25 Facts About Alfonsina Orsini

Alfonsina Orsini's rule was feared as a sign of the end of republican government there.

Alfonsina Orsini was born from a noble family and raised in the royal court of Naples.

Alfonsina Orsini was the spouse of Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici from 1488 and the mother of Lorenzo II de' Medici and two daughters.

Alfonsina Orsini helped restore the Medicis to power after they had been exiled, worked to secure a French royal marriage for her son, and was influential at the court of Pope Leo X, her brother-in-law.

Alfonsina Orsini used them to further her family's power and wealth.

Alfonsina Orsini was a patron of the arts and architecture, both in Florence and in Rome.

Alfonsina Orsini was raised in the court of Ferdinand I of Naples.

Alfonsina Orsini was asked to help ease tax burdens, provide jobs, and release impounded property.

The law allowed women whose husbands were exiled to use their dowry as their primary source of funds, but Alfonsina Orsini's dowry was included in the state seizure of Medici assets.

Alfonsina Orsini returned briefly to Florence in 1507 to attempt to claim her dowry and to seek a husband for her daughter, Clarice.

Alfonsina Orsini was well received by many people there and worked to build support for a Medici return.

Alfonsina Orsini did not receive her dowry funds until late in 1510.

Alfonsina Orsini spent a year lobbying for her son-in-law to get the position of Depositor-General of the Vatican, giving her family direct access to Vatican treasuries.

Alfonsina Orsini was working so that her son would have sole authority in Florence, while others, led by Lucrezia, wanted a more distributed government.

Alfonsina Orsini even encouraged Lorenzo to interfere in elections in Florence, to get the right people elected.

Alfonsina Orsini regularly reminded him to reward families that had been loyal to the Medicis and Orsinis for a long time.

When Lorenzo took the Florentine army in the summer of 1515 to support Pope Leo and the Spanish in the war against Francis I of France, Alfonsina Orsini took up the rule in his name.

Alfonsina Orsini provided orders on who should be 'elected' to the councils throughout the rest of her son's life.

Alfonsina Orsini was involved in the strategy regarding the war.

Alfonsina Orsini was a driving force behind her son receiving the Duchy of Urbino in 1516, and helped to fund his side of the War of Urbino.

Alfonsina Orsini took responsibility for appointing governors to lands ruled by Florence, including Reggio and Urbino, who followed her orders.

Alfonsina Orsini's rule was not popular, and even during Pope Leo's visit in 1515, posters went up protesting her greed and naming her an enemy of liberty.

Alfonsina Orsini is buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo.

In 1504, Alfonsina Orsini inherited a castle near Tivoli from her mother.

Alfonsina Orsini employed the architect Nanni di Baccio Bigio to work on each of these projects.