Английская Википедия:Alfonsina Orsini

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Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Use dmy dates Шаблон:Good article Шаблон:Infobox nobility Alfonsina Orsini (1472 – 7 February 1520) was a Regent of Florence. She governed the Republic of Florence during the absences of her son in the period of 1515–1519. Her rule was feared as a sign of the end of republican government there. She was born from a noble family and raised in the royal court of Naples. She was the spouse of Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici from 1488 and the mother of Lorenzo II de' Medici. She helped restore the Medicis to power after they had been exiled. She worked to secure a French royal marriage for her son, and was also influential at the court of Pope Leo X, her brother-in-law.

Throughout her life, she used her wealth, position, and connections to help the poor and underrepresented. She also used them to further her family's power and wealth. She was a patron of the arts and architecture, both in Florence and in Rome. This included renovation of religious buildings as well as construction of palaces for the family.

Early life and family

Born in 1472,Шаблон:Sfn she was the daughter of Caterina Sanseverino and Roberto Orsini, Count of Tagliacozzo and Alba.Шаблон:Sfn She was raised in the court of Ferdinand I of Naples.Шаблон:Sfn In 1486, Orsini's marriage to Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici was arranged by his uncle, Bernardo Rucellai who stood in as proxy.Шаблон:Sfn In February 1488, she brought a dowry of 12000 ducats when she joined her husband at a wedding in Rome attended by Ferdinand and his wife Joanna of Aragon.Шаблон:Sfn She finally arrived in Florence in May 1488.Шаблон:Sfn

Like previous wives of the Medicis, she was frequently petitioned by the religious and the poor to aid their requests for aid from her husband, and later, her son.Шаблон:Sfn She was asked to help ease tax burdens, provide jobs, and release impounded property.Шаблон:Sfn Orsini, her mother, and Clarice Orsini (her mother-in-law and a distant cousin) supported a major renovation of the Santa Lucia convent in Florence.Шаблон:Sfn The renovation included expanding dormitories for the Dominican sisters, rebuilding the church, and adding other rooms and chapels.Шаблон:Sfn A few of the rooms were made available for women in the Medici family whenever they were needed.Шаблон:Sfn

Issue

Alfonsina Orsini and her husband had at least three children:

• Clarice de' Medici (1489–1528) married Filippo StrozziШаблон:Sfn
• Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino (1492–1519)Шаблон:Sfn
• Luisa de' Medici (b. February 1494)

However, it is uncertain whether she is the mother of Maria de' Medici, daughter of Piero born in January or February 1492.

Political life

Her husband and other men in the Medici family were exiled in November 1494Шаблон:Sfn when Piero's negotiations with the invading Charles VIII of France did not meet with the people's expectations.Шаблон:Sfn On 9 November 1494, a mob plundered the Medici palace and drove Alfonsina and her mother out, stripping them of their jewelry.Шаблон:Sfn They then stayed at the convent they had rebuilt.Шаблон:Sfn Under Florentine law, women and children were not included with their husbands or fathers in exile, though their funds and ability to travel were limited.Шаблон:Sfn The law also allowed women whose husbands were exiled to use their dowry as their primary source of funds, but Alfonsina's dowry was included in the state seizure of Medici assets.Шаблон:Sfn Alfonsina and her mother negotiated with Charles to end the exile, but he only removed their status as rebels, and could not lift the exile.Шаблон:Sfn In May 1495, Alfonsina asked permission to travel to Rome and rejoin her husband there, but she was denied.Шаблон:Sfn That September, she left without permission and joined Piero and his brother Giuliano in Siena.Шаблон:Sfn Her mother was exiled from Florence in March 1497.Шаблон:Sfn

Piero died in exile in 1503.Шаблон:Sfn Alfonsina returned briefly to Florence in 1507 to attempt to claim her dowry and to seek a husband for her daughter, Clarice.Шаблон:Sfn She was well received by many people there and worked to build support for a Medici return.Шаблон:Sfn Thanks to negotiations by Lucrezia de' Medici, Clarice was engaged to Filippo Strozzi in Rome in December 1508, bringing the Strozzi into the Medici camp.Шаблон:Sfn Alfonsina provided Clarice a dowry of 4000 ducats.Шаблон:Sfn In 1507, the leader of Florence, Piero Soderini, asked his brother, Cardinal Francesco Soderini to help resolve Alfonsina's claim on her dowry, but progress was slow.Шаблон:Sfn In 1508, she asked Pope Julius II to claim the Cardinal's funds until he could get her the money, but that did not help.Шаблон:Sfn She did not receive her dowry funds until late in 1510.Шаблон:Sfn The Medici exile lasted until September 1512, though Alfonsina remained in Rome.Шаблон:Sfn

When her brother-in-law was elected as Pope Leo X, she took advantage of the situation to increase her income and provide additional funds to her son.Шаблон:Sfn By 1514, she noted that the Pope was running low on funds, but continued to act in her family's interest.Шаблон:Sfn She spent a year lobbying for her son-in-law to get the position of Depositor-General of the Vatican, giving her family direct access to Vatican treasuries.Шаблон:Sfn The Medicis began to have public disputes about which of the family members and clients should get the most powerful and influential positions.Шаблон:Sfn Alfonsina was working so that her son would have sole authority in Florence, while others, led by Lucrezia, wanted a more distributed government.Шаблон:Sfn Alfonsina even encouraged Lorenzo to interfere in elections in Florence, to get the right people elected.Шаблон:Sfn She regularly reminded him to reward families that had been loyal to the Medicis and Orsinis for a long time.Шаблон:Sfn About this time, she also began negotiating for a royal bride for Lorenzo, considering marriage with a Spanish princess.Шаблон:Sfn Eventually, her aspirations were met with his marriage to Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne.Шаблон:Sfn

Regency

Файл:Alfonsina Orsini by Francesco Allegrini.png

Portrait of Alfonsina by Francesco Allegrini 1761

In June 1515, she moved back to the Medici palace in Florence.Шаблон:Sfn Though the Republic of Florence was still a republic in name, Lorenzo ruled with his mother's help.Шаблон:Sfn The Medici palace became the location where government decisions were made.Шаблон:Sfn When Lorenzo took the Florentine army in the summer of 1515 to support Pope Leo and the Spanish in the war against Francis I of France, Alfonsina took up the rule in his name.Шаблон:Sfn Though she could not hold an official office, she directed the decisions of the governing councils and edited the letters Lorenzo sent to the councils.Шаблон:Sfn The councils noted in their records that decisions had been made "by order of Magnificent Lady Alfonsina."Шаблон:Sfn She had her chancellor, Bernardo Fiamminghi, appointed as the secretary of the office which created new laws.Шаблон:Sfn She also provided orders on who should be 'elected' to the councils throughout the rest of her son's life.Шаблон:Sfn She was also involved in the strategy regarding the war.Шаблон:Sfn When the Swiss mercenaries left the Spanish army, she began sending treaty proposals to Francis.Шаблон:Sfn Pope Leo asked her to provide the ambassadors to negotiate the treaty with Francis.Шаблон:Sfn The treaty included a provision allowing the Medici to continue their rule.Шаблон:Sfn She had the responsibility of planning the official visit of Pope Leo to Florence in November 1515 as he was traveling to sign the peace treaty.Шаблон:Sfn

She was a driving force behind her son receiving the Duchy of Urbino in 1516, and helped to fund his side of the War of Urbino.Шаблон:Sfn While he was away again starting that fall, she ruled remotely from Rome, providing direction to Goro Gheri who worked in Florence for her through 1517.Шаблон:Sfn Even when Lorenzo provided direction to Gheri, he confirmed the decision with Alfonsina before acting on the orders.Шаблон:Sfn She took responsibility for appointing governors to lands ruled by Florence, including Reggio and Urbino, who followed her orders.Шаблон:Sfn

Her rule was not popular, and even during Pope Leo's visit in 1515, posters went up protesting her greed and naming her an enemy of liberty.Шаблон:Sfn Many citizens of Florence feared the impending end of the republic, and a conversion to a monarchy.Шаблон:Sfn By the spring of 1519, her health was so poor she could no longer walk.Шаблон:Sfn She died in Rome on 7 February 1520.Шаблон:Sfn When she died, rumors of her greed were spread indicating that she left behind a fabulous fortune, more than 70000 ducats.Шаблон:Sfn While she did not leave behind as much as that, she left about 10000 ducats to Pope Leo, trusting him to use the funds to care for her daughter and granddaughter.Шаблон:Sfn She is buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo.Шаблон:Sfn

Influence on art and architecture

Until her husband's exile, she sponsored the work of Mariotto Albertinelli, sending his paintings to her extended family throughout Italy.Шаблон:Sfn In 1504, Alfonsina inherited a castle near Tivoli from her mother.Шаблон:Sfn In 1514, her son-in-law Filippo wrote a description of her collection of ancient statues, noting they were among the best in Rome.Шаблон:Sfn From 1515 to 1519, she was involved with her son Lorenzo in several major construction projects, continuing construction of a villa at Poggio a Caiano, work on a lake house at Fucecchio, and rebuilding gardens in Florence.Шаблон:Sfn During that period, she also independently managed the construction of the Medici-Lante Palace in Rome.Шаблон:Sfn She employed the architect Nanni di Baccio Bigio to work on each of these projects.Шаблон:Sfn

Sources

• Шаблон:Cite journal
• Шаблон:Cite encyclopedia
• Шаблон:Cite book

Further reading

• Natalie Tomas, Alfonsina Orsini de’ Medici and the ‘problem’ of a female ruler in early sixteenth century Florence, Renaissance Studies, 14 (2000), pp. 70–90.