SU Hosts 'Medici' Film Series Screening in September and October

SALISBURY, MD---Power, wealth and violence — that’s the story of the Medici empire, the most influential family in the Italian Renaissance.

As part of its fall cultural events series, “Europe Old and New,” Salisbury University explores the family’s vast influence with a showing of the four-part PBS documentary Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance, Mondays in September and October. Screenings are 7 p.m. in the Great Hall of Holloway Hall.

 September 22: The series begins with Birth of a Dynasty. The first episode is set in 1400. This was the year the Medici family gained control of a bank in Florence, and its financial empire spread throughout Europe.

September 29: The Magnificent Medici, the second film, tells the story of Lorenzo de’Medici, the heir and future ruler of the dynasty. In 1466, Lorenzo, at 17, prevented his father’s murder and an attempted coup d’etat. At the age of 20, he gained power of the Medici dynasty, still the most influential family in Florence.

 October 13: The third part, The Medici Popes, starts at the beginning of the 16th century when the Medici had lost its reign in Florence. Nevertheless, Giulio de’Medici, a priest, and his cousin Giovanni, a cardinal, were determined to restore the strength of their dynasty.

October 27: In Power vs. Truth, the final film in the series, the ambitious 17-year-old Cosimo de’Medici replaces his cousin as Duke of Florence after the reigning duke’s murder in 1537. With the help of his Spanish wife’s army, Cosimo conquered neighboring lands, though the reign of the Medici family eventually faded.

Sponsored by the Cultural Affairs Office, admission is free and the public is invited. For more information call 410-543-6271 or visit the SU website at www.salisbury.edu.