ixteenth century dawned a new era.
Preliminary signs had appeared in the growth of wealth, in
enfranchisement from primitive methods, and in the evolution of
individualism. Love of country and the ties of family life were loosened
by the universal craving for self-indulgence and personal distinction.
Idleness, sensuality, and scepticism--three baneful sisters--gained the
mastery, weakening the fabric of society, and leading on to the evil
courses of tyrannicide.

"The gradual extinction of public spirit; the general deterioration of
private character, and the exercise of unbridled lust and passion, are
the livid hues which tinge with the purple of melancholy and the scarlet
of tragedy the later pages of Florentine story."

* * * * *

The direct line of Cosimo, "_Il Padre della Patria_," the elder
surviving son of Messer Giovanni di Averardo "Bicci" de' Medici, ended
with Caterina, Queen of France, the only legitimate child of Lorenzo,
Duke of Urbino, and last _Capo della Repubblica_ of Florence; and
Alessandro the Bastard, first Duke of Florence, the illegitimate son of
Pope Clement VII.

The sovereignty of the Medici was maintained in the person of Cosimo,
the only son of Condottiere Giovanni, "delle Bande Nere," the
great-grandson of Lorenzo, the younger of the two surviving sons of
Messer Giovanni di Averardo "Bicci" de' Medici. The rule of the Medici
Grand Dukes of Tuscany was carried on from Cosimo I. to Gian Gastone,
seventh Grand Duke and last of his line, who died in 1737.

The Grand Duchy then passed to the house of Lorraine, and with a
Napoleonic usurpation of eighteen years (1796-1814), it continued in the
Lorraine family, as represented by the collateral Hapsburgs, till the
year 1859. In that year, King Vittorio Emmanuele of Piedmont and
Sardinia, entered Florence, which, with all Italy, was united under the
Royal Crown of the House of Savoy.

THE TRAGEDIES OF THE MEDICI

CHAPTER I

LORENZO--"_Il Magnifico_."

GIULIANO--"_Il Pensieroso_."

"_Signori!_" "_Signori!_"

Such was the stirring cry which resounded through the lofty Council
Chamber of the famous Palazzo Vecchio that dull December day in the year
1469.

Never had such a title been accorded to any one in Florence, where every
man was as good as, if not better than, his neighbour. Foreign
sovereigns, and their lieutenants, who, from time to time, visited the
city and claimed toll and fealty