Book contents
- Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici and the Crisis of Renaissance Italy
- Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici and the Crisis of Renaissance Italy
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I The Early Years
- Part II Between Republicanism and Princely Rule
- Part III Piero in Power
- 10 Lorenzo’s Death and Its Aftermath, 1492
- 11 Balancing Power in Italy, 1493
- 12 ‘The Viper with Its Tail in Florence’, 1493–1494
- 13 The Crux, 1494
- 14 The French Descent
- 15 Revolution in Florence
- Part IV Piero in Exile
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
10 - Lorenzo’s Death and Its Aftermath, 1492
from Part III - Piero in Power
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 December 2019
- Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici and the Crisis of Renaissance Italy
- Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici and the Crisis of Renaissance Italy
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I The Early Years
- Part II Between Republicanism and Princely Rule
- Part III Piero in Power
- 10 Lorenzo’s Death and Its Aftermath, 1492
- 11 Balancing Power in Italy, 1493
- 12 ‘The Viper with Its Tail in Florence’, 1493–1494
- 13 The Crux, 1494
- 14 The French Descent
- 15 Revolution in Florence
- Part IV Piero in Exile
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The much-feared event of Lorenzo’s death happened on 8 April 1492, heralded ominously by a bolt of lightning striking the cupola of the Duomo in the direction of the Medici palace.1 Piero’s years of apprenticeship were over and everyone awaited his response to the challenges ahead. ‘Who would Piero side with’, Parenti wondered, ‘and how would he be treated, as the boss, the equal or the inferior of the others?’2 Uncertainty about Piero’s reaction to the new, upside-down world that confronted him was widely shared, not least by Lorenzo’s secretary, ser Niccolò Michelozzi, who found himself isolated in Naples as his patron lay dying, consoled only by the letters he received from Florence.
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- Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici and the Crisis of Renaissance Italy , pp. 149 - 167Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020