The name Medici is virtually synonymous with the Renaissance; no other family had such a profound influence on the development of Western culture. From the fourteenth to the eighteenth century the Medici family dominated the European stage. The evolution of the Medici villas, from defensive farms through humanist retreats to princely palaces, charts the rise of a family from humble farmers to European royalty. The Medici’s Tuscan villas can be divided into three major styles. From 1350 to 1490, the early humanist villas were simply medieval castles, hunting lodges or fortified farmhouse, restored and expanded to make them more suitable to urban tastes. From 1490 to 1530 in the period known as the high Renaissance, the villa evolved from a spiritual retreat to a worldlier place of scholarship and entertainment. Having reached the limits of rationality and order, in the late Renaissance period, from 1530 to 1650, the Medici villas exhibit a renewed interest in nature.