| FLORENCE | Capital of Tuscany, once under the rule of the Medici family (8) |
| PRIVYSEAL | First employed by King John and once under the custody of the Keeper of the Wardrobe, a reigning monarch's personal stamp or cachet (5,4) |
| COSIMO | Forename of the banker depicted in portraits by his court painter Agnolo Bronzino who was the first member of the Medici family to rule Florence (6) |
| LEOX | Pope of the Medici family |
| REIGN | The rule of the downpour, we hear (5) |
| PLUTOCRACIES | States or governments characterised by the rule of the wealthy (12) |
| INFRINGE | Break the rules of the ring in fine mix-up (8) |
| POACHERS | People who break the rules of the game? |
| VICTORIA | Historical drama series about the early rule of the Empress of India |
| ALCINDOR | Player who was the inspiration for the NCAA no-dunk rule of the '60s-'70s |
| MORALIST | One sticking to ethical rules of the viva voce in obscurity (8) |
| BOTTICELLI | Florentine painter who worked for the Medici family throughout most of his life; his works include Primavera and a depiction of a goddess standing in a scallop shell in The Birth of Venus (10) |
| CANONLAW | Nail broken by unauthorised rules of the church (5,3) |
| LIPPI | Italian artist who was commissioned by the Medici family to create the panel paintings The Annunciat |
| FRANCISCAN | Member of a religious order founded under the rule of Francis of Assisi |
| COSMOPOLITAN | One of the Medici dropped one politician, losing half the Medici support for being so multicultural |
| SUBJECT | Any field of study or branch of learning; a person under the rule of a monarch; or, a musical theme (7) |
| THEGARDENOFEDEN | The garden of Sweden loses direction under the rule of Adam and Eve (3,6,2,4) |
| HOLYROMANEMPIRE | Complex of European countries under the rule of a Frankish or German king (4,5,6) |
| LEOXI | Pope from the Medici family |
