The Grand Ducal Medici and the Levant
Subtitle: material culture, diplomacy, and imagery in the early modern Mediterranean
By: edited by Maurizio Arfaioli, Marta Caroscio
Contributors: Medici Archive Project
Series: The Medici Archive Project series -- 3; Medici Archive Project series -- 3.
Publisher: Harvey Miller Publishers
Published: 2016
Place of publication: Turnhout
Language: eng; ita
Number of pages: 186
ISBN-13: 9781909400368
Subjects: Congresses; History; Civilization; Roman influences
Description: This volume addresses the major themes that marked the complex relations between the Medici Grand Dukes and the Levant. For over two centuries (1532-1737), the Medici, as Dukes of Florence and Grand Dukes of Tuscany, ruled over a western Mediterranean state, which had a mainly European geopolitical sphere of influence. However, the transformation of the House of Medici, from republican "primi interpares" of Quattrocento Florence to dynastic rulers, occurred at the same moment when the Ottoman Empire rose to the rank of early modern superpower, polarizing Mediterranean politics. The Italian Peninsula became the arena where the cultural forces of the eastern and western Mediterranean converged. As a result, from the early days of their rule, the Medici Grand Dukes became enmeshed in a power dynamic which encompassed war, religion, diplomacy, and economic interests. This collection of essays addresses these very themes and sheds new light on key aspects of the complex relationships between the Medici Grand Dukes and the Levant.
Notes: Proceedings of a conference, "I Medicie e il Levante: culture e dialoghi tra Firenze e il Mediterraneo orinetale (1532-1743), June 2013.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 175-177) and indexes.

Contributions in English and Italian.