Cosimo I de’ Medici

1519–1574

Cosimo I de’ Medici became duke of Florence in 1537 and later the first grand duke of Tuscany. He defeated republican and aristocratic opposition, expanded Florentine control over Siena, centralised government and used art and architecture to project Medici dynastic authority.

Cosimo I de’ Medici also held the offices or ranks of list of rulers of Tuscany and Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Cosimo I de’ Medici belonged to the House of Medici and operated within Republic of Florence. Cosimo I de’ Medici was born in Florence and died in Villa Castello.

In D. V. Bishop’s Carnival of Lies, Cesare Aldo learns of a plan to assassinate Cosimo I de’ Medici and is charged with protecting the young duke of Florence. In Maggie O’Farrell’s The Marriage Portrait, Lucrezia de’ Medici, the imaginative third daughter of Cosimo I de’ Medici, expects to remain an overlooked member of Florence’s ruling family, free to observe the palace and pursue her painting.

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring Cosimo I de’ Medici (1 series)

Cesare Aldo Series in Order

by D. V. Bishop 6 books 4.3(8,963)

D. V. Bishop’s Cesare Aldo series follows a former soldier serving Florence’s feared criminal court during the first years of Medici ducal rule. Beginning in the winter of 1536, Aldo investigates murders that expose the city’s convents, merchant families, religious factions and governing elite. His work repeatedly brings…