his mother. Her dates are not known.

Sources23

Portrait of Alfonsina OrsiniAlfonsina OrsiniWife of Pieroc. 1472–1520She died in Rome in 1520.

Sources6

Portrait of Piero the UnfortunatePiero the UnfortunateSon of Lorenzo1472–1503Expelled in 1494.

Sources5

Portrait of Leo XLeo XPope, 1513 to 15211475–1521Born Giovanni de’ Medici.

Sources11

Portrait of Giuliano, Duke of NemoursGiuliano, Duke of NemoursSon of Lorenzo1479–1516Married Filiberta of Savoy.

Sources7

Portrait of Clement VIIClement VIIPope, 1523 to 15341478–1534Born Giulio de’ Medici.

Sources12

Portrait of Lorenzo, Duke of UrbinoLorenzo, Duke of UrbinoFather of Catherine1492–1519He died in May 1519.

Sources8

Portrait of Madeleine de La Tour d’AuvergneMadeleine de La Tour d’AuvergneMother of Catherinec. 1498–1519She died in April 1519.

Sources8

Portrait of Catherine de’ MediciCatherine de’ MediciQueen of France1519–1589Mother of three kings.

Sources9

Portrait of Henry IIHenry IIKing of France1519–1559He reigned from 1547.

Sources10

Portrait of Francis IIFrancis IIKing of France1544–1560Husband of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Sources25

Portrait of Elisabeth of ValoisElisabeth of ValoisQueen of Spain1546–1568Third wife of Philip II.

Sources28

Portrait of Charles IXCharles IXKing of France1550–1574King at ten.

Sources26

Portrait of Henry IIIHenry IIIKing of France1551–1589The last Valois king.

Sources27

Three terms

A short glossary

Signoria

The government of Florence, priors drawn by lot for two months.

Sources30

Gonfaloniere of Justice

The ninth member of the Signoria, named for the city’s banner.

Sources3031

Regent

A person who governs for a monarch too young, ill or away.

Sources32

Asked often

Questions about the Medici family tree

Who is at the root of the Medici family tree

Giovanni di Bicci founded the Medici Bank in Florence in 1397, and his son Cosimo made the family the leaders of the city.

How the two popes fit in the Medici family tree

Leo X was a son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, and Clement VII a son of Lorenzo’s brother Giuliano, so the two were first cousins.

Reference

People and sources

A page of its own lists the 32 numbered sources this article cites. It also gives the credits of the portraits and this page as a reference in the APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard styles, ready to copy.

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