Clarice Orsini

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Clarice Orsini
Born1450
Monterotondo, Papal States
Died30 July 1488
Florence, Republic of Florence
Buried1 Aug 1488
Noble familyOrsini (by birth)
Medici (by marriage)
Spouse(s)Lorenzo de' Medici
IssueLucrezia de' Medici
Piero de' Medici
Maddalena de' Medici
Contessina Beatrice de' Medici
Giovanni de' Medici, Pope Leo X
Luisa de' Medici
Contessina de' Medici
Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours
FatherJacopo Orsini, Lord of Monterotondo and Bracciano
MotherMaddalena Orsini

Clarice Orsini (1450–1488)[1] was the daughter of Jacopo Orsini, and his wife and cousin Maddalena Orsini.[2] She was the wife of Lorenzo de' Medici and mother of Pope Leo X.[1]

Life

Clarice and Lorenzo married 4 June 1469,[3] with a four-day celebration.[4] The marriage was arranged by Lorenzo's mother Lucrezia Tornabuoni, who wanted her eldest son to marry a woman from a noble family to enhance the social status of the Medicis.[2] Their marriage was unusual for Florence at the time in that they were nearly the same age.[4] Clarice's dowry was 6,000 florins.[3]

The political nature of her marriage meant that she was often called upon by each side of her family to influence the other.[5] This included Lorenzo helping her brother Rinaldo get selected as Archbishop of Florence.[6] She was also called on by others throughout the area to support their requests to her husband.[7] People sought her support in the easing of taxes and releasing family members from exile or prison.[8] She would also use her network to gather information about political and military events away from where she was, including troop movements and battles.[9]

Clarice was not popular in Florence, because her strict religious personality was in deep contrast with the humanist ideals of the age. Even Lorenzo preferred a Florentine woman, Lucrezia Donati, to whom he dedicated his poems. Of the ten children born to them, three died in infancy.

During the Pazzi Conspiracy, which was aimed at murdering Lorenzo and his younger brother Giuliano, Clarice and her children were sent to Pistoia. (The Pazzis succeeded in murdering Giuliano, but Lorenzo survived the attack, thus the conspirators' plan to replace the Medicis as de facto rulers of Florence failed.)

Clarice returned to Rome several times to visit her relatives; she also visited Volterra, Colle Val d'Elsa, Passignano sul Trasimeno, and other places in the 1480s.[10] During these visits, she was treated as a representative of her husband, an unusual role for a woman in that time and place.[11]

On 30 July 1488 she died in Florence, and was buried two days later.[12] Her husband was not with her when she died, nor did he attend the funeral.[12]

Issue

Clarice and Lorenzo had 10 children:

Their children were taught by Angelo Poliziano for a time.[12] In 1478, he wanted to teach the children humanism, Latin, and Greek, but Clarice insisted on their lessons being more religious, and being delivered in Italian.[14] She had also removed the family and their teacher from Florence after the scare of the Pazzi conspiracy, and he chafed under the exile.[12] In May 1479, she tried to dismiss the tutor over another change in the curriculum, though Lorenzo continued to pay him.[12]

Ancestry

Family of Clarice Orsini
16. Giordana Orsini, Lord of Monterotondo
8. Francesco Orsini, Lord of Monterotondo
17. Anastasia Orsini
4. Orso Orsini, Lord of Monterotondo
18. Nicola Annibaldeschi
9. Costanza Annibaldeschi
2. Jacopo Orsini, Lord of Monterotondo and Bracciano
20. Giovanni Conti
10. Aldobrandino Conti, Signore of Valmontone
5. Lucrezia Conti
11. Caterina di Sangro
1. Clarice Orsini
24. Francesco Orsini
12. Giovanni Orsini, Lord of Bracciano
25. Giacoma Carraciolo
6. Carlo Orsini, Lord of Bracciano
26. Nicola Spinelli
13. Bartolomea Spinelli
27. Simona della Marra
3. Maddalena Orsini
28. Giovanni Orsini
14. Giacomo Orsini, Count of Tagliacozzo
29. Nicoletta Orsini
7. Paola Orsini
15. Isabella Marzano

References

  1. ^ a b Tomas 2003, p. 7.
  2. ^ a b Tomas 2003, p. 18-19.
  3. ^ a b Pernis & Adams 2006, p. 73.
  4. ^ a b Tomas 2003, p. 19.
  5. ^ Tomas 2003, p. 44.
  6. ^ Tomas 2003, p. 59.
  7. ^ Tomas 2003, p. 51.
  8. ^ Tomas 2003, p. 51,62.
  9. ^ Tomas 2003, p. 61-62.
  10. ^ Tomas 2003, p. 31.
  11. ^ Tomas 2003, p. 31-32.
  12. ^ a b c d e Tomas 2003, p. 24.
  13. ^ Tomas 2003, p. 7,21.
  14. ^ Tomas 2003, p. 24,86.

Sources

  • Pernis, Maria Grazia; Adams, Laurie (2006). Lucrezia Tornabuoni De' Medici and the Medici Family in the Fifteenth Century. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. ISBN 978-0820476452. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Tomas, Natalie R. (2003). The Medici Women: Gender and Power in Renaissance Florence. Aldershot: Ashgate. ISBN 0754607771.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Clarice_Orsini&oldid=723263386"