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Alessandro de' Medici (July 22, 1510 – January 6, 1537) called "il Moro" ("the Moor"), Duke of Penne and also Duke of Florence (from 1532), ruler of Florence from 1530 until 1537. Though illegitimate, he was the last member of the "senior" branch of the Medici to rule Florence and the first to be a hereditary duke.

Born in Florence, he was recognized as the illegitimate son of Lorenzo II de' Medici (grandson of Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent), but many scholars today believe him to be in fact the illegitimate son of Giulio de' Medici (later Pope Clement VII)- nephew of Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent. Historians (such as Christopher Hibbert) believe he had been born to a black or moor serving-woman in the Medici household, identified in documents as Simonetta da Collavechio. The nickname is said to derive from his features.

When Emperor Charles V sacked Rome in 1527, the Florentines took advantage of the turmoil in Italy to reinstall the Republic; both Alessandro and Ippolito fled, along with the rest of the Medici and their main supporters, including the Pope's regent, Cardinal Silvio Passerini, with the exception of the eight-year-old Caterina de' Medici, who was left behind. Michelangelo, then occupied in creating a funerary chapel for the Medici, initially took charge of building fortifications around Florence in support of the Republic; he later temporarily fled the city. Clement eventually made his peace with the Emperor, and with the support of Imperial troops, the Republic was overwhelmed after a lengthy siege, and the Medici were restored to power in the summer of 1530. Clement assigned Florence to nineteen-year-old Alessandro, who had been made a duke, an appointment that was purchased from Charles. He arrived in Florence to take up his rule on July 5, 1531, and was created hereditary Duke of Florence 9 months later by the Emperor (for Tuscany lay outside the Papal States), there by signalling the end of the Republic.

In a late replay of the kind of medieval civil politics that had long revolved around pope and emperor, commune and lord, the Emperor supported Alessandro against the republicans. In 1533, he married his natural daughter Margaret of Austria to Alessandro. For his own inclinations, Alessandro seems to have remained faithful to one mistress, Taddea Malespina, who bore his only children Giulio de' Medici (c. 1540-1600), who also had illegitimate issue, and Giulia de' Medici, who married her cousin Bernardetto de' Medici, Signore di Ottaiano, and had issue.

Four years later his distant cousin Lorenzino de' Medici, nick-named "Lorenzaccio" ("bad Lorenzino"), assassinated him. (This event is the subject of Alfred de Musset's play "Lorenzaccio.") Lorenzino entrapped Alessandro through the ruse of a promised arranged sexual encounter with Lorenzino's sister Laudomia, a beautiful widow. For fear of starting an uprising if news of his death got out, Medici officials wrapped Alessandro's corpse in a carpet and secretly carried it to the cemetery of San Lorenzo, where it was hurriedly buried.

Lorenzino, in a declaration published later, said that he had killed Alessandro for the sake of the republic. When the anti-Medici faction failed to rise, Lorenzino fled to Venice, where he was killed in 1548. The Medici supporters (called "Palleschi" from the balls on the Medici arms) ensured that power then passed to Cosimo I de' Medici, the first of the "junior" branch of the Medici to rule Florence.

Alessandro was survived by two natural children of Taddea's: a son, Giulio (age four at the time of his father's death)married to Lucrezia Gaetani, and a daughter, Giulia married firstly to Francesco Cantelmo, the Count of Alvito and the Duke of Popoli and then Bernadetto de' Medici, prince of Ottaiano; their descendants include most of the royal houses of Europe-Hapsburg and Bonaparte:

Giulio de Medici, (Allessandro's son) Knight Commander of the Gallery of St. Stephen m. Lucrezia, Countess Gaetani

Cosimo de Medici (illegitimate) m. Lucrezia (II), Countess Gaetani

Angelica de Medici m. Gianpetro, Count Altemps

Maria Christina della Rovere Coat of Arms Maria Cristina, Countess Altemps m. 1646 Ipollito, Duke Lante della Rovere

Antonio, Duke Lante m. 1682 Angelique, Princesse de La Tremouille

Marie Anne Lante m. Jean Baptiste, Duke of Croy Havre

Louis, Duke of Croy Havre m. 1736 Marie Louise, Princess of Montmorency Luxembourg

Joseph, Duke of Croy Havre m. 1762 Adelaide, Princess of Croy Solre

Adelaide, Duchess of Croy Havre m. 1788 Emanuel, Prince of Croy Solre

Constance, Princess of Croy Solre m. 1810 Ferdinand, Duke of Croy

Augusta, Duchess of Croy m. 1836 Alfred, Prince of Salm Salm

Alfred, Prince of Salm Salm m. 1869 Rosa, Countess Lutzow

Emanuel, Prince of Salm Salm m. 1902 Christina von Hapsburg, Archduchess of Austria

Rosemary, Princess of Salm Salm m. 1926 Hubert Salvator von Hapsburg, Archduke of Austria

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF ALESSANDRO'S DESCENT:

Joseph, Duke of Croy Havre m. 1762 Adelaide, Princess of Croy Solre

Amalie, Duchess of Croy Havre m. 1790 Charles, Marquis of Conflans

Amalie de Conflans m. 1823 Eugene, Prince of Ligne

Henri, Prince of Ligne m. 1851 Marguerite, Countess of Talleyrand Perigord

The Medicis The Medicis Ernest Louis, Prince of Ligne m. 1887 Diane Marchioness of Cosse Brissac

Eugene, Prince of Ligne m. 1917 Phillipine, Princess Noailles

Yolanda, Princess of Ligne m. 1950 Karl von Hapsburg, Archduke of Austria

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF ALESSANDRO'S DESCENT:

Giulio de Medici, Knight Commander of the Gallery of St. Stephen m. Lucrezia, Countess Gaetani

Cosimo de Medici (illegitimate) m. Lucrezia, Countess Gaetani

Angelica de Medici m. Gianpetro, Count Altemps

Maria Cristina, Countess Altemps m. 1646 Ipollito, Duke Lante della Rovere

Antonio, Duke Lante m. 1682 Angelique, Princesse de La Tremouille

Luigi, Duke Lante m. Angela, Princess Vaini

Fillipo, Duke Lante m. Faustina, Marchioness Caprianca

Maria Christina Lante m. Averado, Duke Salviati

Anna Maria Salviati m. Marcantonio , Prince Borghese

Camillo, Prince Borghese m. 1803 Pauline Bonaparte, Napoleon's Sister

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF ALESSANDRO'S DESCENT:

Marie Anne Lante m. Jean Baptiste, Duke of Croy Havre

Adelaide, Croy Havre m. Emanuel, Prince of Croy Solre

Constance, Princess of Croy Solre m. 1810 Ferdinand of Croy Solre

Juste Marie, Prince of Croy m. 1854 Marie, Countess Ursel

Charles, Prince of Croy m. 1896 Matilda, Countess Robiano

Marie Imaculee m. 1926 Thiery, count of Limburg Stirum

Evrard, Count of Limburg Stirum m. 1957 Helen, Princess of France daughter of the Count of Paris