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Article: Medici Family
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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MEDICI FAMILY
MEDICI FAMILY.
The dominant family in early modern Florence, the Medici produced several popes and cardinals, married into Europe's Catholic royal houses, and either dominated or ruled Florence from the early fifteenth century until 1737.
In 1434 the banker Cosimo de' Medici the Elder (1389
–
1464), outwardly respecting the republican constitution, became the power behind the scenes in Florence. Following unsuccessful coups against them in the 1460s, the Medici strengthened their position through the
bal
ì
e
(small extraordinary councils). The perception that the Medici were in fact, if not in law, lords of Florence lay behind an unsuccessful 1478 conspiracy by ...