Alfonsina Orsini

Alfonsina Orsini was a regent of Florence. She governed the Republic of Florence during the absences of her son, Lorenzo II de' Medici, in the period of 1515–1519. Her rule was feared as a sign of the end of republican government there. She was born from a noble family and raised in the royal court of Naples. She was the wife of Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici from 1488, the mother of Lorenzo II de' Medici and two daughters. She helped restore the Medicis to power after they had been exiled, worked to secure a French royal marriage for her son, and was also influential at the court of Pope Leo X, her brother-in-law.