of the Medici, the family to which the two Dukes of the Florentine Republic belonged. In 1532,
Pope Clement VII, who was born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, appointed
Alessandro de' Medici as duke over the
Republic of Florence, the Medici family having acted as
de facto rulers over the city of Florence since 1434 when
Cosimo "the Elder" de' Medici (also known by his supporters as
Pater Patriae, or "Father of the Country"), returned to the city from his short-lived exile in the
Republic of Venice by the
Alberti and
Strozzi families who were also political rivals of the Medici family. The duchy would bolster Medici power and influence in the region, which had just a few years prior been restored by
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor after
political upheaval against the Medici pope and Medici rulers of Florence in 1527. Alessandro is also believed by historians to have been the illegitimate son of either Pope Clement VII or
Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino. In 1535, a delegation of Florentine nobles, which included the
Pazzi family who
previously conspired to assassinate Lorenzo de' Medici and was headed by Alessandro’s cousin
Ippolito de' Medici, sought to gain the assistance of Emperor Charles V to depose Alessandro. Charles rejected the delegations’ appeals, as Alessandro had been wedded to the emperor's daughter
Margaret of Parma. Alessandro ruled as duke less than four years, being assassinated by
Lorenzino de' Medici on 6 January 1537. With no legitimate issue,
Cosimo de' Medici was chosen to succeed his distant relative by Florentine officials. Cosimo completely overhauled the bureaucracy and administration of Florence, and, in 1542, the Imperial Armed Forces stationed in Florence by Charles V were withdrawn. On 17 April 1555, Florentine and Spanish forces occupied the
Republic of Siena after a brief conflict.
Philip II of Spain bestowed the territory on Cosimo as a hereditary fiefdom in July 1557. In 1548, Cosimo purchased
Elba from the
Republic of Genoa and based his new developing navy there. Cosimo founded the port city of
Livorno and allowed the city’s inhabitants to enjoy freedom of religion. The ducal family moved into the
Palazzo Pitti in 1560. Cosimo commissioned the architect
Vasari to build the
Uffizi as offices for the
Medici bank. Finally, Cosimo was elevated to The Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1569 by
Pope Pius V. This effectively ended the Duchy of Florence, which became subordinate to the more elevated grand ducal title. The Medici continued to rule over Florence and Tuscany until their extinction in 1737 after the death of
Gian Gastone de' Medici, who had no children. ==The Dukes==