Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino

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

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, Conte 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

Lorenzo II de' Medici House of Medici Born: 12 September 1492 Died: 4 May 1519
Italian nobility
Preceded by Francesco Maria I della Rovere	Duke of Urbino 1516–1519	Succeeded by Francesco Maria I della Rovere