Diksha Sundriyal
Starz’s ‘The Serpent Queen’ focuses on the rise of Catherine de Medici. Her story begins with a lot of misfortune, spending her childhood in destitution and then her trajectory to become the Queen of France. While she starts from nothing, there is one thing that becomes instrumental in her story: her name. The Medici name gives Catherine an opportunity to be wedded to the younger son of the King of France, placing her in a position to better her life. The marriage is arranged by her uncle Pope Clement VII, who was also a Medici.
While they were one of the richest and most influential families of their time, by the time Catherine’s story begins, the Medicis are on a downward slope in their story. Their royal status and their riches have diminished considerably and they are being murdered by common people. The situation is so dire that Catherine dreads going back to Italy and is ready to do whatever it takes to keep herself in France. While we know that she eventually did well for herself, what happened to the rest of the Medicis? Where are they now? Let’s find out.
The Medici Legacy: From Renaissance Powerhouse to Modern Descendants
The Medicis were a banking family who came from humble origins but soon turned into one of the most powerful families in Europe, especially during the first half of the fifteenth century. Their financial prowess soon turned them towards politics and they eventually became Italian royalty. They are known to have revolutionized the banking system and were patrons of art, fostering Renaissance in the country.
As their wealth and power grew, the Medicis also increased in number and branched out considerably. The main line of Medici, the ones that ruled Florence and were direct descendants of Cosimo and Lorenzo de Medici, saw its last lineal descendants in Gian Gastone de Medici and his sister, Anna Maria Luisa, both of whom died childless in 1737 and 1743, respectively. There remained, however, the cadet branches, who were scattered across Europe following Gian Gastone’s death and the power struggle that followed it. It is the descendants of these collateral branches that carry on the Medici name in the present world.
The most significant of the Medici families currently are the Medici Tornaquinci and the Medici di Ottajano. One of the most notable of them is Prince Ottaviano de Medici. Living in Florence, Italy, he has been the Grand Duke of Tuscany (a sovereign entity without territory) since 2017. Currently divorced, Ottaviano has three children, Cosimo, Lorenzo, and Guglielmo. He is the founder and president of the International Medicean Association for the Protection of Arts, Sciences, and Letters. He is also a co-founder of Save Florence, an initiative intended to protect the cultural heritage of the city that the Medicis have called home for centuries.
Another Medici who has gained recognition for rebuilding the family legacy is Prince Lorenzo de Medici. He lives in Los Angeles, but goes back and forth from Rome, and his work tends to take him to all corners of the world. His father, named Alessandro, was an engineer and a businessman. His mother, Kristina, descended from Polish aristocracy. Lorenzo also has a sister named Caterina. He was married to Rosemary Johnson, a real estate broker, whom he met on TLC’s reality show ‘Secret Princes’. They met in 2013 and got divorced after five years of marriage. They have a daughter named Maddalena.
Prince Lorenzo, much like his mother, is a painter. He has labeled his art as “Rennaissance Pop” where he reorients the portraits of the Medici rulers with a twist of modernity. Apart from being in real estate, he is also the founder of the Medici Bank, which aims “ to promote the global economy by reducing friction in banking and payments.” He is a Knight of the Martirano Order and General Prior of the St. Martin of Beatitudes Order and is involved with a lot of charities and non-profits, trying to “make the nobility a useful service to the less fortunate.”
Read More: Is The Serpent Queen Based on a True Story?
