Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino

Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino

Ruler of Florence;
Duke of Urbino
(from 1516)

Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (September 12, 1492 – May 4, 1519) was the ruler of Florence from 1513 to his death in 1519. He was also Duke of Urbino from 1516 to 1519. His illegitimate son, Alessandro de' Medici, became the first Duke of Florence.

Biography

Born in Florence on 12 September 1492, a son of Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici and Alfonsina Orsini. His paternal grandparents were Lorenzo the Magnificent and Clarice Orsini. His maternal grandparents were Roberto Orsini, Conte Tagliacozzo and Catherine San Severino. Niccolò Machiavelli dedicated The Prince to Lorenzo to inform him of tactics to use in unifying Italy, though the entire intent behind this dedication is shrouded in mystery.

His uncle, the Medici Pope Leo X, made "Lorenzino" duke of Urbino in 1516 at the age of 24. After the short reconquest by the former duke, Francesco Maria I della Rovere, Lorenzo was named commander of the 10,000 men sent to recapture it, but was wounded and retired to Tuscany. Lorenzo regained the duchy by a treaty short in the September of the same year (see also War of Urbino). The territory reverted to the Della Rovere family after Lorenzo's death.

As Duke of Urbino, Lorenzo married Madeleine de la Tour, daughter of the Count of Auvergne, on June 13, 1518. The marriage produced a daughter, Caterina, who was born in 1519; she went on to become Catherine de' Medici, the famous queen of Henry II of France, in a marriage arranged by her cousin, the Medici pope Pope Clement VII.

Lorenzo died from syphilis only 21 days after his daughter's birth. His tomb, along with its companion piece, the tomb of Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici, is in the Medici Chapel in the Church of San Lorenzo. The tombs are ornamented with sculpture by Michelangelo, with the figure known as Pensieroso representing Lorenzo.

Due to the fact that the Duke shared the same name, Lorenzo de' Medici, with his more famous grandfather, Lorenzo the Magnificent, who is buried nearby, the grand tomb is often mistaken for that of his grandfather.