How Did the Medici Family Make Their Fortune?
In the 15th century, the Medici of Florence made a banking fortune. They survived both business crunch and exile. Thank you to their power in the church building – Medici popes ruled for almost twenty years – they succeeded in establishing themselves as dukes of their home urban center. The offset duke'due south half-sis became the queen of France, one of two Medici women to concur that title. Information technology was a stellar – if sometimes barbarous – rise. But how did they exercise it?
Cosimo de' Medici (afterward known as Cosimo the Elderberry) was, co-ordinate to Pope Pius 2, "king in all merely name" of Florence. This was non entirely a compliment: like Pius's abode city of Siena (a Tuscan rival), Florence was a republic; it should non have had a king. Cosimo was a banker, non a prince, though even Pius had to concede that Cosimo was "more cultured than merchants usually are".
Cosimo'south male parent, Giovanni, had made his money from the wool trade and banking. At the crossroads of the Mediterranean, linking the Silk Roads to the e with the routes to northern Europe, Italian republic was one of the wealthiest parts of the continent. The Medici were bankers to the popes, a lucrative business, and in their dwelling urban center they built an alliance with a group of prominent families (often cemented by marriages) that gave them control of the city regime.
Masters of Florence
Florence was not a democracy in the modern sense, merely its ruling councils were elected by a limited male person elite. Wives could and did exercise breezy influence, although they were expected to maintain a demure public contour.
The Medici did not always become their way. In 1433, opponents contrived to have Cosimo arrested, but as banker to the Republic of Venice and the duke of Ferrara he had influential friends. He evaded execution and was exiled instead, admitting not for long; when his supporters won elections the post-obit twelvemonth, Cosimo returned to ability. He used his wealth to patronise art, compages and cultural projects, commissioning a new palace for the family, bronze sculptures by Donatello and enabling the completion of the dome for the urban center's cathedral to the design of Filippo Brunelleschi.
Subsequently Cosimo's death in 1464, his son Piero de' Medici (Piero the Gouty) became head of the family. He survived an attempted insurrection but died in 1469, leaving his 20-twelvemonth-one-time son Lorenzo de' Medici in accuse. This Lorenzo came to be known as 'the Magnificent', although his ain dominion was not without serious challenges.
A second Piero succeeded in 1492. He proved a weaker ruler. In 1494, when war bankrupt out on the Italian peninsula and French troops marched s to assert an old merits to Naples, the Medici were again expelled from Florence, gaining Piero his nickname: 'the Unfortunate'. The family were left dependent on their ability base in Rome, where during 18 years of exile Piero's blood brother, Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici, rebuilt alliances.
In 1512, the Medici finally retook Florence with the assist of the Spanish. This was not a pretty business. Their troops sacked the nearby town of Prato, torturing, raping, and murdering not but rival soldiers merely women, children, and priests, "without the slightest pity". Fearing the same treatment, the Florentines surrendered.
In 1513, Cardinal Giovanni was elected Pope, taking the name Leo X. He was an important patron of the arts. Raphael painted a triple portrait of Pope Leo with his cousin Cardinal Giulio de' Medici and another relative, Luigi de' Rossi. Leo deputed Michelangelo to design a funerary chapel for the family. Information technology was needed.
The next years were far from easy. The Medici lost 2 heirs in quick succession: first Leo'due south brother Giuliano, then his nephew Lorenzo. Leo moved quickly to shore up his power in Rome, but no quantity of manoeuvring in the papal courtroom could solve the trouble that the Medici faced in 1519: they had no legitimate male person heir in the main line, but two illegitimate boys – Ippolito and Alessandro, both under 10 – and an infant girl called Catherine, who was excluded from the political structures of the Florentine Republic due to her sexual practice.
The Medici dukes of Florence
Ippolito, the son of a gentlewoman, was legitimised and promoted as a hereafter ruler. But after the Medici were exiled again in 1527, Ippolito'due south uncle Pope Cloudless VII (Leo'due south cousin Giulio de' Medici) opted to make him a cardinal. This meant that when the Medici regained power (over again with Spanish backing) it was Alessandro who became beginning ruler of the urban center and then in 1532 duke of Florence: the first of the Medici to hold that title.
Alessandro – whose mother was described equally "a slave" and "one-half-Negro" (she had probably worked in the Medici household) – was widely regarded every bit unsuitable to rule, simply he succeeded in winning the favour of the Holy Roman Emperor (and king of Spain) Charles Five, whose daughter Margaret he married in 1536.
This alliance with the emperor had an impact, also, on Henry Eight's 'Peachy Thing' – his attempts to secure a divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Pope Clement was reluctant to alienate his key ally by insisting that Catherine, who was Charles V'south aunt, agree to a divorce.
In 1537, Alessandro was assassinated by a distant cousin, Lorenzino, who claimed he wanted to restore a commonwealth; that, however, did not happen). Instead, another cousin, Cosimo, became duke of Florence. Over the form of a 37-year reign, Duke Cosimo congenital on Alessandro'south achievements. He conquered Siena, and was granted the title M Duke of Tuscany. Alessandro'southward half-sis, Catherine de' Medici, went on to exist the first of 2 Medici queens of French republic.
Like his predecessors, Cosimo ran a spectacular, cultured court. Italian mannerist Bronzino's portraits are testament to the glamour of the Florentine ruling family, while in the Palazzo Vecchio under the supervision of Giorgio Vasari, a series of frescoed rooms glorified the history of the Medici. Cosimo's successors likewise played host to a range of leading artists and thinkers, including Galileo Galilei, whom his son Ferdinando (and then far as he could) protected from the Inquisition, as well as Artemisia Gentileschi, who during the reign of Cosimo II became the outset adult female to join the Florentine University.
The Medici queens
Meanwhile, in France, Catherine de' Medici had become the single near powerful member of her line. She was married in 1533 to Henry, Knuckles of Orléans, the 2d son of the French rex Francis II. When Francis'due south heir died unexpectedly, Henry stood to inherit the crown – which he did in 1547, as Henry II, with Catherine becoming queen consort. When Henry died in 1559 post-obit a jousting blow, she became a central adviser to her sons.
Her Medici groundwork was not an asset: she was attacked for her mercantile origins and 'Machiavellian' courtiers. She was blamed for the St Bartholomew's 24-hour interval Massacre of 1572, in which leading Huguenots (Protestants) were killed, and which prompted a wave of religious violence across France. Nevertheless, she was not the only Medici queen of French republic: Marie de' Medici, wife of Henry Iv, as well held that title, and ruled the kingdom every bit regent following her hubby'due south assassination.
The Medici m dukes of the 17th century continued with the patronage of arts and sciences established by their forebears, but equally Europe's economic centre of gravity shifted towards its Atlantic ports they became relatively less influential. The main line of the dynasty ended in 1737 with the death of Gian Gastone. His sister Anna Maria Luisa left the family art collection to Florence, ensuring it stayed intact while other keen collections were split upwards and sold off.
Medici rulers in Florence, Rome and France – who is who?
Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (1360–1429)
Founder of the Medici Bank. Married Piccarda Bueri.
Cosimo de' Medici (1389–1464)
As well known as Cosimo the Elder, hailed past Pope Pius II equally 'king in all just name of Florence'. Married Contessina de' Bardi.
Piero de' Medici, 'the Gouty' (1416-1469)
Famous for his commission of the Gozzoli Chapel. Married Lucrezia Tornabuoni.
Lorenzo de' Medici, 'the Magnificent' (1449–1492)
Effective ruler of Florence from 1469. Married Roman noblewoman Clarice Orsini.
Piero de' Medici, 'the Unfortunate' (1472-1503)
Eldest son of Lorenzo. Expelled from Florence in 1494 after French invasion of Italy. Married Neapolitan noblewoman Alfonsina Orsini.
Pope Leo X aka Giovanni de' Medici , (1475-1521)
Second son of Lorenzo, elected pope in 1513.
Pope Clement VII aka Giulio de' Medici (1478-1534)
Illegitimate son of Lorenzo's blood brother Giuliano de' Medici. Elected pope in 1523.
Lorenzo de' Medici, Knuckles of Urbino (1492–1519)
Son of Piero 'the Unfortunate'. Married French heiress Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne.
Catherine de' Medici (1519–1589)
Only legitimate child of Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino. Married Henri, second son of the king of France. Queen of France from 1547.
Alessandro de' Medici (c1512-1537)
Illegitimate son of Lorenzo, knuckles of Urbino. First Medici duke of Florence (from 1532). Married Margaret (later known equally Margaret of Parma), illegitimate daughter of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
Cosimo I de' Medici (1519–1574)
Member of a junior branch of the family, succeeded equally duke following Alessandro's assassination. Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1569. Married Eleonora of Toledo, girl of the Viceroy of Naples.
Francesco I de' Medici (1541-1587)
Married Joanna of Austria, and after her decease at 31 his mistress Bianca Cappello, whose husband had been murdered, leading to rumours that the couple had contrived to dispose of their unwanted spouses.
Marie de' Medici (1573-1642)
Daughter of Francesco I, Marie was the second married woman of Henry Iv, king of France, and ruled as regent for her son following Henri'southward assassination.
Ferdinando I de' Medici (1549-1609)
Blood brother of Francesco I, Ferdinando initially became a cardinal, but did not take holy orders and succeeded as Thou Duke on his brother's expiry.
The afterwards Medici Chiliad Dukes
- Cosimo Two (r1609-1621)
- Ferdinando II (r1621-1670)
- Cosimo III (1670-1723)
- Gian Gastone (r1723-1737)
Medici Q&A: 9 huge questions almost the famous family unit, answered
Why are the Medici famous?
The Medici are famous as the ruling family of Florence from the 15th century through until early in the 18th. They made their money as bankers, and became extremely wealthy patrons of the arts. Gradually they shifted from having a leading role inside the city government to become the hereditary dukes of the urban center land of Florence, and then the Grand Dukes of Tuscany.
How did the Medici brand their money?
The Medici made their coin in the wool trade and cyberbanking. They imported wool from northern Europe – including from England and the Low Countries – to Florence, where they processed information technology into a very refined cloth. Alongside that trade, the Medici were bankers: they lent money to other people and hoped to get a large render on what they had lent out. This mercantile background wasn't always helpful to their reputation, because a lot of people were quite snobbish most merchants; trade was not an aristocratic affair to do.
How rich were the Medici?
They were on a level with today's billionaires – that's the kind of scale that we're looking at. When Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici died in 1429, he left an estimated fortune of 180,000 gold florins. He wasn't the richest human in Florence, merely he was getting there. The family unit very rapidly become 1 of the richest in Europe.
When and why did the Medici bank decline?
The Medici bank operated at a fourth dimension when there are no national banks, so it was lending money to other states and governments.
One their clients was Edward Iv of England during the Wars of the Roses. He was a bad risk, but considering he was a king, they couldn't turn him down, specially because he was too the person who had to agree to their wool exports. Edward didn't pay back his loans direct. Instead he gave the Medici's a reduction in their wool tariffs, only this wasn't the same equally actually having cash.
Past this point, the Medici bank had branches all over Europe, and a number of other factors came into play, including mismanagement at the branch in Bruges and wider economic problems. As such, over the grade of the 15th century the Medici became much more dependent on holding offices within the city of Florence – and the patronage possibilities this provided – rather than making their money privately as merchants.
How many Medici popes were there?
There were 2 major Medici popes in the early 1500s: Pope Leo X (Giovanni de' Medici), who was elected in 1513, and his cousin Clement Seven (Guilio de' Medici), who was in power from 1523–34.
Later on in the century in that location were a couple more. I was Pius 4, who was from a very distant co-operative of the Medici family unit in Milan rather than the main Florentine ruling family unit. So there was Leo Xi, a much closer relative, just he lasted less than a month as pope before he died.
How important were the Medici to the Renaissance?
Being magnificent was regarded equally a princely virtue, and the ruling families in all the Italian states at this time competed in magnificence via their patronage. This was very much role of showing off their honour, besides as the laurels of their state. If a family unit had aspirations towards nobility, and so they would want to host the best festivals, to patronise the all-time artists and and so on. For the Medici that included artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli and Michelangelo Buonarroti, and afterwards Artemisia Gentileschi, and scientists like Galileo.
Patronage also meant doing good works for your church. For a family like the Medici – who were involved in a sure amount of dubious political business besides as moneylending, which was still regarded as quite problematic for Christians – endowing your local chapel with gorgeous religious art and educating people who weren't literate near the stories of the Bible was i way of apologetic for your sins.
Were the Medici corrupt?
In the 15th century the Medici admittedly had their hands in the till in terms of the Florentine state. Before they were officially the hereditary rulers of the city, they were borrowing money from the government to fund their own lifestyle.
Over decades the Medici gradually took over the state. Along with allied families, they increasingly manipulated the governing structures by setting up emergency committees and then policing who could be elected to them. They began to appropriate more than and more than state power for themselves.
Were the Medici every bit bad as the Borgias – or did they do good from better PR?
It's quite hard to describe a line. Where the Medici had an advantage over the Borgias is that they weren't strange; the Borgias were somewhat stigmatised on the ground of being from Spain. In turn, Spain was stigmatised as being dwelling house to a lot of Jews and Muslims, and the Borgias were alleged to exist besides favourable to Jewish people. The Borgias also failed to establish themselves in a state, whereas the Medici succeeded – despite making themselves quite unpopular along the way.
More than successful than either of them were the Farnese, who came to power much more than discreetly and made themselves Dukes of Parma and Piacenza. Nosotros don't talk nigh them much at present: they're not as famous because they never became embroiled in controversy in the same fashion the Borgias or Medici did.
What happened to the Medici? Do the Medici however exist?
The Medici continued to rule in Florence until they ran out of legitimate heirs in the main 2 lines of the family. At that signal, in 1737, a junior line of the family tried to make a claim, but they weren't regarded every bit legitimate plenty to take over. This branch of the Medicis however exists today.
Catherine Fletcher is a historian of Renaissance and early modernistic Europe. Her latest book is The Beauty and the Terror: An Alternative History of the Italian Renaissance (Bodley Caput, 2020). You can too listen to her hash out the Medici in more particular in this episode of the HistoryExtra podcast
This content was first published by HistoryExtra in 2021
Source: https://www.historyextra.com/period/renaissance/medici-family-florence-why-famous-bankers-princes-popes-grand-dukes-tuscany/
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