The Medici had two popes and two dukes, before becoming dukes of Florence. In this video lecture, Marcello Simonetta provides an overview of their spectacular successes and failures and traces the evolution of Medici royalty.

Marcello Simonetta earned his Ph.D. at Yale University. He has taught for several years in the US and in France. He currently lives in Florence where he is a senior fellow of The Medici Archive Project. He is the author of ten books. His Montefeltro Conspiracy (Doubleday 2008) has been translated into ten languages.