FIRST OF THE MEDICI POLITICAL DYNASTY // LAST SCION OF THE HOUSE OF MEDICICosimo di Giovanni de&

FIRST OF THE MEDICI POLITICAL DYNASTY // LAST SCION OF THE HOUSE OF MEDICICosimo di Giovanni de’ Medici; Pater Patriae (”Father of his Country”)aka Cosimo the Elder and Cosimo Pater Patriae (Latin for ‘father of the nation’). Lord of Florence. Born in Florence, inherited welth and expertise in banking from his father. Married Contessina de’ Bardi. Had three children; Piero di Cosimo de’ Medici “the Gouty”, Giovanni de’ Medici and Carlo di Cosimo de’ Medici (illegitimate with a slave woman named Maddalena). He was a great patron of literature, the arts and architecture. He was succeeded by his son Piero on his death. Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici; Her Serene Highness The Dowager Electress [Palatine of the Rhine]Electress Palatine; Duchess of Neuburg, Jülich and Berg, of Cham and the Upper Palatinate; Countess of Mege. Only daughter of Cosimo III de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Marguerite Louise d'Orléans. She was a patron of the arts and musicians. Married to Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine, who had syphilis, therefore they never had children. Her siblings were barren which left the family almost extinct at that point. After her brother Gian Gastone died, all of the Medici’s allodial possessions (including  £2,000,000 liquid cash, a vast art collection and robes of state and lands in the former Duchy of Urbino) were bestowed upon Anna. The most notable act that she passed was the Patto di Famiglia (”Family Pact”). Signed on October 31, 1737 and in collaboration with the Holy Roman Emperor and Francis of Lorraine, she will all the Medici’s personal property (all of art and treasures collected by the family for nearly 300 years) to the Tuscan state, provided that none of it was ever removed from Florence.  -- source link

More pics about