CHAPTER I.

PIERO DE’ MEDICI, HIS RELATIONS AND FRIENDS. Piero de’ Medici and his Family—Lucrezia Tornabuoni de’ Medici—Lorenzo de’ Medici—Lorenzo’s Education—Gentile de’ Becchi of Urbino—His Youthful Years and Dispositions—Giuliano de’ Medici—Bianca de’ Medici Pazzi—The Family of Pazzi—Andrea, Piero, Jacopo de’ Pazzi and their Relatives—Nannina de’ Medici Rucellai—The Rucellai—Giovanni and his Son Bernardo—The Soderini—Lorenzo Soderini and his Sons Niccolò and Tommaso …