Lorenzo de' Medici

Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici was born on 1 January 1449 and became the de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the mature phase of the Italian Renaissance. He held the balance of power within the Italic League, an alliance that stabilized the Italian Peninsula for decades under the Peace of Lodi of 1454. In 1478, his efforts to check Pope Sixtus IV's territorial ambitions made him the target of the Pazzi conspiracy, which killed his brother Giuliano but left Lorenzo alive. He continued sponsoring artists including Botticelli and Michelangelo, presiding over Florence's golden age until…