Peruzzi de Medici

Villa I Busini owners from 1776 until 1935

Villa I Busini was intertwined with the most powerful families of Pre-Renaissance and Renaissance Florence.  

After a 300 year ownership legacy by the Busini family, Villa I Busini fell into the hands of the dei Medici family in 1776. 

To fully understand the relationship between these two families, and grasp the magnitude of their impact on Renaissance Florence, we need to go back in time and begin with the Peruzzi family.

The Peruzzi’s were a Florentine family, dating back to the 11th century. They came to prominence as bankers in about 1275 and owned branches in Europe’s most important epicenters. Second in importance to the Bardi banking family, the Peruzzi family were among the leading Florentine families in the 14th century, before the Medici’s rise to prominence.

During their time, the Peruzzi family included 10 gonfalonieri (high civic magistrates) and 54 priors in the Signoria (the governing body of Florence). Like the Busini family, they resided in the most exclusive section (under the Black Lion flag, Il Gonfalone Del Lion Nero), in the elegant Santa Croce quarter of Florence, and built a number of palaces and towers in the city that still bear their name. The Piazza Peruzzi, where the basilica houses the Peruzzi family chapel decorated with frescoes by Giotto (one of their patrons in the early 1300s), lies just a few steps from the Piazza Santa Croce. The Palazzo Peruzzi was also erected during this time.

As close friends of Dante Alighieri, the Peruzzi family were mentioned in Dante’s Divine Comedy masterpiece, Volume III Paradiso Canto XVI, as shown in the excerpt below:

nel picciol cerchio s’entrava per porta
che si nomava da quei de la Pera.

This inscription can be seen in Florence and above the main entrance of Villa I Busini. It translates to:

One entered the small circuit by a gate
Which from the Pear took its name.

The name Peruzzi originates from the Italian world pera, meaning pears, which is why pears are evident in the family crest.             

During the Hundred Years War conflicts between England and France over succession to the French throne (1337—1453), the Peruzzi family made large loans to Edward III of England, first together with the Bardi family, and later by themselves. They financed his wars in return for grants of money, wool, and assignment of customs and taxes, but the King of England failed to repay his debt, which led to the declaration of bankruptcy and collapse of both the Bardi and Peruzzi families’ banks in 1345.   

Florence, however, did not lose out as a result of the noble families' bankruptcy. Young Cosimo di Medici (later known as Il Vecchio) who was the second generation of an up and coming  banking family in Florence and considered nouveau riche at the time, was able to win Contessina de Bardi’s hand in marriage. This was a highly unlikely unity and was only made possible by for the Bardi family’s reduced circumstances.

Cosimo and Contessina began the Medici family reign in Florence, which continued for approximately 300 years. 

At the end of the 18th century the Peruzzi and Medici families joined forces as a result of the marriage between Bindo Simone (1729-1794) and Anna Maria Luigia (daughter of Averardo di Pietro Paolo de 'Medici’). 

Averardo di Pietro Paolo de 'Medici was the last direct Medici heir. One of his grandchildren, Giovani Battista (1784-1825) was declared in the codicil of Anna Maria Luisa, sister of Gian Gastone and last Grand Duke Medici as "the closest of his agnates".
In 1776 the family became the owners of Villa I Busini.

In 1895, Ridolfo di Giovani Battista Peruzzi (1831-1905) was authorized to assume the title of "marquis de 'Medici.” Claiming that the Peruzzi name was equal if not more powerful than the Medici name, he did not use the Medici name.

It was Simone Peruzzi de Medici, brother of Ridolfo, who while serving as chamberlain to King Umberto was requested by the King to add the Medici name to the family name. Simone became the owner of the Villa in 1846 and went on to marry the jet setter Edith Story, the daughter of the famous American sculptor, William Wetmore Story and granddaughter to Justice Story of the US Supreme court.

His title and Medici name came with a new Coat of Arms which still adorns Villa I Busini today. The first Peruzzi Coat of Arms was blue with six gold pears and green leaves, while the second featured six balls in a belt, three of which had a head of blue with golden lilies and the other three were in red with the motto Felix conjunction.

With Edith at his side, the couple participated in the grand court life at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, and at the Pitti Palace in Florence, whenever the court traveled north. As a close courtier to Queen Margherita Edith found herself at the epicenter of European majesty and was endowed with fine jewels.

Edith later gave birth to two sons, Bindo and Ridolfo, and two daughters Maria and Margherita . Her second daughter Margherita was named, by Queen Margherita herself who was also her godmother.

Their first son, Bindo, who was the glamorous godson of King Umberto and widely considered the most eligible Florentine bachelor of the time, tragically committed suicide after a lengthy court trial where he was accused of having had an affair with another young soldier. His funeral on April 4, 1907 was attended by the nobility of Florence and Bindo was buried in the Peruzzi de Medici chapel at Villa I Busini.