page_title: Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
section_title: Statesmanship
hierarchical_section_title: Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany / Statesmanship
context_page_description: Cosimo I de' Medici was the second Duke of Florence from 1537 until 1569, when he became the first Grand Duke of Tuscany, a title he held until his death.
context_section_description: Cosimo was an authoritarian ruler and secured his position by employing a guard of Swiss mercenaries. In 1548, he managed to have his relative Lorenzino, the last Medici claimant to Florence who had earlier arranged the assassination of Cosimo's predecessor Alessandro, assassinated himself in Venice.
  Cosimo also was an active builder of military structures, as a part of his attempt to save the Florentine state from the frequent passage of foreign armies. Examples include the new fortresses of Siena, Arezzo, Sansepolcro, the new walls of Pisa and Fivizzano and the strongholds of Portoferraio on the island of Elba and Terra del Sole.
  He laid heavy tax burdens on his subjects. Despite his economic difficulties, Cosimo was a lavish patron of the arts and also developed the Florentine navy, which eventually took part in the Battle of Lepanto, and which he entrusted to his new creation, the Knights of St. Stephen.
caption: Portrait bust from the workshop of Benvenuto Cellini, ca. 1550
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