Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino

Lorenzo II de' Medici
Lord of Florence
Reign	17 March 1516 – 4 May 1519
Predecessor	Giuliano de' Medici
Successor	Giulio de' Medici
Born	(1492-09-12)12 September 1492 Florence, Republic of Florence
Died	4 May 1519(1519-05-04) (aged 26) Careggi, Republic of Florence
Noble family	Medici
Spouse(s)	Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne
Issue	Catherine, Queen of France Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence (illegitimate)
Father	Piero the Unfortunate
Mother	Alfonsina Orsini

Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (12 September 1492 – 4 May 1519) was the ruler of Florence from 1513 to his death in 1519. He was also Duke of Urbino from 1516 to 1519. His daughter, Catherine de' Medici, became Queen Consort of France, while 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, Count of 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.

Ancestry

Family of Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino

16. Cosimo de' Medici 8. Piero the Gouty 17. Contessina de' Bardi 4. Lorenzo de' Medici 18. Francesco Tornabuoni 9. Lucrezia Tornabuoni 19. Nanna Guicciardini 2. Piero de' Medici 20. Orso Orsini, Lord of Monterotondo 10. Jacopo Orsini, Lord of Monterotondo and Bracciano 21. Lucrezia Conti 5. Clarissa Orsini 22. (=12.)Carlo Orsini, Lord of Bracciano 11. Maddalena Orsini 23. (=13.)Paola Orsini 1. Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino 24. Giovanni Orsini, Lord of Bracciano 12. (=22.)Carlo Orsini, Lord of Bracciano 25. Bartolomea Spinelli 6. Roberto Orsini, Count of Tagliacozzo 26. Giacomo Orsini, Count of Tagliacozzo 13. (=23.)Paola Orsini 27. Isabella Marzano 3. Alfonsina Orsini 28. Filippo Sanseverino, Count of Matera 14. Amerigo Sanseverino, Count of Capaccio 29. Elisabetta d’Aquino 7. Caterina Sanseverino 30. Antonio Sanseverino, Duke of San Marco 15. Margherita Sanseverino 31. Giovanna Orsini granddaughter of Raimondo Orsini

See also

• House of Medici
• Medici Chapel

External links

• The Medici (The Senior or 'Cafaggiolo') Family Line - The Glorious 1400s