Lorenzo carried on every good work of his father and grandfather (he spent L65,000 a year in books alone) and was as jealous of Florentine interests; but he was also "The Magnificent," and in that lay the peril.

Florence could do with wealth and power, but magnificence went to her head.
Lorenzo died in 1492, leaving three sons, of whom the eldest, Piero (1471-1503), succeeded him.

Never was such a decadence.

In a moment the Medici prestige, which had been steadily growing under Cosimo, Piero, and Lorenzo until it was world famous, crumbled to dust.

Piero was a coarse-minded, pleasure-loving youth--"The Headstrong" his father had called him--whose one idea of power was to be sensual and tyrannical; and the enemies of Florence and of Italy took advantage of this fact.