Bianca de' Medici
| Bianca de' Medici | |
|---|---|
 An excerpt from a fresco in Magi Chapel, by Benozzo Gozzoli, purported to show Bianca in the middle, and her sisters Maria and Nannina to the left and right. | |
| Spouse(s) | Guglielmo Pazzi |
| Noble family | House of Medici |
| Father | Piero di Cosimo de' Medici |
| Mother | Lucrezia Tornabuoni |
| Born | 10 Sep 1445 |
| Died | 1488 |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Bianca de' Medici (10 September 1445[1]–1488[2]) was a musician and a noblewoman of Florence. She played the organ for Pope Pius II and the future Pope Alexander VI in 1460.[3] She was a member of the Medici family and a landowner.[4]
Bianca was a daughter of Piero di Cosimo de' Medici and Lucrezia Tornabuoni.[2] In 1459, she married Guglielmo Pazzi,[5] who was a childhood friend of her brother, Lorenzo de' Medici.[6] Their first child, Contessina, was born before January 1464.[7] The marriage agreement included a significant reduction in taxes imposed on the Pazzi family.[8] This alliance was intended to help resolve the animosity between the families, but it was not successful in that regard as Machiavelli noted in his Florentine Histories.[9] Bianca's marriage significantly softened Lorenzo's wrath toward Guglielmo in response to the Pazzi conspiracy.[10] Guglielmo was only put under house arrest for a time, while his other relatives were exiled or executed.[10] Additionally, their daughters were exempted from the marriage ban imposed on daughters of the other Pazzi because their mother was a Medici.[11]
In 1460, Bianca was asked to play the organ for Pope Pius II and his entourage during a visit to Florence, as the pope was coming back from the Council of Mantua.[12][3] Teodoro Montefeltro, the Apostolic protonotary travelling with the pope, praised the performance in a letter to Barbara of Brandenburg, Marquise of Mantua.[13] During the same papal visit, she performed a second concert for the future pope Rodrigo Borgia at his request.[3] Bianca often performed for local and visiting dignitaries, contributing to her families' reputation and influence.[3]
In 1475, Bianca asked her mother to purchase farmland from other relatives for her, as Lucrezia had more influence within the family.[4] Though Bianca owned the property, it was managed by staff employed by her mother.[4]
References
- ↑ Pernis & Adams 2006, p. 29.
- 1 2 Tomas 2003, p. 7.
- 1 2 3 4 Tomas 2003, p. 30.
- 1 2 3 Tomas 2003, p. 27.
- ↑ Pernis & Adams 2006, p. 66.
- ↑ Tomas 2003, pp. 17–18.
- ↑ Pernis & Adams 2006, p. 56.
- ↑ Ewart 2006, p. 197.
- ↑ Machiavelli 1845, pp. 166–167.
- 1 2 Tomas 2003, p. 18.
- ↑ Tomas 2003, p. 106.
- ↑ Prizer 1991, p. 3.
- ↑ Prizer 1991, pp. 3–4.
Sources
- Ewart, K. Dorothea (2006). Cosimo De' Medici. Cosimo, Inc. ISBN 9781596059313.
- Machiavelli, Niccolò (1845). The Florentine Histories. Translated by Lester, C. Edwards. New York: Paine and Burgess.
- Pernis, Maria Grazia; Adams, Laurie (2006). Lucrezia Tornabuoni De' Medici and the Medici Family in the Fifteenth Century. Peter Lang. ISBN 9780820476452.
- Prizer, William F. (1991). "Games of Venus: Secular Vocal Music in the Late Quattrocento and Early Cinquecento" 9 (1). University of California Press: 3–56. doi:10.2307/763832. (subscription required (help)).
- Tomas, Natalie R. (2003). The Medici Women: Gender and Power in Renaissance Florence. Aldershot: Ashgate. ISBN 0754607771.