Medici, Alessandro de'

Medici, Alessandro de' (älĕs-sän`drō dā mĕ`dĭchē, Ital. mā`dēchē), 1510?–37, duke of Florence (1532–37); probably an illegitimate son of Lorenzo de' Medici, duke of Urbino. His prominence began when Pope Clement VII, then head of the Medici family succeeded (1530) in restoring the Medici to power in Florence after a three-year banishment. With Clement's support Alessandro was made head of the republic (1531) and hereditary duke (1532) by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, whose illegitimate daughter Margaret of Austria (later known as Margaret of Parma) he married. His arbitrary rule brought him general hatred. The Florentines sent (1535) his cousin Ippolito to appeal to Charles V against the duke, but Ippolito died en route, apparently of malaria, although he may have been poisoned at Alessandro's orders. Alessandro, who continued to enjoy imperial favor, was murdered in turn two years later by a relative, Lorenzino de' Medici (see separate article). The elder Medici line was then extinct, and the headship of the family passed to Cosimo I de' Medici.

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Medici, Alessandro de'

(born 1510/11, Florence—died Jan. 5–6, 1537, Florence) First duke of Florence (1532–37). A member of the elder branch of the Medici family, he was probably the illegitimate son of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici (later Pope Clement VII). The pope made Cardinal Passerini regent in Florence for Alessandro, but they were forced to flee when the unpopular regency provoked a revolt in 1527. An agreement between the pope and Emperor Charles V restored the Medici in Florence (1530), and Alessandro was declared a hereditary duke (1532). A tyrannical ruler, he sought to solidify his control by marrying Charles V's daughter, Margaret of Austria, in 1536. In an unsuccessful attempt to cause a revolt, a distant cousin, Lorenzino de' Medici (1514–48), murdered Alessandro in 1537.