Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book investigates when, how, and why certain women members of the Medici family were able to utilise power and influence, and sometimes even authority, in fifteenth and early sixteenth century Florence and how that exercise of power was viewed and represented by contemporaries and near contemporaries. It also investigates their continuous and changing contribution to the character, development and strengthening of the Medici regime over the course of the century between republican and ducal rule in Florence. The book suggests that the Medici women's patronage of culture provided a further opportunity for them to exert much power and influence through their choice of patronage projects. It explores the continuities and changes over time of the Medici women's power and its relationship to the power and authority of the Medici regime between 1434 and 1537.