Alessandro De Medici: The forgotten Black Prince of Florence
What I’m about to tell you is a story that more than qualifies to be a blockbuster Netflix series.
Known at the time as “Il Moro” (the Moor) due to his darker skin color, this is the story of a boy who, due to the circumstances of his birth and the colour of his skin, was never destined to rule the beating heart of Renaissance Italy called Florence. This, despite him hailing from the legendary banking family of the Medicis, a family that became the funding face of the Renaissance movement in the Italian peninsula. This is the tale of jealousy, envy, power, treachery and betrayal as our protagonist becomes an unlikely candidate to face a world that is twisted , manipulative and vindictive. He was the last true Medici who was descended from the legendary Lorenzo The Magneficient (the guy who was the political and financial face of the Renaissance, the OG of Medicis basically ). So without keeping y’all waiting , let us dive into the life of Alessandro De Medici , the first Duke of Florence (ruled 1531-1537) and the first black Head of State in Europe.
Italy at the time of Alessandro’s birth
Alessandro was born on 22nd July 1510 , a time when the fortunes of the Medicis was quite at a dire state. Gone were the glory days of Lorenzo the Magneficient (1469-1492). The Medicis were in fact on the run, driven from their own home in 1494.
At that time, Italy was engulfed in the long and gruelling Italian Wars (1494-1559), a titanic power clash between the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire(H.R.E) of Germany (Don’t even get me started on how complex the H.R.E was !) over who would wield influence over Italy and by large, over Europe. Inevitably, Florence was, along with many Italian city states quickly drawn in the crossfire. It was the beginning of the end for the Florentine Republic .
Long story short , Florence was restored to the Medicis after 19 years in 1513, thanks to Pope Leo X aka Giovanni De Medici (r. 1513- 1521) who was Lorenzo the Magneficient’s son. He made his brother Giuliano de Medici (r. 1513- 1516), the lord of Florence. Both the Pope and his successor, Pope Clement VII (r. 1523-1534) aka Giulio De Medici, Lorenzo’s nephew kept the Medici control over Rome and the Papacy just in case things don’t work out elsewhere. ( Yes I know, Lorenzo the Magneficient was a damn genius).
Alessandro was Giuliano De Medici’s grand nephew from his nephew, Lorenzo II De Medici (r. 1516-1519) [lots of confusing names right? Don’t worry, more are coming.
Parentage of Alessandro : An ageless debate.
Historians have debated Alessandro’s parentage for decades. His mother, based on multiple sources has been identified as Simonetta De Collevechio, a black african woman who worked in the Medici household. Although even this has been debated but still the consensus seems to agree on her African heritage.
The issue comes in determining who the father is. Two people have been associated as his father. One was none other than Pope Clement VII while the later was Lorenzo II the Medici (ruled Florence 1516-1519). Though the later of the two seem to be the right one.
Early struggles and the path to Dukedom
Alessandro had an elder half brother from the main line, Ippolito De Medici , himself an illegitimate child. He was in line to succeed as the next lord of Florence.
However, as fate would have it, he was instead made a cardinal by Pope Clement VII who wanted to secure Medici hold over the Papacy as he was dying. But he survived and Ippolito got the biggest disappointment in his life as being a cardinal was irreversible. This was triggered when the Pope, during his sickness had chosen young Alessandro to be the next ruler of Florence and bargained the same to happen with Emperor Charles V in 1529. Thereafter, the two brothers became bitter enemies.
Though before Ippolito became the cardinal, both the brothers co-ruled Florence under regency of Cardinal Passarini. But Charles V of Holy Roman Empire ( called a Universal monarch at that time ) sacked Rome in 1527 and weakend the Papacy. For 3 years Alessandro lived in exile.
The First Duke of Florence
In 1530 Florence was recaptured yet again with a Spanish Army and our boy Alessandro was made the ruler of Florence. He would become the first Duke of Florence in 1532, a hereditary position that would remain (as Grand Duchy of Tuscany) till the annexation of Tuscany itself in 1859 during the war of Italian Unification !
Alessandro faced opposition almost immediately. For most of his 5 year short reign as Duke (1532-1537) he was the victim of smear campaigns by his enemies who were mostly members of his own family. He was accused of being a low born , barbarian and a bastard by Ippolito and later by his distant cousin Lorenzino.
However, contrary to what its believed, Alessandro's reign was mixed. There were a lot of great things he did for Florence. Florence saw great architectural works like Fortezza Da Basso as a lodging for army troops to commissioning the artists like Vasari, Pontormo, Cellini and Sangallo the Younger.
The Duke was a lover of justice and this did win a lot of support from the Florentine crowd.
This made his enemies quite angry. It became even more amusing when Emperor Charles V, who had installed Alessandro dismissed the opposition’s complains and showed Alessandro full support, dismissing all of Alessandro’s critics.
However, where Alessandro’s enemies stretched his shortcomings was on the fate of Ippolito’s death. The estranged brother died under mysterious circumstances. It is rumoured that Alessandro had him poisoned . But whatever be the case, it was a very common practice at that time something that modern writers like Catherine Fletcher points out in her work on Alessandro’s life as she points to double standards as few bat an eye when many "virtuous" rulers of Europe do/did something similar or worse. But this was how survival was ensured back then as times were quiet violent compared to today.
To secure and cement his alliance with Emperor Charles V , in 1536, Alessandro married the then 6 year old Margaret of Austria, Charles V' daughter. (Ik ik)
Alessandro did have a mistress, Taddea Malaspina with whom he had two children : Giulio and Giulia De Medici. One other, Porzia De Medici was born from an unknown mother.
For the time being, things looked peaceful….it was not to last forever.
Ceasar’s rhyme.
One thing requires no debate : Alessandro had enemies. Lots of them. One in particular was a friend turned foe, his distant cousin Lorenzino. The two had a falling out over Lorenzino’s inheritance and this would cost Alessandro his life. On the night of January 6th 1537, Alessandro after being promised a liason with a noble woman by Lorenzino, Alessandro was struck down by Lorenzino himself with his servant. The Duke put up a brave fight but he was defenseless to begin with and died a horrific death.
Then came the most rhythmic aftermath , just as Caesar’s enemies rejoiced and falsely attempted to smear his name , Lorenzino too followed Caesar’s friend Brutus' path in this famous "Apology" speech where he justified his actions as a protector of Florentine Republicanism and a fighter against tyranny of the "Il Moro".
However karma worked in mysterious was. In 1548 he too was assassinated chiefly due to his killing of the Duke.
Legacy and Aftermath
Alessandro met a tragic end twice. Once was quite literally with his death and the other was after his death. He was seen as an incompetent ruler and a tyrant who destroyed the Florentine Republic. Our main image of this is actually more recent phenomenon. This negative image rose during the Victorian Era (not really much of a surprise lol). As colonialism nurtured modern racism , many scholars who were vehement revisionists , distanced themselves from Alessandro due to his heritage and unique position in history : A black Head of a predominantly white European state who used benevolent despotism to nurture art and ensure law and order making it difficult to gauge his complex character and life. He was the Macchiavellian “Prince" on his own right , as he did navigate his own fate masterfully. It is only in the 20th century that a more humane portrayal of Alessandro began to emerge as the image of the “black tyrant” began to unshackle with the decolonialism movement in the eastern world at that time.
Till then, he was largely forgotten, a victim of "Condemnation of Memory" phenomenon in history.
But it seems that our hero is finally being sung in ballads of history !