CARDINAL HIPPOLYTUS. -(1511-1535.)

Giulio, Cardinal de' Medici, when he became Clement VII, instead of attempting to transfer power from one branch of the Aledici to the other, and to exclude the natural sons, followed the example of John de' Medici (Leo X.), and as he had more faith in the ability of Hippolytus than in that of the others, he selected him to rule Florence, appointing Silvio Passerini, Cardinal de Cortona, to govern for him during his minority. Passerini failed to please the friends and enemies of the Medici alike. This was the period when the French king, on bad terms with Charles V., claimed the inheritance of the duchy of Milan. Rome was threatened by Charles V., and then invaded and sacked by the Constable of Bourbon, Clement VII. being imprisoned in his own castle of St. Angelo. On the 17th of May, 1527, the Florentines expelled the Medici for the third time, all their property being wrecked and destroyed. A brief period of liberty ensued for Florence, but with a fresh turn of events Clement made peace with his late enemies and a league was formed to reduce Florence and enforce the return of the Medici. The city was fortified by Michael Angelo, and held out for nearly a year against the imperial army under the Prince of Orange, being finally forced to capitulate through the treason of Malatesta. Hippolytus, seeing that Alexander was to be preferred before himself, made all attempt to forestall him and gain possession of Florence, but his plan was frustrated, and he was induced to return to Rome. He did not live long enough to profit much by the return of his family to power, for he died when only four-and-twenty, and it was surmised that Duke Alexander had a hand in his death. Benedetto Varchi gives- the following kindly description of him : "He was handsome and pleasant-looking, very well informed, full of grace and virtue, and affable to all men. He took more after the generous and benevolent disposition of Leo X. than after the avaricious and narrow-minded Clement VII. He liked to gather round him men distinguished in art, literature, and war, and he treated them very liberally. Having come into an income of four thousand ducats, he made a present of it to Francesco Maria Nolza, a noble of Modena, who was very devoted to literature and a great linguist." He was scarcely fitted to be a cardinal, but when it was known that Alexander had been selected to assume power he made up his mind to follow the traditions of Leo X., and sustained the splendor of his uncle. He formed a suite, clad in brilliant armor, of Turks, Arabians, Tartars, and Indians, and got up jousts and tournaments. He had been a cardinal for three years when, after the Turks had made a raid up to the walls of Vienna, he was sent as legate to the Emperor of Germany. He made his entry into Vienna with all the pomp of royalty, and an escort of eight thousand horsemen, and it was upon this occasion that he donned a military costume, and continued to wear it after his return home. It was after this that Charles V. had an interview with the Pope at Bologna, bringing a Hungarian escort with him. Titian was then at Bologna, and painted a portrait of the Emperor. He also painted two portraits of Hippolytus, who formed part of the Pope's suite, one in. a Hungarian costume, and the other in that of an Italian warrior with the delicately wrought cuirass. Hippolytus headed the party in opposition to Duke Alexander, and resented so openly the accession to power of one whom he regarded as his rival that when he died at Itri in 1535 it was generally believed that he had met with foul play.

ALEXANDER DE' MEDICI, FIRST DUKE OF FLORENCE. -(1510-1537.)

This brings us to the capture of Florence, which, bravely defended by the citizens, had been betrayed by Malatesta, Baglione. Feruccio, the last hope of the Republic, had fallen, and a treaty was made with Gonzaga, the able captain who had succeeded the Prince of Orange in command of the Imperial troops. The conditions of the treaty were as follows : " A regular government to be established within a period of four months, it being always understood that liberty was to be preserved ; the Medici to return, together with all who had been exiled in their cause ; Florence to pay a ransom of 80,000 gold crowns."

Here, again, a pretence was made of respecting the legal independence of the Florentines. The partisans of Clement VII. insisted upon the formation of a council of twelve citizens, and recognizing in Alexander, son of Lorenzo of Urbino, " high moral qualities, and recognizing, too, all the good done by his family," he was made a member of the Bahia, though a special clause excluded him from the supreme power. The Emperor, who had determined to substitute a monarchical fora popular form of government, would not agree to this, and he had Alexander, to whom he intended to marry his daughter, proclaimed chief of the State, with the title of Duke, with remainder to his heirs male in the direct line.

The celebrated bell, " Martinella," in the ducal palace, which for two centuries had called the citizens to arms in defence of their liberties, sounded the knell of the Republic on the 26th of July, 1531, when Alexander entered the city amid the acclamations of his adherents.

Even this did not satisfy Clement VII., who was anxious that his nephew's authority should extend throughout Tuscany, and the reformers of the State which his orders and will had created changed the basis of government, suppressing both the Signoria and the Gonfaloniere, who was the representative of the people. All traces of communal liberties were destroyed, and Tuscany, together with Florence, became for once and all a monarchy.

Alexander was a man of considerable abilities, with the instincts of a statesman, a ready tongue, and a good education. He was, however, as we know from the historians of his time, very dissipated in his habits; but for all that Tuscany might have been very happy under his rule if it had not been that the younger branch of the Medici were conspiring against what they deemed a usurpation. Alexander had only been five years on the throne when, on the 6th of January, 1536, Lorenzo, his cousin, a descendant of the rival branch, who had become his adviser as well as his companion in debauchery, inveigled him to come and see him about some love intrigue, and murdered him in his bed.

Duke Alexander had married Margaret of Austria, the natural daughter of Charles V., and though he had no children by her, he had adopted a boy and a girl Giulio and Giulia. He was the last Medici of the elder branch, and then came the turn of the younger branch, which was first represented in power by Cosimo I.

THE YOUNGER BRANCH OF THE MEDICI; JOHN DE' MEDICI, SURNAMED OF "THE BLACK BAND."

The first of the Medici, Giovanni de Bicci, had left two sons, Cosimo surnamed the Elder, and Lorenzo, who were the founders of the family. Having given above the history of Cosimo's branch, I may resume that of the younger branch, which was called to power in the person of Cosimo L, after the murder of Alexander L, Duke of Florence. Lorenzo, brother of Cosimo, was the father of Piero-Francesco (1431-1477), who was also assassinated ; and Francesco left two sons, Lorenzo and John, and each of these two in turn had a son. Lorenzo's son bore the name of Lorenzo-Francesco, and his brother's that of John, the latter being the celebrated " John of the Black Band," who is the first notable character of the younger branch.

John deserves a biography, not less for his own individual merits than for the fact that he became the progenitor of princes his son Cosimo becoming Cosimo I.

Lord of Florence, and later on assuming the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany, founder of the second branch of this dynasty. Though at baptism he received the name of Lodovico, he is known to history under the name of John, later on to become the famous captain so beloved by his troops.

His mother was Catherine Sforza, daughter of the famous Galeazo, Duke of Milan. His father died young, and the widow, cherishing his memory, resolved that in name at least her husband should live again in the person of her son. This warrior of the future experienced the very peculiar fortune of being brought up, till he became a young man, in female garb ; his mother, in fact, surrounded by the snares and temptations of the Medici, entertained many fears for the life of her son and heir, and took the precaution of withdrawing him from the dangers of the world by immuring him in a convent. This young lady, as she was supposed to be, naturally protested against the costume she was forced to adopt, and her dreams were of nothing but battles ; she was always organizing sieges and assaults, and gave great promise of immortalizing the name of the Medici. John made his debut in arms under Leo X. in Lombardy.

He soon gained the titles of "Invincible" and the Great Devil." The Republic sorely needed a valiant arm, and he was made captain. When the league was organized, he assumed the command in Lombardy, and passed, on the advice of Clement VII., into the service of Francis T. One day, near Borgoforte, whilst commanding his troops, he received a wound from a crossbow just below the knee, within an inch or so of the wound he had received a short time before at the ever-memorable battle of Pavia. The greatest hopes had been entertained concerning him, but death claimed him in his twenty-ninth year, cut off, like so many of the Medici, in the flower of life. He was a keen warrior, and of the most extraordinary personal valor ; in every skirmish he was eager to hazard his life, never allowing any one else to be beforehand where danger threatened. Till his time cavalry had always decided the fate of battles, and the Italian infantry, which was quite eclipsed by the Spanish foot-soldiers, considered at that time the finest in the world, occupied a very secondary position. John, however, had trained it to such a pitch that it became invincible, as the Spaniards ever found, and he inspired his troops with feelings which might almost be termed fanatical. In the day of battle, and when the time arrived for distribution of booty, he ever left them the material advantages, and contented himself with the glory. He died at Mantua ; on the day of his death, his troops, clothed in black, took for their ensign the funeral flag ; and so posterity has known him tinder the name of " John of the Black Band." He had married one of the Salviati, by whom he had a son, who afterwards became Grand Duke of Tuscany tinder the name of Cosimo I.