Christian Cyclopedia

It. family active esp. 14th–18th c. in Florence, Tuscany; merchants, bankers, art patrons, civil and religious leaders. 1. Cosimo (Cosmo; 1389–1464). Father of 2; formed the library which later grew into the Biblioteca Mediceo-Laurenziana. 2. Lorenzo (1449–92). “The Magnificent”; father of Catherine* de Médicis (1533 m. Henry II; see also France, 8, 9) and Leo X (see Popes, 20); initiated movement for revival of nat. It. literature. 3. See Clement VII, 2.