The fourth, Luisa, had been betrothed to her distant cousin, Giovanni de' Medici; but the match was broken off, and she remained unmarried.
Piero now occupied that position of eminence and semi-despotic authority in Florence which his father and grandfather had held; but he was made of different stuff, both mentally and physically.

The Orsini blood, which he inherited from his mother, mixed but ill in his veins with that of Florentine citizens and bankers.

Following the proud and insolent traditions of his maternal ancestors, he began to discard the mask of civil urbanity with which Cosimo and Lorenzo had concealed their despotism.

He treated the republic as though it were his own property, and prepared for the coming disasters of his race by the overbearing arrogance of his behaviour.

Physically, he was powerful, tall, and active; fond of field-sports, and one of the best pallone-players of his time in Italy.