Lorenzo de' Medici
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Lorenzo de' Medici (1 January 1449 – 9 April 1492) was an Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance. Known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (Lorenzo il Magnifico) by contemporary Florentines, he was a diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists, and poets. His life coincided with the high point of the early Italian Renaissance; his death marked the end of the Golden Age of Florence. The fragile peace he helped maintain between the various Italian states collapsed with his death. Lorenzo de' Medici is buried next to his brother Giuliano in the Medici Chapel in Florence.
Biography
Early Life
Lorenzo was the most brilliant of Cosimo de' Medici's grandsons, and was already a successful diplomat as a child. His father, Piero the Gouty, was sickly and relatively absent from Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano's lives, but managed to significantly increase the number of those opposed to the Medici reign of Florence. Lorenzo's mother, Lucrezia Tornabuoni, was a poet, and managed to instill in him a love of art and beauty that would greatly influence his adult lifestyle. Like his brother, he enjoyed horseback riding and jousting, but spent more time studying art and literature. Lorenzo was Piero and Lucrezia's third child, and his brother Giuliano was the fourth. They had two older sisters.
Working with Giovanni
Lorenzo de' Medici was ruling over Florence, but several parties had conspired against the Medici family, trying to overthrow and move them into a position of power in their place. Lorenzo hired Giovanni Auditore, an Assassin, to investigate. Giovanni successfully captured one of Rodrigo Borgia's men and hands him over to Lorenzo for interrogation. The man revealed an assassination plot to kill Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the Duke of Milan and a powerful ally of Lorenzo's. He then sent Giovanni to Milan in order to prevent the assassination. Unfortunately, Giovanni failed and the assassination was successful. However, Giovanni did manage to retrieve an encrypted paper from the thug that led the assassination.
Working with Ezio
Two years after Giovanni Auditore's death, Francesco de' Pazzi tried unsuccessfully to assassinate Lorenzo. In a frenzy, he leaped on Giuliano and stabbed him nineteen times. Lorenzo was wounded by two of the other conspirators, but produced his sword in an attempt to defend himself. Ezio, having consulted La Volpe, soon came and saved Lorenzo from Francesco by killing all of his guards, forcing Francesco to flee. Ezio then escorted Lorenzo through the war torn streets of Florence to his Palazzo for sanctuary. Once safely inside, Lorenzo asked Ezio to save Florence by killing Francesco, a task Ezio succesfully fulfilled. Lorenzo continued with asking Ezio to kill all of the Pazzi Conspirators, who all met their end at the hands of Ezio. Lorenzo rewarded Ezio with the Medici cape for his service.
A year later, Ezio returned to Florence to find Lorenzo's palazzo ransacked and his servants killed, and soldiers loyal to the Pazzi family searching the building for Lorenzo, who had gone missing. Ezio cleared the palazzo of guards and found Lorenzo in hiding. Lorenzo once again thanked and rewarded him, and set about restoring peace to Florence once more.
Ezio worked as Lorenzo's personal assassin by performing Assassination Contracts, until Lorenzo died in 1492.
Trivia
- In order to ensure that the player always has the ability to complete all of the Side Missions, the player is allowed to perform assassination contracts for Lorenzo in memory sequences that take place after Lorenzo's death. The Palazzo Medici Secret Location, which features Lorenzo, can be completed after Lorenzo's death as well.
- Though the people of Florence still love him even today, Lorenzo appears to be quite unpopular with other ruling powers in Italy. Besides the Templars and the Pazzi family; he is an enemy of Girolamo Riario, Lord of Forli, and Giovanni Mocenigo, Doge of Venice. According to both Lineage and reliable historical accounts, the Pope does not bear goodwill towards Lorenzo and supports Rodrigo Borgia's movement against the Medici.
- In his database entry, it is revealed that Lorenzo loved to write poetry, and this may have contributed to his downfall.
- Though they had started to turn on Lorenzo, the people of Florence were so devastated by Lorenzo's early death that, according to historical accounts, the entire population of the city attended his funeral. His legacy remains today as one of the defining figures of Italian culture and art.