Lorenzino de' Medici

Lorenzino de' Medici (22 March 1514 – 26 February 1548), also known as Lorenzaccio, was an Italian politician, writer, and dramatist, and a member of the Medici family. He became famous for assassinating his cousin, Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence in 1537. He was in turn murdered in 1548 in retaliation for his deed. Biography Childhood and youth Son of Pierfrancesco and Maria Soderini, Lorenzino lost his father when he was only eleven (1525). He was then raised by his mother at the Villa del Trebbio along with his younger brother Giuliano and his two sisters Laudomia and Maddalena. In 1526 his mother decided to move to Venice with Giuliano and the future Cosimo I de' Medici to escape the arrival of the Landsknechts. Their departure was timely because, only one year later, the Sack of Rome enormously weakened Pope Clement VII (formerly known as Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici) and as a consequence, the Medici were expelled from Florence. In 1530 Lorenzino moved to Rome, where in 1534 he mutilated the heads of some of the ancient statues of the Arch of Constantine. Only the intercession of his cousin Cardinal Ippolito saved Lorenzino from the anger of the Pope, who had promised to condemn the vandal to death. Nevertheless, after this virtually inexplicable action, Lorenzino was disgracefully expelled from Rome.