History

For over two centuries (1532-1737), the Medici, as dukes of Florence and grand dukes of Tuscany, ruled over a western Mediterranean state whose geopolitical sphere of influence was centered in Europe. The transformation of the House of Medici from republican “primi inter pares” of Quattrocento Florence to dynastic rulers occurred at the same moment when the Ottoman Empire emerged as an early modern superpower, polarizing Mediterranean politics. The Italian Peninsula became the stage where the cultural forces of the eastern and western Mediterranean converged. As a result, from the early days of their rule, the Medici grand dukes became enmeshed in a power dynamic that encompassed war, religion, diplomacy as well as economic interests and cultural exchange. This collection of essays sheds new light on key aspects of the complex relations between the Medici grand dukes and the Levant.

Cosimo I de’ Medici established the German Guard – the ‘Guardia de’ Lanzi’ in Florentine patois – in 1541 and its liveried halberdiers were a constant presence at the Medici court, ensuring the security of the Grand Dukes and their family members for almost two hundred years. The corps was not disbanded until 1738, when the new ruling House of Lorraine replaced them with a Swiss Guard. The lanzi, 100 in number, came from a “Germany” that stretched from the Low Countries to the Trentino in the 16th century. They and their families integrated into the fabric of Florentine society for over 200 years, making their mark on the city’s culture and history. Yet despite that, their being foreigners and symbols of a regime that the Risorgimento and Italy’s “national” historiography long depicted as tyrannical and decadent has resulted in the lanzi being all but forgotten today. So to mark the 500th anniversary of the birth of Cosimo I, we are delighted to offer visitors an initial reconstruction of the Guard’s history spanning two centuries with a display of the iconic items they used (their arms and armour), paintings and engravings depicting the halberdiers in action, hand-written and printed documents illustrating the corps’ structure and its members’ private lives, and much more besides. The establishment of the German Guard marked a crucial step both in the formation of the Medici court, which Cosimo was eager should resemble the leading courts of Europe, and in the integration of foreign communities (in this instance the German community) into city life. Their skills and talents helped to forge the Florence that we know today.