Alessandro de' Medici: the 'Black Prince of Florence'

Alessandro de' Medici: the 'Black Prince of Florence'

Renaissance ruler, son of a pope, scion of one of the most famous families in history, Alessandro de' Medici was likely Europe's first Black head of state when he ruled Florence as its first duke in 1532 at the age of 19. Born to an African Medici household servant, at the time his father was publicly known to be Lorenzo de' Medici II, though most historians believe his real father to be Lorenzo's cousin Giulio, a cardinal of the Catholic church who went on to become Pope Clement VII. A patron of the arts and architecture like many Renaissance rulers, he was relatively well-liked by his subjects. However, he was deeply hated by the elite Florentine families who left the city in exile, cut off from power as Alessandro consolidated his rule, ending Florence's oligarchic republican government in favour of absolutism.

Despite attempts to bolster his popularity among the nobility, including a marriage to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V's daughter at the behest of Clement VII, Alessandro's reign ended in 1537 when he was assassinated by his cousin Lorenzino (known to history as Lorenzaccio, or "bad Lorenzo"). Lorenzino lured Alessandro with the promise of a tryst with a widowed noblewoman, only to stab him to death in anger over his power-grab. Despite his short reign and ignominious death at the hands of republican-minded Lorenzino, Alessandro was the foundation for more than two centuries of hereditary Medici rule in Florence.