Cosimo I de' Medici (12 June 1519 – 21 April 1574) was the second
Duke of Florence from 1537 until 1569, when he became the first
Grand Duke of Tuscany, a title he held until his death.
Life
Rise to power
Cosimo was born in
Florence on 12 June 1519, the son of the famous
condottiere Ludovico de' Medici (known as
Giovanni delle Bande Nere) and his wife
Maria Salviati
Maria Salviati (17 July 1499 – 29 December 1543) was a Florentine noblewoman, the daughter of Lucrezia di Lorenzo de' Medici and Jacopo Salviati. She married Giovanni delle Bande Nere and was the mother of Cosimo I de Medici. Her husband died ...
, herself a granddaughter of
Lorenzo the Magnificent. He was the grandson of
Caterina Sforza, the Countess of Forlì and Lady of
Imola. Cosimo came to power in 1537 at age 17, just after the 26-year-old Duke of Florence,
Alessandro de' Medici
Alessandro is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Alexander. Notable people with the name include:
People with the given name Alessandro
* Alessandro Allori (1535–1607), Italian portrait painter
* Alessandro Baricco ...
, was assassinated. Cosimo was from a different branch of the Medici family, descended from
Giovanni il Popolano
Giovanni de' Medici, in full Giovanni di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, later known as il Popolano (the commoner) (21 October 1467 – 14 September 1498) was an Italian nobleman of the Medici House of Florence. He was the son of Pierfrancesco di Loren ...
, the great-grandson of
Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici
Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (c. 1360 – February 1429) was an Italian banker and founder of the Medici Bank. While other members of the Medici family, such as Chiarissimo di Giambuono de' Medici, who served in the Signoria of Florence in ...
, founder of the
Medici Bank. It was necessary to search for a successor outside of the "senior" branch of the Medici family descended from
Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici, since the only male child of Alessandro, the last
lineal descendant
A lineal descendant, in legal usage, is a blood relative in the direct line of descent – the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. of a person. In a legal procedure sense, lineal descent refers to the acquisition of estate by in ...
of the senior branch, was born
out-of-wedlock and was only four years' old at the time of his father's death.

Up to the time of his
accession, Cosimo had lived only in
Mugello (the ancestral homeland of the
Medici family
The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Muge ...
) and was almost unknown in Florence. However, many of the influential men in the city favoured him as the new duke. Several hoped to rule through him, thereby enriching themselves at the state's expense. However, as the Florentine
literatus Benedetto Varchi
Benedetto Varchi (; 1502/15031565) was an Italian humanist, historian, and poet.
Biography
Born in Florence to a family that had originated at Montevarchi, he frequented the neoplatonic academy that Bernardo Rucellai organized in his garden, the ...
famously put it, "The innkeeper's reckoning was different from the glutton's." Cosimo proved strong-willed, astute and ambitious and soon rejected the clause he had signed that entrusted much of the power of the Florentine duchy to a Council of Forty-Eight.
When the Florentine exiles heard of the death of Alessandro, they marshalled their forces with support from
France and from disgruntled neighbors of Florence. During this time, Cosimo had an illegitimate daughter,
Bia (1537 – 1542), who was portrayed shortly before her premature death in a painting by
Bronzino
Agnolo di Cosimo (; 17 November 150323 November 1572), usually known as Bronzino ( it, Il Bronzino ) or Agnolo Bronzino, was an Italian Mannerist painter from Florence. His sobriquet, ''Bronzino'', may refer to his relatively dark skin or reddis ...
.
Toward the end of July 1537, the exiles marched into Tuscany under the leadership of
Bernardo Salviati
Bernardo Salviati (17 February 1508 – 6 May 1568) was an Italian condottiero and Roman Catholic Cardinal.
Salviati was born in Florence, the son of Jacopo Salviati and Lucrezia di Lorenzo de' Medici, the sister of Giovanni de' Medici. The ye ...
and
Piero Strozzi. When Cosimo heard of their approach, he sent his best troops under
Alessandro Vitelli to engage the enemy, which they did at
Montemurlo. After defeating the exiles' army, Vitelli stormed the fortress, where Strozzi and a few of his companions had retreated to safety. It fell after only a few hours, and Cosimo celebrated his first victory. The prominent prisoners were subsequently beheaded on the
Piazza della Signoria or in the
Bargello.
Filippo Strozzi's body was found with a bloody sword next to it and a note quoting
Virgil, but many believe that his suicide was faked.
Rule of Tuscany
In 1537, Cosimo sent
Bernardo Antonio de' Medici
Bernardo Antonio de' Medici (1476 – 1552) was an Italian bishop and diplomat. He was considered one of the leading ambassadors of Cosimo I de' Medici.
He was the son of Antonio de' Medici and Selvaggia di Felice del Beccuto. He was bishop of F ...
to Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V to gain recognition for his position as head of the Florentine state. That recognition came in June 1537 in exchange for help against France in the course of the
Italian Wars. With this move, Cosimo firmly restored the power of the
Medici, who thereafter ruled
Florence until the death of the last of the Medici rulers,
Gian Gastone de' Medici
Gian Gastone de' Medici (born Giovanni Battista Gastone; 24 May 1671 – 9 July 1737) was the seventh and last Medicean Grand Duke of Tuscany.
He was the second son of Grand Duke Cosimo III and Marguerite Louise d'Orléans. His sister, Elect ...
, in 1737. The help granted to Charles V allowed him to free Tuscany from the Imperial garrisons and to increase as much as possible its independence from the overwhelming Spanish influence in Italy.
Cosimo next turned his attention to
Siena. With the support of Charles V, he defeated the Sienese at the
Battle of Marciano in 1554 and laid siege to their city. Despite the inhabitants' desperate resistance, the city fell on 17 April 1555 after a 15-month siege, its population diminished from forty thousand to eight thousand. In 1559,
Montalcino, the last redoubt of Sienese independence, was annexed to Cosimo's territories. In 1569,
Pope Pius V elevated him to the rank of Grand Duke of Tuscany.
In the last 10 years of his reign, struck by the death of two of his sons by
malaria, Cosimo gave up active rule of the Florentine state to his son and successor
Francesco I. He retreated to live in his villa, the
Villa di Castello, outside Florence.
Statesmanship

Cosimo was an authoritarian ruler and secured his position by employing a guard of Swiss
mercenaries
A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...
. In 1548, he managed to have his relative
Lorenzino, the last Medici claimant to Florence who had earlier arranged the assassination of Cosimo's predecessor Alessandro, assassinated himself in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
.
Cosimo also was an active builder of military structures, as a part of his attempt to save the Florentine state from the frequent passage of foreign armies. Examples include the new fortresses of Siena,
Arezzo
Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...
,
Sansepolcro, the new walls of
Pisa
Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
and
Fivizzano and the strongholds of
Portoferraio on the island of
Elba and
Terra del Sole.
He laid heavy tax burdens on his subjects. Despite his economic difficulties, Cosimo I was a lavish patron of the arts and also developed the Florentine navy, which eventually took part in the
Battle of Lepanto, and which he entrusted to his new creation, the
Knights of St. Stephen
The Order of Saint Stephen (Official: Sacro Militare Ordine di Santo Stefano Papa e Martire, "Holy Military Order of St. Stephen Pope and Martyr") is a Roman Catholic Tuscan dynastic military order founded in 1561. The order was created by Co ...
.
Patronage of the arts

Cosimo is perhaps best known today for the creation of the
Uffizi ("offices"). Originally intended as a means of consolidating his administrative control of the various committees, agencies, and guilds established in Florence's Republican past, it now houses one of the world's most important collections of art, much of it commissioned and/or owned by various members of the Medici family.
His gardens at
Villa di Castello, designed by
Niccolò Tribolo when Cosimo was only seventeen years old, were designed to announce a new golden age for Florence and to demonstrate the magnificence and virtues of the Medici. They were decorated with fountains, a
labyrinth, a
grotto
A grotto is a natural or artificial cave used by humans in both modern times and antiquity, and historically or prehistorically. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high ti ...
and ingenious ornamental water features, and were a prototype for the
Italian Renaissance garden. They had a profound influence on later Italian and French gardens through the eighteenth century.
Cosimo also finished the
Pitti Palace as a home for the Medici and created the magnificent
Boboli Gardens behind the Pitti. As his more prominent ancestors had been, he was also an important patron of the arts, supporting, among others,
Giorgio Vasari,
Benvenuto Cellini
Benvenuto Cellini (, ; 3 November 150013 February 1571) was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, and author. His best-known extant works include the ''Cellini Salt Cellar'', the sculpture of ''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'', and his autobiography ...
,
Pontormo,
Bronzino
Agnolo di Cosimo (; 17 November 150323 November 1572), usually known as Bronzino ( it, Il Bronzino ) or Agnolo Bronzino, was an Italian Mannerist painter from Florence. His sobriquet, ''Bronzino'', may refer to his relatively dark skin or reddis ...
, the architect
Baldassarre Lanci, and the historians
Scipione Ammirato and
Benedetto Varchi
Benedetto Varchi (; 1502/15031565) was an Italian humanist, historian, and poet.
Biography
Born in Florence to a family that had originated at Montevarchi, he frequented the neoplatonic academy that Bernardo Rucellai organized in his garden, the ...
.
A large bronze equestrian statue of Cosimo I by
Giambologna
Giambologna (1529 – 13 August 1608), also known as Jean de Boulogne (French), Jehan Boulongne (Flemish) and Giovanni da Bologna (Italian), was the last significant Italian Renaissance sculptor, with a large workshop producing large and small ...
, erected in 1598, still stands today in the
Piazza della Signoria, the main square of Florence.
Cosimo was also an enthusiast of
alchemy, a passion he inherited from his grandmother
Caterina Sforza.
Marriage and family

In 1539, Cosimo married the Spanish noblewoman
Eleanor of Toledo (1522 – 1562), the daughter of
Don Pedro Álvarez de Toledo
Pedro Álvarez de Toledo y Zúñiga (13 July 1484 – 21 February 1553) was a Spanish politician. The first effective Spanish viceroy of Naples, in 1532–1552, he was responsible for considerable social, economic and urban improval in the ...
, the Spanish
viceroy of
Naples and third cousin to Emperor Charles V himself. The couple had a long and peaceful married life. Surprisingly for the era, Cosimo was faithful to his wife throughout their married life. The example of a traditional couple served to strengthen his various reforms and separate their association with the former Duke. Eleanor was a political adviser to her husband and often ruled Florence in his absence. She provided the Medici with the
Pitti Palace and was a patron of the new
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
order.
The Duchess died with her sons Giovanni and Garzia in 1562, when she was only forty; all three of them were struck down by
malaria while traveling to
Pisa
Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
.
With Eleanor, Cosimo fathered eleven children:
Cosimo's children
* Maria (3 April 1540 – 19 November 1557), engaged to Alfonso di Ercole II d'Este, but died before the marriage
* Francesco (25 March 1541 – 19 October 1587), Cosimo's successor as Grand Duke of Tuscany
* Isabella (31 August 1542 – 16 July 1576), murdered by her husband Paolo Giordano I Orsini
Paolo Giordano Orsini (1541 – 13 November 1585) was an Italian nobleman, and the first duke of Bracciano from 1560. He was a member of the Roman family of the Orsini.
Biography
The son of Girolamo Orsini and Francesca Sforza, he was grandson, o ...
because of infidelity
* Giovanni (28 September 1543 – 20 November 1562), who became Bishop of Pisa and a cardinal
* Lucrezia (7 June 1545 – 21 April 1561), who married Alfonso II d'Este
Alfonso II d'Este (24 November 1533 – 27 October 1597) was Duke of Ferrara from 1559 to 1597. He was a member of the House of Este.
Biography
He was the elder son of Ercole II d'Este and Renée de France, the daughter of Louis XII of France an ...
, Duke of Ferrara and Modena
Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...
, in 1560
*Pietro (Pedricco) (10 August 1546 – 10 June 1547), who died in infancy
* Garzia (5 July 1547 – 12 December 1562), who died of malaria at age 15
*Antonio (1 July 1548 – July 1548), who died in infancy
* Ferdinando (30 July 1549 – 17 February 1609), Francesco's successor as Grand Duke of Tuscany
*Anna (19 March 1553 – 6 August 1553), who died in infancy
* Pietro (3 June 1554 – 25 April 1604), who murdered his wife Eleonora di Garzia di Toledo
Eleonora di Garzia di Toledo or Leonor Álvarez de Toledo Osorio (March 1553 – 10 July 1576), more often known as "Leonora" or "Dianora", was the daughter of García Álvarez de Toledo, 4th Marquis of Villafranca, Duke of Fernandina. Leonor ...
because of infidelity
Before his first marriage, Cosimo fathered an illegitimate daughter with an unknown woman:
*Bia de' Medici
The ''Portrait of Bia de' Medici'' is an oil-tempera on wood painting by Agnolo Bronzino, dating to around 1542 and now in the Uffizi in Florence. For a long time it was displayed in the Tribuna at the heart of the museum, but since 2012 it has be ...
(ca. 1536 – March 1, 1542)
After Eleanor's death in 1562, Cosimo fathered two children with his mistress Eleonora degli Albizzi
Eleonora degli Albizzi (1543 – 19 March 1634) was a mistress of Cosimo I de' Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany. She had an illegitimate son with him, Don Giovanni de' Medici.
History
She was the daughter of an ancient Florentine family of moder ...
:
*an unnamed daughter (born and died 1566) who died before baptism''
* Giovanni (1567 – 1621), later legitimized by his father
In 1570, Cosimo married Camilla Martelli
Camilla Martelli ( – 30 May 1590) was first the lover and then the second wife of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. She was the mother of Virginia de' Medici, future Duchess of Modena.
Biography
Born into one of the most importa ...
(died 1590) and fathered one child with her:
* Virginia (29 May 1568 – 15 January 1615), who married Cesare d'Este, Duke of Modena
Ancestry
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
* Henk Th. Van Veen, ''Cosimo I de' Medici and his Self-Representation in Florentine Art and Culture'' (Cambridge, CUP, 2006).
*
* Gáldy, Andrea M. ''Cosimo I de'Medici as collector: antiquities and archaeology in sixteenth-century Florence'' (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009).
External links
*
Tales From The Crypt: Reports On The Exhumation Of The Medici Tombs In Italy
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Medici, Cosimo 1
Cosimo 1
1519 births
1574 deaths
Cosimo 1
Cosimo 1
Nobility from Florence
Italian patrons of the arts
Knights of the Golden Fleece
1560s in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany
1570s in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany
16th century in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany
16th-century Italian nobility
16th-century monarchs in Europe
Italian art patrons