Somme tider overgår virkeligheden altså fantasien. Da jeg i onsdags skrev min rablende historie om en fyr, der påstod, at han var en direkte efterkommer af den gamle Cosimo I, kaldet den ældre, var jeg overbevist om at han ikke havde nogle levende efterkommere.
Det er da også rigtigt, hvis vi ser på direkte mandlige efterkommere, sådan som fyrstelige slægter regnes. Men kvindelige efterkommere er der altså maser af, deriblandt de engelske prinser (via Diana) den spanske kongefamilie, kort sagt de fleste katolske fyrste- og kongeslægter i Europa.
Og hvis vi går et par generationer tilbage fra Cosimo I, så er der via sidegrene, altså yngre brødre, stadig levende direkte efterkommere efter Medicierne.
Der er oven i købet mindst to, der hedder Lorenzo de' Medici! En er en ægte prins, der opfører sig sådan, men med sin lyse hud og blågrå øjne ligner han ikke spor min opfundne prins. Prins Lorenzo de' Medici.
Den anden er historiker, også nedstammende fra en sidegren. Og han ligner den ægte vare: Lorenzo de' Medici. Prøv i tankerne at lade hans hår vokse ud og stik ham i en renæssancedragt. Så ligner han Cosimos barnebarn på en prik.
Men jeg behøver vel ikke at sige, at min Lorenzo de' Medici ene og alene er et foster af min fantasi.
Det er da også rigtigt, hvis vi ser på direkte mandlige efterkommere, sådan som fyrstelige slægter regnes. Men kvindelige efterkommere er der altså maser af, deriblandt de engelske prinser (via Diana) den spanske kongefamilie, kort sagt de fleste katolske fyrste- og kongeslægter i Europa.
Og hvis vi går et par generationer tilbage fra Cosimo I, så er der via sidegrene, altså yngre brødre, stadig levende direkte efterkommere efter Medicierne.
Der er oven i købet mindst to, der hedder Lorenzo de' Medici! En er en ægte prins, der opfører sig sådan, men med sin lyse hud og blågrå øjne ligner han ikke spor min opfundne prins. Prins Lorenzo de' Medici.
Den anden er historiker, også nedstammende fra en sidegren. Og han ligner den ægte vare: Lorenzo de' Medici. Prøv i tankerne at lade hans hår vokse ud og stik ham i en renæssancedragt. Så ligner han Cosimos barnebarn på en prik.
Men jeg behøver vel ikke at sige, at min Lorenzo de' Medici ene og alene er et foster af min fantasi.
Lorenzo il Magnifico (1449 - 1492)
Barnebarn af Cosimo den Ældre (1389 - 1464)
Grandson of Cosimo the Elder (1389 - 1464)
Barnebarn af Cosimo den Ældre (1389 - 1464)
Grandson of Cosimo the Elder (1389 - 1464)
Sometimes reality surpasses imagination. As it happened to me.
I was right only in so far that that there is no direct male heir of the old Cosimo I, called the Elder. But via female lines ... Medici descendants abound - among those the English princes.
And if we go back a few generations from Cosimo the Elder, cadet branches of the Medicis exist and still have male heirs, among those at least two called Lorenzo de' Medici.
One is an honest to God, live and kicking Prince Lorenzo de' Medici, who with his blond hair and blue eyes looks nothing like my Lorenzo: Prince Lorenzo de' Medici.
The other is a historian, also a descendant via a cadet branch: Lorenzo de' Medici, who totally looks the part. Try growing his hair longer and put him in Renaissance clothes. And you'll have a spitting image of Lorenzo il Magnifico, grandson of Cosimo I.
But it goes almost without saying that my self acclaimed Prince Lorenzo de' Medici is none of these two, actually he's wholly and totally a figment of my imagination.
I was right only in so far that that there is no direct male heir of the old Cosimo I, called the Elder. But via female lines ... Medici descendants abound - among those the English princes.
And if we go back a few generations from Cosimo the Elder, cadet branches of the Medicis exist and still have male heirs, among those at least two called Lorenzo de' Medici.
One is an honest to God, live and kicking Prince Lorenzo de' Medici, who with his blond hair and blue eyes looks nothing like my Lorenzo: Prince Lorenzo de' Medici.
The other is a historian, also a descendant via a cadet branch: Lorenzo de' Medici, who totally looks the part. Try growing his hair longer and put him in Renaissance clothes. And you'll have a spitting image of Lorenzo il Magnifico, grandson of Cosimo I.
But it goes almost without saying that my self acclaimed Prince Lorenzo de' Medici is none of these two, actually he's wholly and totally a figment of my imagination.
It is a small world after all...
SvarSletYes it is. I often think I have met a person with a unique name, I look up him or her in the directory, ant there's almost always more than one. I even found a Norwegian lady called almost the same as me!
SletFascinating. Thank you for tracing this out.
SvarSletI had to, and as I told in the comments on the library, these people (Cosimo III and those, I mean, not the contemporary ones) are "friends of friends" to me ;)
SletI SO love following family lines!
SvarSletYes that's fun. I tried following my own, but as my ancestors were not counts or suchlike, but smallholders and labourers it quickly became impossible to trace them further back. I made it back to 1776 in one line (my maternal great-great-great-great-grandfather), who was a smith in southern Zealand.
Slet