Pucci family

The Pucci family was a major political family in Florence.

The family surname derives from an ancestor named Jacopo, abbreviated to Jacopuccio, then to Puccio, who was considered wise and frequently called upon to settle disputes - there are records of two such interventions in 1264 and 1287. Their former surname seems to have been Saracini, which explains the presence of a maure or moor's head on their crest and coat of arms.

The first Pucci family members to be mentioned date to the 13th century with their subscribing to the Arte dei Legnaioli. These early members include Antonio Pucci, who worked as an architect on the construction of the Loggia della Signoria. His son Puccio Pucci was a merchant who became rich thanks to trade and financial activities in medieval Florence. The first Pucci residences were in the Santa Croce district of Florence, before they moved to that of the church of San Michele Visdomini. They were Guelphs and so they were expelled and their houses demolished after the battle of Montaperti in 1260, though they were soon able to return upon the Ghibellines' expulsion from the city. With wealth came political offices such as magistracies, priors and gonfalonieres - the Pucci family produced a total of 23 priors 8 holders of the post of confaloniere di giustizia.

Constant allies of the Medici during the Renaissance, the Pucci were among the families Cosimo de'Medici called upon as a means of indirectly pursuing his own political interests - trusted Medici allies from the Pucci family included Puccio Pucci, who provided Cosimo with money to improve his living conditions in prison whilst Cosimo was imprisoned prior to being exiled. In the early 16th century the Pucci family's prestige rose yet higher, with it producing three cardinals (Roberto, Lorenzo and Antonio Pucci) within a few decades of each other and continuing to be trusted figures in the Medici's ducal and then grand-ducal courts.

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