1537: Alessandro de’ Medici – The First Duke of Florence

Alessandro de’ Medici, the first Duke of Florence, died on this day in 1537. Indeed, the de’ Medici family held power in Florence since 1434, i.e. approximately a hundred years before Alessandro, but before him they did not have the official title of the ruler of Florence. Namely, Florence was, during the first hundred years of Medici dynasty’s reign, nominally a republic, and Alessandro’s predecessors were simply its “Signores”. It was only Alessandro who was awarded with the auditory title of “Duke of Florence” (Italian: Duca di Firenze). Later, the de’ Medicis were raised to an even higher title – Duke of Tuscany (Italian: Granduca di Toscana). Alessandro de’ Medici was a contemporary of famous people from the Renaissance period – Michelangelo Buonarroti, Niccolò Machiavelli, and many others. He had a strong protector in the person of his cousin – Pope Clement VII – who was also from the de’ Medici family (his name was Giulio Medici).