#i. cosimo de' medici / writings. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

homomenhommes · 6 months

Text

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … November 17

Andrea Doria as Neptune

1503 – Agnolo Bronzino (d.1572) was one of the leading painters of the Florentine School in mid-sixteenth-century Italy. He eventually became court painter to Cosimo de Medici. Born in Monticelli in 1503, Bronzino studied with mannerist painter and portraitist Jacopo Pontormo (1494-1557).

Most scholars conclude, based on a series of sonnets Bronzino wrote upon Pontormo's death, that the two men enjoyed a more intimate relationship than that of master and pupil. Later in his life, in 1552, Bronzino also adopted one of his own pupils, Alessandro Allori (1535-1607), as his son. In sixteenth-century Florence, this type of arrangement often signaled a sexual relationship between two men; an older man adopting his younger lover was quite common. The two artists lived together until Bronzino's death in 1572.

Famous mainly for his portraits, Bronzino also painted biblical and mythological scenes, designed tapestries and frescos, and composed poetry. While some of Bronzino's poetry consists of rather conventional lyric verse, as well as the sonnets upon Pontormo's death, he also wrote a considerable body of burlesque verse. Often obscene and erotic, burlesque verse circulated among Florentine intellectual and aristocratic circles, whose members would have detected obscure allusions and subtexts beneath the bawdy wordplay. Bronzino's burlesque poetry is distinguished by its large number of homoerotic references and allusions.

Cosimo I de' Medici as St. Sebastian

There is an undeniable homoerotic subtext to several of Bronzino's famous portraits, including Andrea Doria as Neptune (ca 1545) and Cosimo I de' Medici as St. Sebastian (ca 1538-1540).

In both his writing and painting, Bronzino contributes significant insights into same-sex desire and relationships in sixteenth-century Florentine society.

1851 – Major Lord Henry Arthur Somerset (d.1926) was the third son of the 8th Duke of Beaufort and his wife, the former Lady Georgiana Curzon. He was head of the stables of the future King Edward VII (then Prince of Wales) and a Major in the Royal Horse Guards.

He was linked with the Cleveland Street scandal, wherein he was identified and named by several male prostitutes as a customer of their services. He was interviewed by police on 7 August 1889; although the record of the interview has not survived, it resulted in a report being made by the Attorney-General, Solicitor-General and Director of Prosecutions urging that proceedings should be taken against him under section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885. A piece of paper was pasted over Somerset's name in the report, as it was deemed so sensitive.

However, the Director was told that the Home Secretary wished him to take no action for the moment. The police obtained a further statement implicating Somerset, while Somerset arranged for his solicitor to act in the defence of the boys arrested over the scandal. After the police saw him for a second time on 22 August, Somerset obtained leave from his regiment and permission to go abroad.

Lord Arthur went to Homburg, although he returned to England. When tipped off in September that charges were imminent, he fled to France to avoid them. From there he travelled through Constantinople, Budapest, Vienna, and then back to France, where he settled and died in 1926, aged 74.

1854 – Louis-Hubert Lyautey (d.1934) was a French Army general and colonial administrator. After serving in Indochina and Madagascar, he became the first French Resident-General in Morocco from 1912 to 1925. Early in 1917 he served briefly as Minister of War. From 1921 he was a Marshal of France. He was dubbed the Maker of Morocco and the French empire builder, and in 1931 made the cover of Time.

Lyautey was born in Nancy, capital of Lorraine. His father was a prosperous engineer, his grandfather a highly decorated Napoleonic general. His mother was a Norman aristocrat, and Lyautey inherited many of her assumptions: monarchism, patriotism, Catholicism and belief in the moral and political importance of the elite.

As Resident-General of Morocco from 1912 he was publicly deferential to the sultan and told his men not to treat the Moroccans as a conquered people. It was he who governed Morocco for the French, developed its economy, extended its borders, and pacified native resistance. During WWI, even with diminished troops, Lyautey maintained an iron rule over this French protectorate.

During his administration, inadvertently, perhaps, Morocco became a place of refuge for homosexuals from all over Europe who came to sample the delights of the native population. Lyautey is one of the many real life homosexuals who people Roger Peyrefitte’s novel, The Exile of Capri.

1925 – Rock Hudson (d.1985) was a popular American film and television actor, noted for his stunning looks and most remembered as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s. Hudson was voted Star of the Year, Favorite Leading Man, or any number of similar titles by countless movie magazines, and was unquestionably one of the most popular and well-known movie stars of the time. He completed nearly seventy motion pictures and starred in several television productions during a career that spanned over three decades.

Hudson was born Leroy Harold Scherer Jr. in Winnetka, Illinois, the son of a telephone operator, and an auto mechanic who abandoned the family during the depths of the Great Depression, in the early 1930s. His mother remarried and his stepfather adopted him, changing his last name to Fitzgerald.

After graduating from high school, he served in the Philippines as an aircraft mechanic for the Navy during WW II. In 1946 he moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career and applied to the University of Southern California's dramatics program, but was rejected due to poor grades. Among a number of odd jobs, he worked as a truck driver for a couple of years to support himself, longing to be an actor but with no success in breaking into the movies. A fortunate meeting with powerful - and gay - Hollywood talent scout Henry Willson in 1948 got Hudson his start in the business - and Willson renamed him "Rock Hudson."

Neither a gifted nor a natural actor, he was neverthless blessed with enormous charm and with time proved to have a flair for comedy and was capable of strong and memorable performances in drama. He was coached in acting, singing, dancing, fencing and horsebackriding, and he began to feature in film magazines where he was promoted on the basis of his good looks. Success and recognition came in 1954 with Magnificent Obsession in which Hudson plays a bad boy who is redeemed. The film received rave reviews, with Modern Screen Magazine citing Hudson as the most popular actor of the year.

Hudson's popularity soared in George Stevens' Giant, based on Edna Ferber's novel. Co-starring Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean, and as a result of their powerful performances both Hudson and Dean were nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars.

Following Richard Brook's notable Something of Value in 1957 and a moving performance in Charles Vidor's A Farewell to Arms, based on Ernest Hemingway's novel, Hudson sailed through the 1960s on a cloud of romantic comedies. He portrayed humorous characters in Pillow Talk, the first of several profitable co-starring gigs with Doris Day; followed by Come September; Send Me No Flowers; Man's Favourite Sport, with Paula Prentiss, and Strange Bedfellows, with Gina Lollobrigida.

His popularity on the big screen diminished in the 1970s. He performed in a 13-city US tour of the musical Camelot. He was quite successful on television starring in a number of made-for-TV movies. His most successful series was McMillan and Wife opposite Susan Saint James from 1971 to 1977.

Following years of heavy drinking and smoking, by the early 1980s, Hudson began having health problems. Heart bypass surgery sidelined Hudson and his then-new TV show, The Devlin Connection, for a year; the show suffered for the delay and was cancelled not long after it returned to the airwaves. He recovered from the surgery, but a couple of years later Hudson's health had visibly deteriorated again, prompting different rumours.

In 1984 and 1985 Hudson landed a recurring role in Dynasty. While his inability to memorise dialogue was the stuff of legend, now he was exhibiting all the signs of a man in serious trouble. The need for cue cards was one thing, but when his speech began to deteriorate, everybody knew the least of Hudson's problems was simple forgetfulness. The word cancer was tossed around, but the phrase 'gay cancer' was not mentioned- not, at least, by those who had something to lose. Not yet.

While Hudson's career was blooming, he was struggling to keep his personal life out of the headlines, although the Hollywood media was complicit in concealing his homosexuality from the general public. Throughout his career, he epitomised an ideal of wholesome manliness, and in 1955 he wed Willson's secretary at the time, Phyllis Gates, and the news was made known by all the major gossip magazines. The union lasted three years. Gates filed for divorce in April 1958, charging mental cruelty; Hudson did not contest the divorce. Loyal friends and the now-unimaginable support of the media kept Hudson successfully in the closet to all but those 'in the know' until the 1980s.

According to the 1986 biography Rock Hudson: His Story by Hudson and Sara Davidson, Hudson was good friends with American novelist Armistead Maupin, and Hudson's lovers included: Jack Coates (born 1944); Hollywood publicist Tom Clark (1933-1995), who also later published a memoir about Hudson, Rock Hudson: Friend of Mine; and Marc Christian, who later won a palimony suit against the Hudson estate. In addition, Darwin Porter's book, Brando Unzipped (2006) claims that Hudson had an affair with Brando. Hudson was also a close friend of Burt Lancaster, who was reportedly bisexual, and Lancaster's FBI file suggested the two stars had attended Gay parties in Hollywood together.

An urban legend states that Hudson married Jim Nabors in the 1970s. In fact the two were never more than friends. According to Hudson, the legend originated with a group of "middle-aged homosexuals who live in Huntington Beach" who sent out joke invitations for their annual get-together. One year, the group invited its members to witness "the marriage of Rock Hudson and Jim Nabors", at which Hudson would take the surname of Nabors's most famous character, Gomer Pyle, becoming "Rock Pyle". Those who failed to get the joke spread the rumor. As a result, Nabors and Hudson never spoke to each other again.

In 1985, Hudson joined his old friend Doris Day for the launch of her new cable show, Doris Day's Best Friends. His shockingly gaunt appearance, and his nearly-incoherent speech, was so shocking that it was broadcast again all over the national news shows that night and for weeks to come. Doris Day herself stared at him throughout their appearance together.

Hudson was diagnosed with HIV on June 5, 1984, but when the signs of illness became apparent, his publicity staff and doctors told the public that he had liver cancer. It was not until July 25, 1985, while in Paris for treatment, that Hudson issued a press release announcing that he was dying of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. This had an enormous impact as he was the not only the first major celebrity to come out with the disease but because most of his army of fans still had no idea that Rock Hudson was gay.

Shortly before his death Hudson stated, 'I am not happy that I am sick. I am not happy that I have AIDS. But if that is helping others, I can at least know that my own misfortune has had some positive worth.' Hudson's death is said to have pushed his long time friend and then Republican President Ronald Reagan to change his tune on efforts to fight and publicise the epidemic. Rock Hudson's death from AIDS was a highly significant and tragic milestone in bringing the disease to a wider public consciousness.

Rock Hudson was cremated and his ashes buried at sea.

1960 – RuPaul Charles, best known as simply RuPaul, is an American actor, drag queen, model, author, and singer-songwriter, who first became widely known in the 1990s when he appeared in a wide variety of television programs, films, and musical albums. Previously, he was a fixture on the Atlanta and New York City club scenes during the 1980s and early 90s. RuPaul has on occasion performed as a man in a number of roles, usually billed as RuPaul Charles. RuPaul is noted among famous drag queens for his indifference towards the gender-specific pronouns used to address him—both "he" and "she" have been deemed acceptable. "You can call me he. You can call me she. You can call me Regis and Kathie Lee; I don't care! Just as long as you call me." He hosted a short-running talk show on VH1, and currently hosts reality television shows called RuPaul's Drag Race and RuPaul's Drag U.

RuPaul was born in San Diego, California. His name was given to him by his mother, a Louisiana native. The Ru came from roux, an ingredient used in gumbo. RuPaul struggled as a musician and filmmaker in Atlanta, Georgia during the 1980s. He participated in underground cinema, helping create the low-budget film Starrbooty, and an album by the same name. In Atlanta, RuPaul often performed at the Celebrity Club (managed by Larry Tee) as a bar dancer or with his band, Wee Wee Pole, which included the late Todd Butler.

In the early 1990s, RuPaul worked the Georgia club scene and was known by his full birth name. Initially participating in genderfuck-style performances, RuPaul performed solo and in collaboration with other bands at several New York nightclubs, most notably the Pyramid Club. He appeared for many years at the annual Wigstock drag festival and appeared in the documentary Wigstock: The Movie. In the '90s, RuPaul was known in the UK for his appearances on the Channel 4 series Manhattan Cable, a weekly series produced by World of Wonder and presented by American Laurie Pike about New York's wild and wacky public-access television system.

RuPaul is credited with the statement "We're born naked, and the rest is all drag."

1971 – A group of sex researchers looking for physical differences between homosexual and heterosexual men announce erroneous findings that heterosexuals have 40% more testosterone in their blood than homosexuals do.

Rock Hudson - A Personal Encounter:

By Me

Back in 1966, on my way to Canada, I had a brief brush with Rock Hudson.

I came to North America by ship from Fremantle, Australia, via the far east, and on the leg from Japan to North America, my friends and I, all travelling second-class, met up with a wealthy American travelling in first class. My friends were a couple of lesbian Australian nurses, and Joe, my cabin-mate, a straight Swiss guy. We were all about 25 at the time. The wealthy American, Lloyd, was a short chubby guy in his sixties. In retrospect, I think he looked a lot like Artie Johnson. He was very ostentatious, and seemed to have a never-ending wardrobe of clothes and of jewellry— neck-chains, rings, bracelets, and watches. He claimed to be a millionaire, and Pat Boone's boyfriend. The very idea was rather shocking to us small-town folk. The way he told it, he had been to Japan for Pat Boone's tour there, but Lloyd hated flying, so was travelling by ship instead while Pat flew home. At the time, Pat Boone was separated from his wife, and had not yet become "born again."

The reason Lloyd was associating with us obvious, though unstated — my cabin-mate Joe was a hottie! He was also absolutely straight, but Lloyd hoped to change that. He would buy us drinks to get us to leave him alone with Joe. He even gave the girls some expensive jewellry to get rid of them. He never really got anywhere with Joe, however.

Anyway, our landfall was in San Pedro, south of Los Angeles, before sailing north to San Francisco and Vancouver. When the American - from L.A. - was leaving ship, he invited us the a "welcome-home" party the next night. He said he would send a car for us. We never really thought he would do it, but the next evening we got a message from the purser's office that a car would be waiting for us at the foot of the gangplank at 8:00 that night. Sure enough, there was not just a car, but a limosine waiting for us. Imagine four young people from the boonies riding in a limousine into one of the poshest areas of Los Angeles (I'm not sure if it was Beverly Hills, or Hollywood Hills, but it was very posh and in the hills on the outskirts of LA)!

I'm not really sure who the "welcome home" was for — Lloyd or Pat Boone. If it was for Boone, he never showed at the party, at least while we were there. Nor was I sure just whose home it was held at. All I remember was that it was a huge ranch-style with an immense patio and pool at the rear. It was around this pool that the party was being held, on a warm, late-June evening. I got the impression that the house was not Lloyd's, although he treated it as if it were. I think it actually belonged to Robert Wagner or Natalie Wood, both of whom were present, although they were not married to each other at the time. They were actually between marriages to each other.

Lloyd greeted us then left the girls and I at the pool to fend for ourselves, while he hustled Joe off to the interior of the house - probably to a bedroom. There were maybe 60 people at the party when we arrived around nine pm. Most of them were males, mostly has-been movie or tv actors or wanna-be's and agents. I really don't remember most of them. I do recall Mickey Rooney being present. I remember him as a nasty little man who was absolutely rude to almost everyone, even though people were trying their hardest to be nice to him, because his estranged wife had been murdered earlier that year. It completely destoyed my pleasant memories of him as Andy Hardy on The Hardy Family radio show of my childhood.

Most of the guests were rather condescending to us small-town hicks with out "adorable accents." I remember Peter Graves (who had starred in a Australian TV "western" a few years before) being particularly snide - maybe because his Aussie western was a major flop.

This was where I had my brief brush with Rock Hudson. He arrived later than us, and made his way round the pool saying hi to everyone, including the girls and I. Unlike many of the guests he was really pleasant to us. After chatting to us for a couple of minutes he moved on, with another tall, fairly good-looking man in tow. One of the other guests told us that the second man was Rock Hudson's boyfriend. He mentioned the man's name, but I didn't recognize the name then, and don't remember it now. It may have been Jim Nabors, but I really don't know.

Around eleven pm, the party got nasty when a fight broke out. I don't know who started it or what it was about, but I know it somehow involved Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner. Someone ended up in the pool fully-dressed. Someone else got a bloody nose. A table of glasses got smashed, and so did a sliding glass door, and someone got badly cut. An ambulance was called and so were the police.

At about the same time, Joe and Lloyd emerged from the house, both looking rather pissed off. Lloyd rather brusquely informed the four of us: "The police are on the way. You'd better go!" He promptly left us standing there, having made no offer of a ride back to the ship or anything. We made our way to the front of the house, rather obviously at a loss. Someone who was leaving at that time offered us a ride back to Los Angeles, which we gladly accepted, because a taxi back to the ship would have been beyond our means, and a couple of squad cars were just arriving.

So, our night of glamour turned into a long wait at the seedy downtown L.A. bus depot, a long ride back to San Pedro on the last bus of the night, and a long walk from the San Pedro drop-off to the ship, past all the little late-night bars with drunk chicanos whistling at the girls – and me and Joe.

Joe never did talk about what happened with Lloyd, but from Lloyd's reaction I presume Lloyd never managed to get into Joe's pants — but then, neither did I, and I spent 9 weeks, on and off ship, trying!

10 notes · View notes

amourcheol · 4 months

Note

Hi! I LOVEDDDD your Great War fic and have not stopped thinking about it since. It’s thrown me down a Venetian history spiral and I’m dying to know what century/era/decade you were inspired by? I’m thinking it’s renaissance because of the mention of Medici but that spans over so much time that I was curious if you had a more specific timeframe. Additionally , do you have any resources about Venetian history?

To finish off I just want to rave over how amazing the fic is!!!! It had me kicking my feet and giggling. It was the first scoups fic I ever read and I don’t think anything will ever beat it. Thank you for sharing such an incredible work of art!!!!!

OMGGGG first of all thank u so so much !! 🥹🥹 i feel so honoured it’s inspired u to look into it’s contextual history!!

i actually DID focus on a specific decade, though I tried to make it as general early modern as possible—i based my research around very early 1570s from the battle of lepanto (where it all begins of course) ur right LMAO Medici did have a big ass dynasty but the man i mentioned actually was called Cosimo de Medici, who was ruling Florence at the time !! (Not to be confused with the banker in the 13-1400s, played by extremely hot richard madden in that Medici show) as for resources, I actually used my university notes 💀💀 i did a module on early modern Venetian history and enjoyed it so much that i revised it via writing historical smut 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️ but my best option is looking up references on Wikipedia and borrowing those books !! early modern Venetian history is so so interesting, srs i could write a whole universe on it 🙏🏼

FIRST CHEOL FIC ?? feeling super honoured to have been the first one u have read 😞💖 im so happy i could get u kicking ur feet that man makes me eat my tv every night before bed 🙏🏼🙏🏼

#asks #the great war tings #thank u for being so interested in the historical lore !!#im a SUCKER for historically accurate period romances and Venetian history …. PHEWWWWWW #im actually researching for a Greek god au but I won’t be too specific with their lore cause Greek mythology is way too dark #but can u believe this was birthed just cause I thought cheol would look hot in military armour #yes I AM a virgin !

6 notes · View notes

fantasybewritten · 8 months

Text

Fandoms and Characters I write for:

The Vampire Diaries/The Originals

Mira Salvatore (OC)

Klaus Mikaelson

Elijah Mikaelson

Kol Mikaelson

Davina Claire

Stefan Salvatore

Damon Salvatore

Caroline Forbes

Enzo St. James

Bonnie Bennett

The Borgias

Cesare Borgia

Juan Borgia

Lucrezia Borgia

Maddalena de Medici (OC)

The Medici

Clarice Orsini

Lorenzo the Magnificent

Giuliano de Medici

Cosimo de Medici

Contessina de Bardi

Francesco Pazzi

Cursed

Nimue

The Weeping Monk

Arthur

Petra (OC)

Gawain

Fear The Walking Dead

Laurel Hall (OC)

Serena Otto

House of the Dragon

Rhaenyra Targaryen

Dameon Targaryen

Helaena Targaryen

Alicent Hightower

Laena Velaryon

Jacaerys Velaryon

The Last Kingdom

Sihtric

Finan

Osferth

Petra (OC)

Uhtred

Brida

Ragnar

Skade

Aethelflaed

Gisela

Vikings

Idrin (OC)

Ubbe Ragnarsson

Hvitserk Ragnarsson

Ivar Ragnarsson

Princess Snaefrid

Thorunn

Bjorn Ironside

Lagertha

Margarthe

#character list #fandom list #vikings imgaines #the vampire diaries imagines #imagines #TVU imagines #the originals imagines #cursed imagines #the last kingdom imagines #i medici imagines #borgias imagines

1 note · View note

minetteskvareninova · 11 months

Text

Minette watches Medici, part 14 (Alliance)

- Thank Lord, Theotokos and all the saints, the show has finally returned to a bearable level of stupidity! I mean, it’s still not GOOD, but at least there’s enough good here that I don’t need to have a vodka bottle on hand to finish this series.

- Finally, some good fucking tension! I mean, Lorenzo is still a raging Gary Stu, but at least the show is nice enough to throw us a bone and not make him win 100% all the damn time. And I made my peace with the fact that old Iacopo is a fucking cartoon villain; now I just revel in a fact that he has the decency to be good one.

- Citta di Castello has me fucking rolling, like that name sounds extremely fake, but it’s an actual city and apparently that plot is kinda based on something that actually happened - although I don’t think Lorenzo was involved at all? Then again, could’ve known that, this show doesn’t have a relationship so much as persistent, but still noncommittal flirtation with history. Either way, I liked that plot, if for no other reason, then because Lorenzo finally got in line and follows his granddad’s footsteps in winning only trough great effort and sacrifice. Also, hey, the Volterra plot was somewhat relevant beyond that one episode! Nice.

- The triumphant return of Lucrezia D was somewhat eyeroll-worthy because of the writers’ verbal fellatio of Lorenzo trough Clarice, but I am willing to forgive it a lot because from this episode on, I am a Clarice x Lucrezia D shipper. Like, pair the suitors would always be the superior dynamic, but these two. Oh, these two. Ladies, I know that silver tongue probably eats mad pussy, but the other one has mouth too! God, I swear as soon as I end this mostly painful season, I am writing some mad smut with this pairing. BTW, still waiting for chemistry between Lorenzo and Clarice, but as mentioned, Clarice only has eyes for Lucrezia D.

- If only every romantic subplot was at least semi-decent, but alas, Giuliano and Simonetta also exist. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not bemoaning their individual existence as character, not when Giuliano was finally useful this episode. But their tragic love story (for a given value of love and story, though tragic it definitely is in multiple ways) has finally ended, just as stupidly as it began. Vespucci’s gullibility is at least qualifying for the national championship (and mind you, in this very universe, you had Cosimo convinced Marco Bello killed his father) like Iago at least had some kind of flimsy proof unlike here Francesco - unless this show insists on telling me Vespucci had no idea Giuliano de’ Medici will pose half-naked on a portrait with his wife, which I call enormous bullshit on.

- He at least reacts the way I would expect from your average renessaince husband that learned his wife cheats on him with the local fuckboy (and unlike Lorenzo, I do not believe the dick is that good - he probably doesn’t eat pussy at all, let alone well). This plot point honestly gave me war flashbacks to The Musketeers season 2 and the good ship HMS Constagnan. To which I say, sir, how very fucking dare you. Not only did they do the whole “nominally shitty husband way too decent, at least in comparison with the hot fuckboy love interest, let’s make him commit some random domestic violence” sooner, they did it... Well, at least not as terribly. I mean, Simonetta is cool, but she’ll never be Constance, Giuliano is just straight up trash (unlike D’Artagnan, who, while annoying, did have at least some charisma and likeable qualities), and though old Bonacieux wasn’t quite convincing as an outright wife beater, he at least was a kinda bad husband.

- And of course, since Simonetta Vespucci IRL died of tuberculosis, the writers just had to milk her situation for all the Victorian Novel Dissease cliches they could cram in the limited time they had. Like, fuck me, I didn’t think I would see the day I was going to be glad Matilda Lutz and her angelic face are leaving this world, but the writing really is that bad. Whelp, at least Giuliano is going to get shanked soon too...

- Lastly we have the subplot with the bald councilman and his ugly son, which had a few mildly stupid moments, but overall wasn’t bad. I am still not sure whether Lorenzo placating the ugly son was really as stupid as it seemed to me at first, like I guess it made sense, in that Lorenzo was giving up any advantage he might’ve gotten by the bald councilman’s murder, thus convincing the ugly son it wasn’t him...? Then again, it could’ve been a cunning plot, a desperate gamble to gain the ugly son’s trust... Nah, I’ll buy it. Ugly son, you’re not qualifying for the national gullibility championship, how sad for you. Anyway, props to Iacopo Pazzi for once again proving a well-placed assassination has its place in the politics of renessaince Italy! A+ use of your hired thugs, no notes. Also nice preview for Giuliano’s shanking...

- The ugly son reminded me - no Bianca and Francesco’s lame brother to bring down the charisma in the room in this episode! Yay. A gold sticker for this episode, everyone.

#medici: the magnificent #minette watches medici

1 note · View note

abookclubofonesown · 1 year

Photo

the marriage portrait | maggie o’farrell | 2022

lucrezia is the third daughter of the grand duke of tuscany cosimo de medici. she is comfortable with her obscure position in the palazzo: free to wander, observe, and pursue her own artistic endeavors. but when her oldest sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the duke of ferrara, lucrezia is appointed to take her sister’s place. lucrezia is thrust from the nursery to the altar and whisked away from all she knows in florence to ferrara. trouble is and has been brewing in the ferrara court. all of her husband’s hopes are pinned on her baring him an heir. but as lucrezia sits in her constricting finery for a portrait, she sees how precarious her position at court is and the dangerous people that surround her.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. lucrezia was endearing and i came to love her and want only the best for her (aka to fucking LEAVE alfonso). we start the book with a historical note saying that lucrezia dies due to a sudden and serious illness about a year after marrying alfonso. and then the first chapter is lucrezia becoming ever more aware of the sense of menace that pervades her interactions with alfonso. that sense of menace does not leave for the entirety of the book. this is another book that bounces between past and present that eventually converges at the end. i think this book was so well written and edited. the pacing was fab for the most part. there were some parts that slowed down a smidgen because it was more focused on describing the court of ferrara rather than the plot, which is fine. it wasn’t excessive and served an atmospheric purpose.

the character work here was so well done. every character was so well written and well done. their relationships were well elucidated. my favorites were between lucrezia and sofia and then lucrezia and jacopo. sofia was the medici children’s nurse. the scene where sofia runs to catch lucrezia before she is whisked away after her marriage made me cry. the relationship between lucrezia and her mother is kind of heartbreaking - between her and both of her parents really.

i use the app called storygraph is record the books i read and i finally actually got around to using the journal feature so i’m going to paste what i wrote there here:

i am loving this writing style. i remember it from the little i read of hamnet but i’m so much more engrossed. i’m loving the character of lucrezia and how much she contrasts her family/siblings. but is also a perfect meshing of her father and mother in ways that they don’t appreciate or maybe even see. her quest for the tiger was very innocent and sweet but heartbreaking because of how much she identified with a tiger in captivity. (it took me until like 75% of the way through the book to understand that the stripes of the cover were TIGER STRIPES -- good touch cover artist) i also loved the scene with the antiquities tutor - iphigenia at aulis - a play i’ve actually read!!!!! the parallels and foreshadowing is not missed!!! she drew the scene of agamemnon at the marriage-cum-sacrificial altar and deliberately omitted achilles (i think because of a desire to not desecrate the romantic notion of a loving marriage). when she drew it and then put her little head down to whisper “beware” was so heartbreaking. i teared up. we got a glimpse of her the night her husband kills her in the first chapter and i was so into it. here’s a passage i wrote in my journal: “i wondered if she’ll actually die or if it will be like an ophelia ending where she kinda fakes her death. probably not. i don’t see maggie o’farrell not keeping with the historical reality but you never know.” AND TO MY SURPRISE AND DELIGHT SHE DID PULL AN OPHELIA but emilia actually died and there was no real scheming behind that. as soon as it was mentioned that emilia and lucrezia had similar hair and looked quite alike i was like... there’s going to be some doppelgänger tomfoolery here and i was right!! that is situation is so hard though. i wonder if lucrezia ever found out that emilia was killed in her stead. if she ever thought that maybe that would happen. oh also i love the bits of historical realism that have been infused with the italian superstitions surrounding a person’s character and conception. i came to know more about this in my art history classes so it was really cool to see that be acknowledged here. and then cosimo’s obsession with antiquity and the menagerie. very good. very good.

OH AND JACOPO. when he came on the scene, i was like YES SHE SAVED YOUR LIFE NOW SAVE HERS. and i just KNEW she’d be able to talk to him - know the language he spoke. i love that it was the neapolitan dialect that sofia spoke. (i actually know of a guy named jacopo who has family in naples lol). i assume jacopo and lucrezia lived in venice happily ever after with those children she dreamt of.

i do love that the last chapter has us getting a glimpse of lucrezia through her artworks and not through her relationship to jacopo. the whole book is infused with scenes of lucrezia being the most herself while painting so it is fitting that we see that the life she made for herself after leaving the duke is full of painting her tavolo.

#the marriage portrait #maggie o'farrell #historical fiction #book review #book club #a good book to start the new year off #so fucking good

0 notes

markantonys · 4 years

Conversation

[in exile in venice]

lorenzo: [after they've accidentally eaten the contents of the real gift basket and replaced it with office supplies] check it out, cosimo. a lovely gift basket that contessina sent you all the way from florence.

piero: [nervously] straight from florence!

cosimo: stapler...scissors...rubber bands...

lorenzo:

piero:

lucrezia:

marco bello:

cosimo: [beaming] that woman really knows me.

#medici #cosimo de medici #contessina de bardi #lorenzo the elder #cosimo x contessina #i almost did this instead for francesco (receiving a gift basket from lorenzo) that would've worked also #which confirms my theory that francesco and cosimo would've gotten along weirdly well #someone write me like a modern au of francesco bonding with his boyfriend's grandpa and everyone's perplexed about it #lorenzo thinks cosimo likes francesco more than him (and he does)

59 notes · View notes

violentdesires · 2 years

Text

DE’MEDICI , camilla \ @hlcynsouls .

❛ IS THIS REALLY YOUR PLACE ? ❜ the archangel taunts , weight resting against the doorway as his mismatched eyes scan camilla’s newest acquisition . ❛ it seems awfully small , compared to our usual residences , wouldn’t you agree , little sister ? ❜ he steps closer to her and his fingertips brush against some of her furniture while he shakes his head in amusement . ❛ and here i thought you said something about freedom when you refused to return to the faerie realm . i could hardly stretch my wings in here . ❜ a dramatic statement — but if anyone is used to his attitude it is the princess of hell . ❛ i hope that you did not make any plans for tonight . if you did , i am cancelling them . it has been far too long . you and i are having dinner . no rain checks . you may have a moment to get ready . ❜ he tells her before he flashes her a toothy grin .

#i. cosimo de' medici / writings.#cosimo & camilla ( 002. )

11 notes · View notes

heavensreigns · 4 years

Text

THE ANGEL KNEW THAT MOST PEOPLE were unsettled by the most recent events , but this situation was nothing new to him . it wasn’t the first time that he was captured and held against his will , nor would it be the last . if a war broke out , it wouldn’t be the first that he witnessed either , so he was bold enough to consider himself prepared for any outcome . it left him feeling somewhat calm about this whole thing and cosimo planned to stay out of it anyway . he had one focus and one focus only: the two babies that were currently sleeping in their basket as he sat and read on the porch of his cottage . still , he could feel a pair of burning eyes on him and his lips twitched into a smirk when the newcomer seemed to refuse to look away . lifting his gaze , the blond’s smirk only widened . “ did no one ever tell you it is rather rude to stare ? ” ( @dihstarters )

#dih.starter #i. cosimo de' medici / writings.

32 notes · View notes

laurelsalexis · 7 years

Link

say something like you love me cosimo de' medici/contessina de' bardi Mature ~6.4k It's when she gives him a son his heart swells for them both.

#cosimo de medici #medici: masters of florence #cosimo x contessina #contessina de bardi #*#michelle writes things #i know the obsession is real when i write things of my own free will #for a super dead fandom at that

18 notes · View notes

dwellordream · 2 years

Text

“Giovanna d’Austria (1547–78), the youngest of the fifteen children of Emperor Ferdinand I and Queen Anna Jagiellonka of Bohemia and Hungary, was welcomed into Florence by Cosimo I de’ Medici on 16 December 1565 as the bride of his son and heir, Francesco. The duke of Tuscany, who had managed every aspect of Giovanna’s lavish bridal entry down to the smallest detail, took tremendous pride in this marriage to a Habsburg archduchess, the most prestigious match that the Medici had ever made. Cosimo had accomplished much for the Medici since he unexpectedly came to power in 1537, but the union with the Habsburgs came to be considered one of his greatest achievements.

…Although the Medici had indeed increased in stature prior to the marriage, Giovanna was nevertheless of considerably higher rank than her new family and the Habsburgs certainly expected that she would be in a position to exert significant influence in Florence on their behalf. However, her thirteen years as a Medici consort (first as duchess and later as grand duchess) were fraught with tension. Her marriage and status at court were undermined from the outset by ongoing issues outside her control: the hostility between her two families and the constant public presence of her husband’s mistress. Giovanna’s own inability to fully identify with and demonstrate her allegiance to the Medici further contributed to her predicament.

Unable to play the influential role she had expected at the Medici court, Giovanna looked outward, focusing on alternative channels to demonstrate her power and prestige to those at court and to the people of Tuscany: her Habsburg network, her religious patronage of local churches and monasteries, and her highly public pilgrimage to Loreto. A comparison of Giovanna’s difficulties with those of other foreign consorts reveals some of the crucial elements that could make a woman successful or unsuccessful at the court of her marital family. Until quite recently, the limited historiography on Giovanna portrayed her as timid, uneducated, and narrow-minded, and her piety as completely out of place at the dynamic Medici court. In a typical comment on Giovanna, Mary Steegman writes: “her views on life and its conduct were strict, narrow and conventional . . . she was utterly incapable of adapting herself to, or even remotely understanding, a condition of society different from that in which she had been born and bred.”

This traditional view of Giovanna, perpetuated by late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century historians, remained unquestioned well into the twenty-first century. However, important recent scholarship has taken a fresh look at Giovanna by returning to the primary sources, revealing a woman who is much more complex than the nineteenth-century caricature. Recent scholars have also shown great interest in exploring the role of the consort and the different ways in which women could access power and exert influence at court. While a consort might exercise power directly by governing as regent, she also had access to a number of informal channels of influence. However, she could encounter a number of impediments to her attempts to establish herself and, for some women, these obstructions could prove insurmountable.

A consort’s success depended on both factors within her control, particularly her ability to establish her reputation at her new court and form effective patronage ties, and factors outside her control, such as the relationship between her natal and marital families and the presence of a rival at court. In addition, while she might exert influence on behalf of her natal family, it was necessary for her primary loyalty to lie with her husband and his dynasty. Elite women like Giovanna played a crucial role as “unofficial agents” of their natal families at foreign courts. The term “unofficial agent” is used by Magdalena S. Sánchez to describe three Austrian Habsburg women who used court networks, informal influence over the monarch, and traditional women’s roles to promote the interests of their natal family at the court of Philip III. The imperial family relied heavily on informal diplomatic networks involving female relatives who could “bypass official diplomatic channels and could also reach the monarch in private moments.”

Letter-writing was one of the most important tasks women performed in these networks and Giovanna spent a great deal of time corresponding with her relatives, relaying information, receiving and granting requests, and acting as an intermediary between the emperor and the Medici. Giovanna’s father, Ferdinand I, relied on his many daughters to provide him with information on their husbands’ activities and contacts. Indeed, in a letter to Giovanna from an imperial official, she is addressed as “our advocate with His Excellency [Cosimo] in the service of His Caesarean Majesty.” Giovanna’s marriage to Francesco was part of the emperor’s Italian marriage strategy. As she travelled to Italy from her home in Innsbruck in 1565, Giovanna was accompanied by her sister, Barbara, who was to marry the duke of Ferrara. Their sister, Eleonora, had already married the duke of Mantua in 1561.

These three connections brought considerable benefits to both sides: in return for the prestige of an imperial match, the Italian dukes provided significant financial support to the impoverished emperor. Sarah Bercusson has aptly characterized Giovanna’s marriage as “a calculated exchange of rank for wealth.” The three sisters formed but a small part of the vast web of imperial ties stretching across Europe. The Habsburg kinship network had been constructed over centuries as Habsburg women were sent out far and wide for marriage. From their new homes, these women maintained their relationships with the imperial family, participating in an extensive network of patronage and influence.

…With so many children, Giovanna’s father had numerous occasions to play matchmaker. His daughters were brought up in Innsbruck in “a relaxed, yet austere environment” where “they were made to understand at a very early age that they were of royal estate with very special tasks to perform.” However, while his daughters’ marriages were key instruments in Ferdinand’s dynastic strategies, he was also genuinely concerned for their happiness. When assessing a potential match, the emperor considered the character of the potential husband and whether he would be well suited to the daughter in question. According to Paula Sutter Fichtner, “[h]e took the procedure of gaining the consent of his daughters to the unions he contracted for them very seriously” and “those of his children who were clearly unsuited to matrimony he preferred to leave single.”

Despite Ferdinand’s precautions, some of the marriages were unsuccessful. Although the personalities of the individual spouses certainly played a role in the failure of these relationships, dynastic marriages involved many more players than simply the couple in question. Relations between two dynasties were at stake, as was the honor of each. Hostility between the spouses could develop into an international incident. Likewise, enmity between the two families could strain the marriage and put the consort’s loyalties to the test. David Warren Sabean has discussed the tension between a woman’s natal and marital obligations and loyalties in the early modern period, identifying two axes in kinship configurations: descent, moving downward from parents to children, and alliance, which concerns horizontal relations.

Blood was seen as transmitting vital characteristics from parent to child and even binding people unrelated by descent, such as a man and his son-in-law. Women therefore acted as conduits for blood between allies as well as between generations. They acted as mediators between families, but they could also be caught in conflicts between the ascriptive obligations established at birth and the negotiated obligations established by marriage. The tension between vertical and horizontal kinship and women’s roles as mediators between agnatic groups were key issues facing Giovanna and other consorts. Giovanna’s oldest sister, Elizabeth, was sent to Poland in 1543 as the bride of their cousin, the future king of Poland, Sigismund Augustus. However, relations between the two families were tense due to hostility between Ferdinand and the groom’s mother, Queen Bona Sforza, over hereditary claims she was attempting to assert in Italy.

The Polish ambassador reported that Bona, taking her anger out on her daughter-in-law, even tried to prevent the consummation of the marriage. When Ferdinand definitively refused to recognize her inheritance claims, Bona was irate, and made life increasingly trying for Elizabeth. Ferdinand, who “had a good deal of feeling for his daughters especially and sympathy for the situations in which they occasionally found themselves,” sent representatives to Poland to look into the matter, even asking his brother, Charles V, to intervene. The escalating crisis terminated abruptly when Elizabeth died in June 1545. After his second wife died in 1551, Sigismund Augustus again sought a union with his Habsburg cousins; although Ferdinand had misgivings about sending another daughter to Poland, “where political interests were truly compelling, his fatherly scruples occasionally weakened.”

This second marriage was even more unpleasant than the first. Although Queen Bona was no longer a strong presence at court, the couple became completely estranged due to Catherine’s attempts to take an active role in Polish politics, which Sigismund Augustus would not tolerate. In the years since his first marriage, the king’s position in Poland had become increasingly solidified and “the support of the Habsburgs, or rather the appearance of support, was quite indifferent to him.” He refused to live with Catherine, claiming that she was epileptic. This time, Ferdinand sent his son, Maximilian, to Poland to mediate. Like his father, Maximilian was “as concerned about Catherine’s safety and peace of mind as he was about the dynastic implications of her problems in Poland.”

Maximilian, defensive of Habsburg honor and sensitive to insults to the Habsburg name, was outraged at the way his sister was being dishonored—“treated like a whore,” he noted furiously in his dairy. Sigismund Augustus was unsuccessful in his attempt to have the marriage annulled, so the couple remained married. Catherine was eventually permitted to leave Poland after thirteen years of marriage, settling in Linz. Once they arrived at their new courts, Giovanna and her sisters took their places within the imperial kinship network, petitioning each other for favors and building their own patronage ties. In one letter, Eleonora thanked Giovanna for having granted a request: “The recommendation that Your Highness consented to provide some time ago for Messer Costanzo Varolo, public lector of surgery in Bologna, to Cardinal Sforza, was of such benefit to him and I was so pleased with it, that I am writing now to give you the thanks that I owe you.”

In this letter, Eleonora acknowledged the debt of thanks that she owed her sister for the favor rendered. As Kristen Neuschel notes, letters between nobles were “arenas for exchange,” in which intangible courtesies and tangible favors were intertwined and debts were created and repaid: “the language of credit and debit used in their letters reflects the fact that every instance of contact between noblemen was automatically a potential source of recognition or failure of recognition.” Here, Giovanna received valuable acknowledgement and gratitude from her sister in exchange for the tangible favor she performed for her sister’s client, which enabled both sisters to increase their honor and status. The sisters also acted as intermediaries between each other and their respective husbands.

In another letter, Eleonora asked Giovanna to intercede with Francesco in order to obtain the release of a prisoner: Although the error committed by Messer Michele Costa of Genoa, former Chancellor of the University of Pisa, is considerable, he is no less worthy of that pity that moves princes to show mercy . . . I pray Your Highness to intercede for me with the Most Excellent Lord your Prince so that His Excellency, as a favor to me, may show mercy to said Costa. In this letter, Eleonora relied not only on Giovanna’s willingness to grant a favor, but on her capacity to convince Francesco to take action as well. The regular correspondence between Giovanna and her sisters shows just how effective the network of a natal family could be for a foreign consort in establishing patronage ties at her new court.

When they were able to use their connections with each other to obtain favors for others, the sisters increased and reinforced their reputations as valuable patrons with ties to important people. Through their voluminous correspondence, the Habsburg women not only established their own status as patrons, but also engaged in important political work for their dynasty. As Simon Hodson has noted, “in the context of familial and clientage networks, letter-writing must be considered a political activity.” Giovanna’s brother, Maximilian II, often called on her to present his requests to Cosimo and Francesco. In one incident, the emperor sought Medici assistance in putting down an insurgency in the imperial fief of Finale. Giovanna wrote to Cosimo: “I am sending Your Illustrious Excellency a letter from the Emperor . . . I pray you, in your kindness, to let me know your decision on the Imperial Commissioners’ request to send them the aid that they desire.”

Another letter written by Giovanna to Cosimo on behalf of some German students accused of heresy in Siena shows that Giovanna also saw herself as the protector of German residents in Tuscany: The German nation having no one to turn to, if not to me, Your Highness should not wonder that I am acting to recommend it to you as ardently as I can . . . that you write to Rome and pray His Holiness to give the order that those who go to Siena only to learn, and live as Catholics, be left alone to live quietly as they have done up to now. As indicated by these letters, Giovanna saw herself as both an unofficial agent of the emperor and a representative of all German people living in Tuscany.

Like those of her sisters, Elizabeth and Catherine, Giovanna’s marriage was heavily influenced by relations between the Habsburgs and her marital family. In 1564, before Giovanna’s arrival, Cosimo had announced his decision to retire and transfer power to Francesco. Cosimo’s “abdication” merely consisted of the transfer to his son of the tedious day-to-day minutiae of government while reserving for himself the ducal title and supreme authority over his domains. He likely wished to be free to concentrate on more important projects: negotiating the Habsburg marriage alliance and pursuing the grand ducal title. Therefore, even after his so-called abdication, Cosimo remained a key political player and a strong presence in the lives of his son and daughter-in-law.

He seems to have taken on a fatherly role in Giovanna’s life, and their letters to each other express genuine affection. In an exchange of correspondence between them in September 1570, when Giovanna was travelling, Cosimo provided updates on the changes in the condition of her daughters who had fallen ill, and Giovanna was consoled by their grandfather’s loving care. However, Giovanna’s willingness to act on the emperor’s behalf and her continued identification with the Habsburg dynasty, while acceptable in certain situations, such as those described above, could also be problematic for the Medici.

At the bottom of a letter from Giovanna to Francesco, in which she asked him for a loan, Francesco, clearly irritated by her request, accused Giovanna of disloyalty to the Medici: “Anyone who gives 3,000 scudi at a time to [Baron] Prayner, who Her Highness knows to be an enemy of her house, may easily pay her own debts, it being no wonder that she has them, throwing away money in this way . . . So let her sort it out herself.” In the note, Francesco identifies the Medici as Giovanna’s “house,” and the imperial diplomat, Baron Siegfried Preiner, as an “enemy” of that house. As Neuschel points out, sixteenth-century nobles generally used concrete references to action to characterize political activity.

Thus even an abstract term like “enemy,” which would seem to describe a state of being rather than performance of action, refers to active hostility between the Medici and Preiner: “an enemy is in arms and in the field against you, or he is an opponent in a personal feud; he is someone who threatens honor.” The idea that Giovanna may have been giving money to someone Francesco considered an enemy and a threat to the honor of his house shows that years into their marriage Giovanna’s allegiance to the Habsburgs over the Medici continued to be an issue between them. In a moment of outright conflict between her two families, the controversy over the grand ducal title, Giovanna aggravated the situation considerably by taking the side of her brother, Maximilian II.

For some years, the duke had been “badgering Maximilian to confer the title of grand duke on him.” Frustrated by Maximilian’s hesitation, Cosimo turned to the pope. Despite the objections of the other Italian states, Cosimo was raised to the rank of grand duke of Tuscany by papal bull and was crowned by the pope in Rome on 5 March 1570. This completely new title essentially granted the Medici precedence over the other ducal families in Italy. Cosimo’s elevation infuriated both Philip II and Maximilian II, who resented the pope’s encroachment on Habsburg influence in Tuscany. Maximilian went so far as to consider military action against Tuscany, but was unable to gather support. As tense as the situation was, Cosimo’s next action made matters worse.

To the consternation of both his court and his children, he married his mistress, Camilla Martelli. Although Francesco and his siblings quickly managed to mask their anger, Giovanna and her imperial siblings felt personally insulted that an undistinguished Florentine subject would now take precedence over Giovanna at court. The burst of correspondence between Cosimo, Giovanna, and Maximilian concerning the grand ducal title and Cosimo’s marriage is archived together among Cosimo’s papers, beginning with Maximilian’s outraged letter to Giovanna from Prague, which Cosimo had translated into Italian: “This [Cosimo’s coronation] concerns not only me, but all of the Princes and Electors of the empire.”

Maximilian expressed complete bewilderment over the marriage, while pointedly refusing to use Cosimo’s new title: I cannot much wonder what the Duke was thinking when he made such a shameful and unpleasant match, for which he is mocked by everyone. The good Duke must not have been himself. I pray that Your Highness shall not tolerate this brazen woman to be raised up and that you not associate with her. Giovanna forwarded her brother’s letter to her father-in-law. Fuming, Cosimo replied to Giovanna, maintaining (implausibly) that he had only accepted the coronation at the pope’s insistence: “The Pope is such a determined type of person that whether I wanted it or not, he was going to do it . . . I would have liked to have seen what His Majesty would have done in my place.”

In response to Maximilian’s disparaging comments about Camilla, Cosimo’s anger flared: “His Majesty says that I was not in my right mind. To this I reply that when need be I will show him that I am in my right mind.” In closing, Cosimo noted that he found Giovanna’s intervention in the matter highly inappropriate as a member of the Medici family: “I have grown used to handling outsiders, but I wish to be left in peace by those of my own house.” As Francesco had emphasized in his note in response to Giovanna’s request for money, Cosimo stressed that Giovanna was a member of his own house and demanded that she act accordingly. Although deeply offended, Cosimo had to be cautious. His longstanding alliance with the Habsburgs was the basis for much of his power.

He needed Giovanna to resume her usual role as mediator and smooth things over with her brother, but she also needed to identify herself unambiguously with the Medici. The archival file containing this exchange of correspondence also includes an undated draft of a letter from Giovanna to Maximilian. Given its placement among Cosimo’s papers, its conciliatory tone, and its high praise of the Medici, it was likely dictated to Giovanna by her father-in-law and her husband. In the letter, Giovanna attempted to defuse the situation: When I thought I was the happiest woman in Italy, I instead find myself to be the unhappiest alive. I thought I had won a lord and patron for my husband who would give him the protection that befits him, and for Your Majesty a devoted and useful servant. I see that I have done the opposite . . . you seem scornful and offended, through no fault of my father-in-law or husband . . . showing everyone that I am not dear to you and making me live in despair, which I would were it not for the loving treatment and conduct that I receive from everyone here . . . I beg Your Caesarean Majesty may it please you to continue in that good will that you have shown this house in the past . . . otherwise it will be clear to me that I am not loved by you.

In this letter, Giovanna places herself firmly in the Medici camp, praising her husband’s family for their good treatment of her and imploring Maximilian to resume positive relations with them. Giovanna’s letter must have had some effect, as the subject of Camilla and the grand ducal title was dropped. Although relations between the two dynasties remained tense, Maximilian reluctantly recognized the title in 1575 and, “to sweeten the otherwise distasteful bargain . . . Grand Duke Francesco shipped along a hundred thousand badly needed scudi to Vienna.” Although Giovanna was willing to play peacemaker between her families, she would not permit Camilla to take precedence over her or tolerate her presence, flatly refusing to visit the Pitti Palace where Cosimo and Camilla lived.

As a result, the wedding of Cosimo’s son, Pietro, had to be held at the Palazzo Vecchio rather than at the Pitti Palace. Giovanna was apparently successful in keeping her rival away, for the Ferrarese ambassador noted that Camilla was completely absent from all of the wedding festivities. …Despite the tension, Cosimo and Giovanna managed to maintain a respectful, caring relationship. However, her husband was quite another matter. Like her sister Elizabeth, who had been faced with the domineering presence of Bona Sforza, Giovanna had to contend with a direct challenge to her position at court in the form of her husband’s mistress, Bianca Cappello. The favor Francesco showed Bianca made it clear to potential clients at court that establishing a relationship with her would be more rewarding than approaching Giovanna.

Turning to her sisters for consolation and advice, Giovanna complained of her husband’s conduct. After hearing that the spouses had made peace after a quarrel, her sister, Eleonora, expressed relief but warned her of the need to avoid such problems in the future: “[g]overn and control yourself like a wise princess.” A letter from Cosimo shows that Giovanna also turned to him for advice: Any displeasure of Your Highness troubles me greatly because I love you like my own daughter . . . You must not believe everything that Your Highness is told, for courts never lack people who delight in spreading scandals . . . if Your Highness would consider your sisters, perhaps you would be happier with your own condition than you are now, for I know how some of them, and more than one, have been treated . . . Let Your Highness busy yourself with looking after the household, leaving the cares of government to him [Francesco].

As Cosimo’s letter indicates, by early 1572, Giovanna and Francesco’s marriage was under considerable strain and the couple’s marital problems had become the subject of court gossip, hinting at the presence of Bianca Cappello. However, this letter also provides an additional reason for the breakdown between the couple. By advising that Giovanna take care of the household and leave the cares of government to Francesco, Cosimo was insinuating that she had in some way overstepped her role by entering the political realm, as her sister, Catherine, had done in Poland. Cosimo even alluded to the poor treatment that certain of Giovanna’s sisters had received at other courts. Although the sisters in question are not named, Cosimo was certainly referring to the two unfortunate wives of Sigismund Augustus. Elizabeth had died in Poland two years before Giovanna was born, but Catherine’s ordeal was still fresh in the minds of her contemporaries.

It was at this point that Giovanna started planning her pilgrimage to Loreto, which would take place the following year. Although Giovanna’s piety has sometimes been dismissed as yet another indication of her failure to acclimate herself to the less pious Medici court, Sánchez demonstrates that a pious reputation could give a woman great power. She thereby suggests that we expand our view of the early modern court beyond the royal palace to convents and churches in order to explore the ways in which women used religious patronage to exert political influence. Alice E. Sanger has pointed out that while women’s patronage of art and architecture has received extensive attention, devotion and piety were also very powerful tools.

Examining the religious practices of three grand duchesses of Tuscany, including Giovanna, Sanger argues that the “worldly concerns of the grand duchesses were always implicated in their devout activities, while the devotional realm offered sanctioned spaces for political maneuvering.” Giovanna was a contemporary and relative of the Habsburg women Sánchez discusses, and had received similar education and preparation for her role as consort. Still, her piety, which would have been admired at the Spanish court, where royal life revolved around a daily schedule of religious practices with no clear boundary between the political and the religious, was indeed unusual at the Medici court.

From the day she set foot in the city, Giovanna began visiting its churches and monasteries, taking note of what she observed and making suggestions to Pope Pius V: “Since I arrived in this city, I have visited a good part of the monasteries and pious places that are here, including the venerable college of the Jesuits, the location, residence and church of which are so cramped that it is no longer possible for them to remain there.” As this letter suggests, Giovanna championed various causes and practiced her religion publicly in Florence’s “pious places.” While personal devotion was certainly a driving factor in Giovanna’s activities around the city, it also provided her with a platform to become actively and visibly involved in Florentine life.

This letter also demonstrates Giovanna’s particular interest in assisting the Jesuits. Her correspondence contains many petitions to the pope, cardinals, and bishops on behalf of the order in Florence and Siena. In one letter, she thanked the bishop of Grosseto for his support in obtaining a church in Siena for the Jesuits. The following year she wrote to a cardinal to request his assistance in persuading the parishioners of that same church to accept its transfer to the order. During her childhood in Innsbruck, Giovanna and her sisters had enjoyed a great reputation for piety and developed a zealous admiration of the Jesuits. In Innsbruck, the sisters plagued Ferdinand’s court preacher, Jesuit Peter Canisius, with constant demands on his time, while spoiling his brethren with special dishes “for the comfort of those privileged fathers.”

When Giovanna and Barbara left for Italy, they each took a Jesuit chaplain with them. As grand duchess of Tuscany, Giovanna’s persistence helped solidify the Jesuit presence in her husband’s lands. Giovanna’s religious patronage was not limited to the Jesuits. She wrote letters in support of religious causes throughout Tuscany and regularly received requests for assistance. The bishop of Montalcino asked her to intercede with Francesco to obtain a certificate confirming the privileges of the Abbey of Sant’Antimo. The abbess of the convent of the Santissima Annunziata delle Murate in Florence asked Giovanna for charity, given the high cost of wheat, suggesting she ask Francesco for assistance. The abbess of Santissima Annunziata di San Miniato thanked Giovanna for her help in obtaining a confessor for the convent.

Through her visits and letter-writing, Giovanna was able to establish patronage ties with religious communities and exert influence in a way that was impossible for her to do at court—though visible to those at court—while simultaneously developing a reputation for piety among her husband’s subjects. Although Giovanna had been active in religious patronage since her arrival in Florence in 1565, by 1572 her frustration with her lack of influence at court led her to seek out an even more visible way to demonstrate her power and prestige. Her correspondence with Cosimo makes it clear that 1572 was a period of particularly high tension with Francesco that became the subject of court gossip. Her pilgrimage to the shrine at Loreto the following year was Giovanna’s attempt to reassert her status both at court and abroad.

According to legend, the “holy house” where the Virgin Mary lived as a child had been miraculously transported from Nazareth to the eastern coast of Italy in the thirteenth century. When Giovanna arrived in Italy, Loreto was a popular pilgrimage destination with a particular draw for women anxious to conceive. As Giovanna had thus far only produced daughters, she went to the shrine to pray for a son. Sanger notes that Giovanna was the first secular Medici, male or female, to make the pilgrimage, establishing a precedent for later grand duchesses of Tuscany: Christine of Lorraine, who travelled to Loreto in 1593, and Maria Maddalena, who made the journey in 1613. Although Giovanna was certainly motivated by sincere piety, this was no private act, but a magnificent display of prestige “designed to spectacularize her devoutness, rather than promote an image of humility.”

Indeed, her vast retinue included 430 horses, eighty carriages, thirty liveried guards, twelve pages, and twelve ladies dressed in black. Giovanna’s entourage travelled slowly through Cortona, Perugia, Foligno, and Macerata, taking two weeks to reach Loreto. She received a flood of correspondence from the elites in those areas, welcoming her and extending invitations. Pope Gregory XIII, who honored Giovanna by paying her expenses for the pilgrimage, assigned an escort to accompany her through the Papal States. She was offered hospitality by the duke of Urbino and, when she declined, he sent an ambassador to convey his regards to her in person in Loreto. Ambassadors were also sent out by the city of Perugia to accompany her to their city, where she was warmly welcomed.

As she reported in a letter to Francesco, once she reached Loreto she spent most of her time praying in the chapel, but was also kept quite busy by visits with various dignitaries. In addition to displaying her status, this significant moment in Giovanna’s life enabled her to forge a connection with the shrine that lasted for the rest of her life, as shown by the correspondence and gifts exchanged between Giovanna and the clerics at Loreto over the years. During her visit, Giovanna presented several gifts to the shrine, including a silver crucifix sculpted by the Medici court sculptor Giambologna with her name inscribed on it. When her son Filippo was born, a celebratory mass was sung at Loreto, in which furnishings previously donated by Giovanna were used. A year after her pilgrimage, she was informed that a portrait of her in Loreto was attracting crowds of visitors.

Giovanna came to be so associated with the shrine that when an official in Livorno wrote to inform her that a Medici ship had been saved from disaster at sea, he attributed this miracle to the Madonna of Loreto. Where Giovanna’s visits and correspondence on behalf of local churches and monasteries in and around Florence had made her visible to Tuscans, the journey to Loreto expanded her reputation beyond the borders of Tuscany. Having encountered significant obstacles to her efforts to establish patronage ties and exert influence at the Medici court, Giovanna turned to religious patronage in order to carve a space for herself outside the court that would demonstrate her influence and status to those inclined to underestimate her.

The number of petitions she regularly received from religious communities is evidence that she came to be held in high regard as a successful patron of religious causes. Despite her achievements in these areas, Giovanna’s position at court remained precarious, taking a turn for the worse after Cosimo died in 1574. Shortly thereafter, she failed once again to produce a male heir, instead giving birth to her sixth daughter, Maria, the future queen of France. The following summer, Francesco’s brother, Piero, strangled his wife, Eleonora di Garzia di Toledo. A few days later, Francesco’s sister, Isabella, died under mysterious circumstances while on a hunting trip. Giovanna was shocked by the sudden deaths of the two most prominent women at court after herself. When Bianca gave birth to Francesco’s son a few months later, Giovanna became deeply demoralized and desperate to leave Florence.

As in the case of Giovanna’s sisters, the mistreatment of a Habsburg woman was received as a serious affront to Habsburg honor. Giovanna’s brother, Archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol, was incensed and considered removing her forcibly from Florence. However, when Francesco complained to the new emperor, Rudolf II (Maximilian II having recently died), of the archduke’s accusations, Ferdinand was forced to back down. A document sent by the archduke to the emperor and translated into Italian for Francesco reveals the extent of the antagonism between Giovanna’s husband and her brother. The archduke admitted that he was deeply distressed: That his sister was so mistreated and held in such little respect by her consort while, conversely, Bianca was raised up, even though everyone knows that she [Giovanna] is the sister of His Serenity [Ferdinand] and everyone knows the circumstances and qualities of Bianca, who is nevertheless held in greater regard than an Archduchess of Austria.

However, the Medici alliance and the financial support that came with it were too important for the emperor to risk. Powerless to act without Rudolf ’s approval, Ferdinand gave way: “If the Prince of Florence does not wish to love and treat his [Ferdinand’s] sister with that love and marital loyalty that is befitting, we Austrian Princes cannot in good conscience do other than commit everything to God.” Although Cosimo had tolerated Giovanna’s attempts to exercise control over certain aspects of her life at court, as in the case of her exclusion of Camilla, and although Maximilian had been responsive to his sister’s complaints due to his own problems with the Medici, this incident demonstrates that without the protection of Cosimo and Maximilian, Giovanna was isolated.

After six daughters, she finally gave birth to a son in 1577, one year before dying from complications in childbirth. Just a couple of months after her death, Francesco married Bianca. The case of Giovanna d’Austria sheds light on the obstacles confronting foreign consorts as they navigated new relationships with their marital families while attempting to remain loyal to their natal families. Her example and those of her sisters, Catherine and Elizabeth, indicate the dangers posed by a strained relationship between two dynasties and the usurpation of the consort’s position at court by a rival female figure. Giovanna’s own reluctance to display unwavering allegiance to the Medici further exacerbated her situation, demonstrating the crucial nature of a complete transfer of loyalty from natal to marital family.

…Although she was never able to assume the prominent political role she considered to be her right as a Habsburg princess and Medici consort, Giovanna’s correspondence reveals that she was far from resigned to the obstacles she encountered, looking outside the Medici court for alternative ways to exercise power. Her network with her sisters provided her with opportunities to bolster her status and potential to act as a patron by exchanging favors with other elite women. Her piety, once considered by scholars to be a weakness, proved instead to be a fruitful source of patronage and influence: in particular, her pilgrimage to Loreto represented an impressive display of prestige that attracted the attention of her contemporaries and inspired later grand duchesses.”

- Catherine Ferrari, “Kinship and the Marginalized Consort: Giovanna d’Austria at the Medici Court.” in Early Modern Women

#joanna of austria #history #renaissance #italian #francesco i de medici #cosimo i de medici

25 notes · View notes

jeannedarcenthusiast · 3 years

Text

Isabella Romola de' Medici, daughter of Cosimo I de' Medici, first Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Eleonora di Toledo (31 August 1542 – 16 July 1576):

“More than the visual arts, more than theatre, it was music that Isabella loved above all other forms of artistic expression. It allowed her numerous identities: performer, patron, creator, subject, muse. Music was both entertainment and soundtrack, one she could control and manipulate, setting or altering on a whim the mood of the room.”

“(…) As to the cause of her death, he had heard ‘that she had been poisoned, and it is said that she had been, like her relative, killed’. Ricci, in his account, is rather more circumspect. In July, he writes in his diary:

In these days the Signora Isabella de’ Medici went about, a young woman of about 33, most beautiful in her body, as splendid and free-spirited as she could possibly be, the daughter of the Grand Duke Cosimo of blessed memory and wife of the most illustrious Signor Paolo Giordano Orsini, who had not a week since returned from Rome, where he spent most of his time far away from his wife. The Lady Isabella and her husband went for fun to Cerreto Guidi, where, having drunk too much cold liquid and from the sickness that had been in her for a few months, they discovered a slow and aggravating illness in her, and seeing that she could not stay at the villa any longer, they resolved to return to Florence. And on the way she was assailed by the illness most ferociously at Empoli, where she died at 1800 hours on 16 July to the great sorrow of everyone who knew her, as other than being most beautiful in her body, she was most beautiful in her soul, a true virtuosa, splendid, a free spirit.”

“(…) It is obvious from Francesco’s letters that the story of Isabella falling sick en route home is highly unlikely and may have been disseminated to the Florentine populace to stop speculation as to how Isabella died, unsuccessful though such an attempt may have been. Ricci was evidently uneasy about what he had been told, and added an account which more closely matches Cortile’s, in which Isabella de’ Medici was called to a room by her husband and never came out alive.”

Murder of a Medici Princess by Caroline P. Murphy.

#Isabella romola de medici #Isabella de medici #16th century #1500s #women in history #art #history #italian history #murder mention tw

49 notes · View notes

inky-duchess · 4 years

Text

21 History Ancedotes for my 21st Birthday

So today I celebrate my 21st birthday and I have decided to gift you all with 21 of my favourite historical Ancedotes. Some are funny, some are sad and some are plain bizarre but I hope the make your day 💜

Mary Maloney, an Irish-born suffragette in England followed Winston Churchill around while he was campaigning for a seat in Parliament, drowning out everything he said with a very large bell and calls for him to apologise for his comments on women's rights and suffrage movements.

Clodius Pulcher was a well born Roman noble during the last day's of the Republic. He gave up his Patrician status to become Tribune of the Plebs (an office in which one had to be a Pleb) by being adopted by a much younger Plebian man who became his "father". Clodius was a bit of a riot, sneaking into religious festivals dressed like a woman to sleep with Caesar's wife, building a shrine to Liberty in the ruins of the Conservative Cicero, vetoed the last speech of one of the Consuls (who basically did nothing all year and was apparently going to roast Caesar) and burned down the Senate House with his funeral pyre (the Plebs who loved him literally tearing up the furniture to build his pyre). He was honestly the best fun.

When laying on her deathbed, Queen Caroline of Ansbach turned to her husband George II of England and told him he should marry again. George refused to ever wed again... But added he would have mistresses. Caroline said , likely with a roll of her eyes, "oh my god that doesn't matter."

Florence was a pretty cool city in the Renaissance until Savanorola came to town. He disliked the loose living artists that crowded the city, with their naked pagan gods and rampant homosexuality. He expelled them all with help of the French hoping to make Florence Holy Again. When the Borgia Pope excommunicated him and sentenced him to death, one man in the crowd was reported to have said. "thank God, niw we can return to sodomy." One Floretine man in the 1490s said Gay Rights.

So this list couldn't be complete without an entry of the only American politician I love, Alexander Hamilton who was just a walking entity of sass. I could go on about his sharp sarcasm or his disaster bi vibes with John Lauren's but my all time favourite Alexander Hamilton ancedote has to be this exchange with Thomas Jefferson "There are approximately 1010300 words in the English language, but I could never string enough words together to properly explain how much I want to hit you with a chair."

Caterina Sforza was an Italian noble woman during the Renaissance. She was apart of the powerful Sforza family, which drew many enemies to her. One fateful day at Forli, Caterina's children were snatched as hostages. The besiegers threatened to kill her children if she did not cede the castle. Caterina refused, lifting her skirts and shouted to the besiegers that she had the means to make more children.

Hannibal Lecter's creator Thomas Harris was happy to end his great character's story with the original trilogy. However his publishers forced him to write an unneeded prequel explaining why Hannibal became Hannibal. Thomas Harris agreed lest he lose the rights to his character so he wrote Hannibal Rising, where Hannibal as a young man hunts down the Nazis who ate his sister with a katana.

Nell Gwyn is my favourite mistress of Charles II, mainly because of her sass. Once while trapped in the middle of a riot where Londoners swamped her carriage thinking she was Charles's Catholic mistress. She popped her head out the carriage and told the people "Pray good people be civil. I am the Protestant whore." She also dosed her rival Moll Davis with laxatives in order to free up some of Charles's time and she once flashed her underwear at the French ambassador after asking him why the Franch King did not pay her to spy on Charles because she was with him every night. A true Queen.

Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty of China once rose from his bed to go do some ruling when he realised his lover, Dong Xian was sleeping on his sleeve. Rather than disturb his lover, the Emperor cut his sleeve off at the wrist to leave Dong Xian nap. Nothing has ever been more romantic than that. Y'all could never.

Princess Margaret the sister of current Queen Elizabeth II was a socialable Princess and often tasked to visit the up and coming music stars of the day on behalf of the Crown. When meeting the Beatles one evening, she noticed George Harrison was acting a little odd. When she asked what was the matter, he replied "We arent allowed eat until you go." Princess Margaret laughed and promptly left so the Beatles could get some dinner.

During the Siege of Jadotsville, Irish soldiers under the flag of the UN were attacked and besieged by local insurgents allied with the Katanga Regime. The insurgents numbered thousands while the Irish only had 158 soldiers, all who were lightly armed. They radioed to their allies assuring them that "we will hold out until our last bullet is spent. Could use some whiskey though".

Napoleon was famous for writing raunchy letters to his wife, the Empress Josephine while he was away. She used to reply with really mundane letters or not at all. She really just could not be bothered with him.

Josip Broz Tito was so fed up with Joseph Stalin sending assassins to kill him, he wrote to Stalin personally to say "If you don't stop sending assassins to kill me. I will send one to Moscow and I won't have to send another." It didn't work but Big Dick Energy.

Successful Roman soldiers returning from war often got to march along in parades known as Triumphs. During this, it was customary for them to sing bawdy songs about their commander. One surviving one about Caesar goes like this "Romans, lock up your wives. Here comes the bald adulterous whore. We pissed away your gold in Gaul and come to borrow more."

Matilda, Lady of the English was a woman so badass that history cannot handle her. She was the daughter of Henry I who left his throne to her after the death of her brother. She was away in France when her father died and her throne was snatched by her cousin Stephen. They battled back and forth for years with neither side ceding any ground. Matilda was once besieged in a castle during a snow storm, with Stephen's men all around her. Instead of fighting her way out. She simply donned a white cloak and walked out of the castle. Just walked out without any of Stephen's men seeing her.

Pedro of Portugal once fell in love with a beautiful lady in waiting called Inez de Castro. For years, they lived as man and mistress, popping out a few kinds. Pedro's dad really did not like Inez and wanted Pedro to find a legitimate wife so he had her killed. Pedro returned home to find the mother of his children dead. Pedro went a little crazy. He had all his father's assassins killed, ripping out their hearts as they had done to him. When Pedro ascended the throne, he demanded the Pope legitimize his children by Inez. The Pope not wanting to upset the King, said he couldn't because Inez was never crowned Queen. Pedro dug Inez up and crowned her as Queen, having all the nobility swear loyalty to her corpse. The Pope had no choice but to agree to his request.

A famously clever general once saved an entire city with an ingenious stragety to sit outside the city waiting for the attacking army to come. The attack had come to fast for the city to ready themselves for a Siege so, the general had to move quickly. He evacuated the city and took his place waiting for the army to come. The enemy forces stopped and took one look at him and bolted, thinking he meant to lure them in one of his famous traps.

Michaelangelo was really badly treated by the Vatican when he was painting the Sistine Chapel. He constantly fought with the Popes over the design and his work, which he was paid peanuts for. Michaelangelo got his revenge in his work, painting the gates of Hell behind the Papal Throne and an angel flipping the ol' fig (the Renaissance version of the bird) toward the Pope's chair.

Peter the Great was not a perfect guy. He kept serfdom as a practise in his kingdom, he had his son tortured to death and he could be an unpleasant guy. But Peter was a dreamer. He wanted nothing more to build a fleet for Russia and bring Russia beyond its borders. Peter took a gap year from ruling Russia to wander around Europe. When he stopped in England, he was granted Leicester House to chill in while he did his shipwright studies. It was here that Peter found a new passion. The wheelbarrow. Cue Peter and his new found English buddies drinking in Leicester House, punching the artwork and rolling each other around in barrels across the house's Great gardens.

Diogenes is hands down a walking shit post. He was a great thinker in Greece during the reign of Alexander but a rather dry, sarcastic wit. He lived in a pithos/a jar because he shunned all vanities and values of society. He trolled other philosophers, attending their debates to heckle them and eat loud foods through them. When Alexander the Great came to fan boy over him, saying that if he were not Alexander he would like to be Diogenes to which Diogenes just said "yeah me too, now get out of my sunlight."

Cosimo de Medici was the son of a Floretine banker with a great knowledge and love of art. Cosimo wished for Florence to release its potentially and join the Renaissance. He hired Filippo Brunelleschi to finsh the Great Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore which had láin unfinished for over a century, a symbol of a failure of ambition. The builders had lost the knowledge of creating a dome so large so it remained unfinished. Despite much opposition from the other nobility and denouncers of the Renaissance, Cosimo's dream of the completion of the dome was completed, making it the largest brick dome in creation at that time. There is nothing like achieving your dreams and certainly nothing like leaving a lasting reminder that screams 'I was right and you were wrong' to stand for centuries.

#Instead of doing shots I decided to give you all a gift #History is our greatest gift #And it's filled with dick jokes and idiots #Anyway happy birthday to me #Go forth and enjoy this great gift #history dump #History Ancedotes #History bites: kinda?

176 notes · View notes