11 
MED 
only twenty-fix years of age. The Florentines derived no 
advantage from this crime of Laurence ; for they failed in 
their attempt to recover their liberty. The party of the 
Medicis prevailed, and Alexander was fucceeded by 
Cofmo; whofe government, it muff: be confefted, was as 
juft and moderate as that of his predecefi'or had been vio¬ 
lent and tyrannical. Laurence de Medici fled to Venice; 
but, not thinking himfelf in fufficient fecurity, he went to 
Conftantinople, whence he returned fome time after to 
Venice. He was there aflaflinated in 154.7, ten years after 
the duke’s murder, by two foldiers, one of whom had for¬ 
merly been in Alexander’s guards; and thefe foldiers 
■were generous enough to refuie a confiderable futn of mo¬ 
ney, which w-as the price put upon his head. 
MED'ICI (Cofmo de), fecond duke of Florence, and 
fir ft grand duke of Tufcany, was the fon of John de 
Medici, and was born in 1519. On the afl'aflination of 
Alexander, he took fuch meafures as caufed himfelf to 
be unanimoufiy elected chief of the republic. A party, 
headed by fome perfons of high rank, was formed againft 
him ; but Cofmo was fupported by the power of Charles V. 
and firmly fixed on his throne. To lirengthen his hands, 
lie married Eleanora de Toledo, daughter of the viceroy 
of Naples. In 1555 the Siennefe revolted from the em¬ 
peror; the malcontents were afiifted by France, but 
Cofmo joined the Imperialifts,and triumphed over all op- 
pofltion. Sienna furrendered to his power, and with the 
adjoining diftrifl was annexed to the Florentine domi¬ 
nions. He inftituted the military order of the knights 
of St. Stephen for the defence of the coaft, and allotted 
to them a palace at Pifa. See the article Knighthood, 
vol. x. p. 815. Confpiracies were formed againft him by 
the high-fpirited Florentines; but he rendered himfelf fu- 
perior in every ftruggle for power. In his own family, 
however, he was one of the rnoft unfortunate of fovereigns. 
He had a numerous offspring ; but the fate of his two ions 
John and Garcia was truly tragical. The elder, John, at 
the age of 17, was railed to the dignity of cardinal. Gar¬ 
cia then but 15, jealous, probably, of the high honours 
conferred on his brother, and poffefling a malignant dif- 
pofltion, took an opportunity, while on a hunting-party, 
to flab him to the heart; after which he joined the reft 
of the company with an air of perfect tranquillity. The 
dead body was foon difcovered, and the death of the youth 
was ordered by the duke to be attributed to apoplexy. 
He was, however, too wary to be deceived himfelf, well 
knowing by whom the bloody deed was done. Sending 
for Garcia, he charged him with the crime, which, though 
at firft he denied in the rnoft peremptory manner, he at 
length confeffed. The unhappy father, armed with arbi¬ 
trary power, commanded his fon to prepare for the pu- 
nifhment which he deferved, and, almoft at the fame in- 
ftant, fnatching Garcia’s dagger, the inftrument of his 
guilt, he plunged it into the criminal’s bofom, and laid 
him dead by the corpfe of his brother. Their mother 
furvived the lofs of herfonsafew days only. Cofmo en¬ 
joyed the fupreme power during a period of thirty-eight 
years, and died in 1574, aged 55. The magnificence of 
his difpofition, which has been greatly and juftly cele¬ 
brated, (bowed that he merited the crown which he wore. 
He is fignalized as an encourager of letters and the fine 
arts. ■ tie reftored the univerfity of Pifa, invited to it pro- 
feflors of the firft talents, and founded in it a new college 
for the education of forty (Indents. Cofmo was the 
founder of the Florentine Academy; made great addi¬ 
tions to the Laurentian library, and laid the foundation 
of the famous gallery of Florence, at the fame time furnifh- 
ing it with the reliques of antiquity, and the rnoft precious 
works of art. By the encouragement which he offered, 
the molt celebrated artifts in every line crowded to his 
capital; here they were fure of employment, and of re¬ 
wards proportioned to their merit. He engaged theableft 
printers in the publications of important works. He pro¬ 
moted the fciences of aftronomy and navigation ; and en- 
souraged the arts of agriculture and medicine, which be- 
M E D 
gan to be ftudied on general principles; and at Florence 
and Pifa he laid out botanical gardens, and expended 
large fums in the profecution of his plans. His own time 
was fpent in the rnoft ufeful and liberal fhidies, for which 
he had a great tafte. In confideration of his munificence 
as a prince and patron of learning and learned men, he 
was, in 1569, created by pope Pius V. “Grand Duke of 
Tufcany,’’a title which he conferred with his own hands. 
To this innovation leveral of the powers of Europe ob¬ 
jected at firft, though, in a fhort time, they all acquiefted 
in it; and the honour defcended to the fucceflors of Cof¬ 
mo, in common with their other titles. 
MEDI'CIN ABLE, adj. [ jnedicvnalis , Lat.] Having the 
power of phyiic.—Accept a bottle made of a ferpen- 
tine ftone, which gives any wine infufed therein for four- 
and-twenty hours the tafte and operation of the Spa-wa¬ 
ter, and is very medicinable for the cure of the ipieen. 
Wot ton. 
MEDICI'NAL, adj. [commonly pronounced medicinal, 
w ith the accent on the fecond Fyliable ; but more pro¬ 
perly, and more agreeably to the bed authorities, medici¬ 
nal.] Having the power of healing ; having phy (ical virtue ; 
Come then with words as med'cinal as true, 
Honeft as either; to purge him of that humour 
That preffes him from deep. Shakefp. Winters Tale , 
Dire inflammation, which no cooling herb 
Nor medicinal liquor can afTuage. Milton's Agonif.cs. 
The fecond caufes took the fwift command. 
The medicinal head, the ready hand ; 
All but eternal doom was conquer’d by their art. Dryden. 
Belonging tophyfic : 
Medicinal hours are thofe wherein it is fuppofed that me¬ 
dicines may be taken, commonly reckoned the morning 
falling, about an hour before dinner, and going on bed 5 
but times are to be governed by the fymptoms and aggra¬ 
vation of the diftemper. Quincy, 
Learn’d he was in med'cinal lore, 
For by his fide a pouch he wore, 
Replete with ftrange hermetic powder, 
That wounds nine miles point-blank with folder. Butler, 
MEDI'CIN ALLY, adv. Phyfically : 
The witnefles that leech-like liv’d on blood. 
Sucking for them were med'dually good. Dryden. 
MED'ICINE, [ [ medicine , Fr. medicina, Lat. It is ge¬ 
nerally pronounced as if only of two fyllables, med'eine .] 
Phyfic ; any remedy adminiftered by a phyfician.—A 
merry heart doth good like a medicine ; but a broken (pint 
drieth the bones. Prov. xvii. 22. 
I wifh to die, yet dare not death endure; 
Detefl the med'eine , yet delire the cure. Dryden. 
For the hiftory of difeafes and their cure, which is com¬ 
monly called the fcience of Medicine, fee the article Pa¬ 
thology. 
To MED'ICINE, v. a. To operate as phyfic. Not ufed. 
Not all the drowfy fyrups of the world 
Shall ever med'eine thee to that fweet lleep 
Which thou owedll yefterday. Skakfpeare. 
MEDI'EDNIK, a mountain of Bofnia : ten miles north 
of Zwornik. 
ME'DIES,or MED'ciES,a town of Tranfylvania : twen¬ 
ty miles north of Hennanltadt, and 156 north-ealt of Bel¬ 
grade. Lat. 46. 20. N. Ion. 23. 58. E. 
ME'DIES, a town of Hungary: ten miles north of 
Zatmar. 
MEDIE'TAS LIN'GUiE. A jury de medictale lingua, 
fignifies a jury or inqueft impanelled, whereof the one half 
confifts of natives, and the other foreigners ; and is uled 
in pleas wherein the one party is a foreigner, the other 3 
denizen. This manner of trial was firft given by the (fat. 
28 Ed. III. c. 13. before which, it was obtained byths 
king’s 
