Florence

A period in which the Medici exercised decisive influence over the Florentine Republic without initially ruling as hereditary monarchs.

Cultural, intellectual and artistic flourishing in Italian states from the late medieval into the early modern period, with especially influential developments in Florence, Venice and Rome.

Series of wars fought from 1494 to 1559 over influence and territory in the Italian peninsula, involving France, Spain, the Habsburgs, the Papacy and competing Italian states.

A conspiracy involving the Pazzi family and Medici opponents culminated in an attack on Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici in Florence on April 26, 1478.