cino. These actions made Florence the cen-
ter of an emerging new view of the world
that placed the genius of human artists
and philosophers on an equal footing with
the inspiration of traditional religion.
SEEALSO: Ficino, Marsilio; humanism;
Medici, Lorenzo de’ .........................
Medici, Lorenzo de’
(1449–1492)
Lorenzo il Magnifico, or Lorenzo the Mag-
nificent, ruled the Italian city of Florence
as a patron of artists, writers, and human-
ists. During his reign, the city saw a re-
birth of the arts and scholarship that is
known as the Renaissance.
The scion of a wealthy family of bank-
ers, he was the grandson of Cosimo de’
Medici, the first of the Medici to rule Flo-
rence. Lorenzo’s father Piero de’ Medici il
Gottoso (the Gouty) was a collector of an-
cient works and contemporary art; his
mother Lucrezi Tornabuoni was an ama-
teur poet. His parents gave Lorenzo a thor-
ough education in ancient Greek and
Latin, and the classical authors. At the age
of seventeen he married Clarice Orsini, a
member of a wealthy and influential Ro-
man family. On the death of Piero de’
Medici in 1469, Lorenzo became head of
the family and, with his brother Giuliano
serving as his co ruler, the leading citizen
of Florence.
One of Lorenzo’s first achievements
was to affirm the handling of the papal fi-
nances by the Medici bank. But the great
wealth and influence of the Medici family
were cause for grave alarm for Pope Sixtus
IV, who sought to extend the papal terri-
tories northward to the frontier of Tus-
cany. Over the next few years, the pope
formed an alliance with the Pazzi clan, ri-
vals of the Medici. On April 26, 1478, a
few of the Pazzi and their hangers-on at-
tacked Lorenzo and his brother, Giuliano,
during Mass in the cathedral of Florence.
Although Lorenzo escaped his would-be
assassins, Giuliano was stabbed to death.
The pope then excommunicated Lorenzo
and put the city of Florence under an in-
terdict, forbidding the Florentines to cel-
ebrate Mass.
At the pope’s urging, King Ferdinand I
of Naples then ordered an assault on Flo-
rence. In response, Lorenzo courageously
sailed to Naples and negotiated directly
with the king. Persuaded by his adversary’s
bold actions, Ferdinand made a truce with
Florence, and both Naples and Florence
were spared a costly war. Eventually the
pope also ended hostilities, and Lorenzo
emerged as the most influential ruler in
northern Italy.
Lorenzo passed a new constitution for
the city in 1480, establishing a council of
seventy leading citizens who would govern
the city for life. He brought the leading
artists of Italy, including Domenico
Ghirlandaio, Fra Filippo Lippi, Andrea del
Verrochio, Sandro Botticelli, and Mich-
elangelo Buonarroti, as well as the scholars
Marsilio Ficino and Giovanni Pico della
Mirandola to his splendid court. He ex-
panded his family’s splendid library by
sending agents through southern and east-
ern Europe in search of unknown ancient
manuscripts, which became the founda-
tion of Florence’s famous Laurentian Li-
brary. As copies of these books traveled
through Italy and Europe, they played a
vital role in the spread of classical learning
and humanism that was the foundation of
the Renaissance.
Lorenzo staged great festivals, proces-
sions, and entertainments for the citizens
of Florence. Early in his reign, he ensured
the city’s grain supply during a famine, an
action that won over the population to
enthusiastically support him. Nevertheless,Medici, Lorenzo de’