HIS243H1 Lecture : Renaissance Politics 2 of 2
Document Summary
Medici palace: cosimo has to rent the palace. He moves his whole entourage into city hall & makes it his private palace (very symbolic act) Not big enough, so buys another one, 1st to have a formal garden. Have fortress to keep florentine pop in check. Was another fortress not controlled by medici but by the pope. Pope gives cosimo the title of duke. Cosimo to consolidate his position & power: gives emperor stack of cash, 1543 to move the troops out, marriage politics > marries eleonora = daughter of high spanish noble (close ties to the roman emperor) Catherine de medici married to french prince. When his older bro dies she becomes queen. Best thing for her = death of her husband. Medici courting both spanish & french, but the 2 are at war family that shows how to succeed at politics. Cosimo doesn"t want to be just a duke, he wants to invent the title of grand duke.
