I MEDICI
The Medici family was a powerful and influential Florentine family, originally bankers, later politicians, clergy and nobles, which attained its greatest prominence in the Renaissance as members became key characters, during the 15th and 16th centuries .
The so-called "senior" branch of the family, those descended from Piero de' Medici (the Gouty) (and thereafter from his son Lorenzo de' Medici , the Magnificent), ruled until the assassination of Alessandro de' Medici (the Moor) in 1537 . Thereafter, power passed to the so-called "junior" branch, those descended from Lorenzo de' Medici (the Elder), starting with his great-great-grandson Cosimo I de' Medici .

Notable members were:

•  Cosimo de' Medici (the Elder) (1389-1464), founder of the Medici political dynasty
•  Lorenzo de' Medici (the Magnificent) (1449-1492), leader of Florence during the Golden Age of the Renaissance
•  Giovanni de' Medici (1475-1523), would become Pope Leo X
•  Giulio de' Medici (1523-1534), would become Pope Clement VII
•  Cosimo I de' Medici (1519-1574), first Grand Duke of Tuscany, restored the Medici lustre
•  Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589), queen of France
•  Maria de' Medici (1573-1642), queen and regent of France