Alessandro De' Medici (1510-1537)

Summary Label

Alessandro De’ Medici was the first Black Duke of Florence.

Alessandro De’ Medici was the first black Duke of Florence and served starting in 1530 until his assassination in 1537. Alessandro's legacy is complicated as over the years he has been painted as a tyrant.

Title

Alessandro De' Medici (1510-1537)

Date of Birth

July 22, 1510

Date of Death

January 6, 1537

gender

Male

Hometown or Region

Florence, Italy

Freedom Status

Free

Occupation

Duke of Florence (1530-1537)

Biography

Alessandro de’ Medici was born in Florence Italy on July 22, 1510. He is of African descent as he was the son of an african female slave named Simonetta while his father could have been either Pope Clement VII or Lorenzo de’ Medici the Duke of Urbino. Through the Treaty of Barcelona in 1529, Charles V agreed to put the Medici family back into power and in 1532 Pope Clement VII made Alessandro the Duke of Florence. Growing up and later in his life, he enjoyed traveling to Poggio a Caiano just outside Florence. Most importantly, his trips to Bologna helped him to solidify his position of power as one centered around the coronation of Charles V as Roman Emperor and the other was a meeting between Charles V and Pope Clement VII. Although Alessandro was the most important government figure in Florence from 1532 to 1537, he really enjoyed the arts as he had many pieces commissioned by Renaissance artists. Benvenuto Cellini, a goldsmith, was commissioned to make the testone with Alessandro’s portrait to replace the Silver Grosso as the currency of Florence. None of this would have been possible without his relationship with Charles V, his father in law, and Pope Clement VII as both strived to keep him in power even though he had a large opposition. On January 6, 1537 his cousin Lorenzino assassinated him while he was expecting to share a bed with a woman. His physical death was tragic, however, Lorenzino also kills his reputation by justifying his actions in apologia where he claims Alessandro was a tyrant and that he was liberating the people of Florence.

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Student Researcher

Blake Pou