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Age of Cosimo De Medici - Florence in the Sixteenth Century

Alessandro de' Medici was assassinated by his cousin Lorenzino (also known as "Lorenzaccio") in 1537. The fuorusciti did not, however, succeed in reestablishing the Republic. Cosimo, son of Giovanni dalle Bande Nere siezed power by skillfully playing off the opposing factions against each other and gradually created an autocratic regime. Cosimo I took over a city that was prostrated by the recent crises and serious economic troubles.

Before the downfall of the Republic the city's population was around 70-80 thousand inside the walls, and nearly 120 thousand if one counted the suburbs. After the crisis of the siege when Cosimo succeeded Alessandro, the population fell to 60 thousand, much less than any other major Italian city of the period. In 1561 there were still only 60 thousand inhabitants. According to the census of the workshops ordered by Cosimo. There were 2172 workshops and 8741 houses in Florence.

Although Cosimo's autocratic regime was successful in reorganizing the city, its own nature prevented it from laying foundations for any future developments. Even on the cultural and artistic level, Cosimo's Florence was another city among many: important and rich in hypotheses and achievements, but it was no longer the main one.

Cosimo the Elder, the first of the Medici to govern the city owed the success of his policies and politics to the fact that he made every effort to render his role and presence as less apparent and "official" as possible; he tried to guide events and the city in such a way that they turned to him. Cosimo I did everything to render his absolute domination of the city official; he worked to obtain the official title of ruler (1570) and gave official form to every event and every object.

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