For our 50th episode, I give an overview of how the Medici went from being just one of several powerful banking families to joining the ranks of European royalty and high nobility.

Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com.

Support the podcast on Patreon 

Just a brief update on the latest way the Worst Summer Of My Life has messed with me and what that means for the podcast along with what's in store with future episodes.

We leave the Medici papacy behind and look at the life and times of Alessandro de' Medici, the first Medici de facto ruler of Florence and (possibly) a black head of state in Renaissance Europe.

The theme music is "La Disperata", composed by Vincenzo Ruffo (ca. 1510-1587) and performed by Jon Sayles.

Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com.

Support the podcast on Patreon and check out my blog/newsletter here.

Pope Clement VII sells his soul to Emperor Charles V to get back Florence. Part of the bargain includes Clement essentially signing off on the death warrant of the Republic of Florence.

Lorenzo the Magnificent's granddaughter Clarice triggers a coup in Florence just by berating the man in charge. Meanwhile Pope Clement is driven to hide in a derelict palace in the mountains and receives an unwelcome visitor all the way from England.

The theme music is "La Disperata", composed by Vincenzo Ruffo (ca. 1510-1587) and performed by Jon Sayles.

Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com.

Support us at Patreon.

Pope Clement tries once more to loosen Emperor Charles V's grip on Italy, another revolution in Florence is narrowly avoided through one man's incompetence, and the stage is set for one of modern history's most notorious war-time atrocities.

Clement VII brings back the artistic glories of Renaissance Rome, but disaster for himself, his family, and for Rome looms overhead. 

The theme music is "La Disperata", composed by Vincenzo Ruffo (ca. 1510-1587) and performed by Jon Sayles.

Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com.

Support us at Patreon.

After Leo X's sudden death, the Medici are briefly out of power in the papacy. In the meantime, Emperor Charles V changes the landscape of European politics by getting elected as Holy Roman Emperor, and the fate of the Medici family is put in the hands of an orphaned, illegitimate son.

Check out images, maps, genealogies, and more at medicipodcast.com.

Support me on Patreon

While Pope Leo works with the artist Raphael toward the preservation of Roman antiquities and tries to steer Italy between the deadly rocks of France, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire, a little problem crops up to demand his attention. And that little problem had a name: Martin Luther. 

The theme music is "La Disperata", composed by Vincenzo Ruffo (ca. 1510-1587) and performed by Jon Sayles.

Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at the Medici Podcast website.

Support us at Patreon. 

A new Medici is born amidst tragedy, Pope Leo struggles with the threats posed by France, Spain, and the Holy Roman and Ottoman empires and a deadly conspiracy close to home, and an obscure monk and university lecturer in Germany starts to inspire a bit of controversy.