Pragmatic pacifists marshaled around Cosimo de'Medici. Maso degli Albizzi, patriach of his family, had two sons, Luca and Rinaldo. From a young age, Luca was friends with Cosimo de'Medici.

When Cosimo il Vecchio was a young man ... Lorenzo's brother, Giuliano de'Medici, famously impregnated his mistress before his brutal murder in 1478. Their child, Giulio de'Medici, was later ...

Built in just five months for Cosimo I de’ Medici, it provided a secure and private route for the family to travel between their residence and offices, away from the public eye and potential ...

Laurent Binet’s Renaissance epistolary novel blends the postmodern playfulness of Umberto Eco with the vigour of Dashiell ...

The House of Medici came to prominence in Italy in the fifteenth century as a result of the wealth they had built up through banking. With the rise of Cosimo de' Medici, they became Florence's ...

For travel tips, recipes and more insight on Italian culture, sign up for CNN’s Unlocking Italy newsletter. This eight-part guide will have you packing your bags in no time. It was built as a ...

A secret passageway built 500 years ago to allow the Medici family to pass through the ... Designed in 1565 by Giorgio Vasari, a commission by Duke Cosimo I to mark his son's wedding, the corridor ...

Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici commissioned Vasari to construct the private passageway so the Grand Dukes could travel undisturbed from their residence at Pitti Palace to the seat of government in the ...