Medici dynasty was built on his fortune
Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici, who created the wealth upon which the Medici dynasty of Renaissance Italy was built, died on this day in 1429 in Florence.
Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici; this portrait by
Alessandro Allori hangs in the Uffizi in Florence
Although Cosimo de’ Medici, his son, is regarded as the founder of the dynasty as the first Medici to rule Florence, it was the fortune that Cosimo inherited from his father that enabled him to command power and influence in the city. The Medici family would rule Florence, barring a few interruptions, for the next 300 years.
Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici founded the Medici Bank in 1397 and at the time of his death was one of the wealthiest men in Europe. Although he had another son who survived to be an adult, Lorenzo, the bulk of his fortune passed to Cosimo.
Born in Florence, it is thought in 1360, he was the son of Averardo de’ Medici and Jacopa Spini. Bicci was Averardo’s nickname.
Averardo, a wool merchant, died comfortably off, but not wealthy. His estate was divided between his five sons and Giovanni’s share was relatively small, compelling him to build his fortune through skill and opportunity rather than inheritance.
Giovanni's uncle, Vieri, on the other hand, was rich. From another branch of the Medici family, he owned one of the 70-plus banks thought to have existed in Florence in the second half of the 14th century and was good at his business, much of which involved loans and investments.
Vieri took the young De’ Medici on and supervised his rise through the ranks, being sufficiently impressed with the speed at which he learned that he made him a junior partner of the bank’s branch in Rome. In 1385, thanks to a dowry of 1500 florins that his wife, a noblewoman called Piccarda Bueri, brought to their marriage, he was able to take control of the Rome branch. The branch grew and when Vieri retired, in 1393, he decided to place De’ Medici in charge of the entire business.
In 1397, De’ Medici moved from Rome to Florence and opened the Medici Bank, establishing a headquarters at the crossroads between Via Porta Rossa and Via Calimala in an area of the city called Orsanmichele, a short distance from Piazza della Signoria.
.jpg "Giovanni's son, Cosimo, built the Medici powerbase on the bank's success") |
| Giovanni's son, Cosimo, built the Medici powerbase on the bank's success |
Under his leadership, the structure of the bank was revised in a way that meant that it functioned as a collection of partnerships, rather than having a central structure. This meant that if one branch suffered a loss, the impact on the bank as a whole would be less. In this way, the Medici Bank enjoyed financial resilience that other institutions lacked.
Giovanni was not an overtly political operator but had a knack for forming advantageous friendships, the most successful of all being the relationship he forged with the Catholic Church during his time in Rome.
His decision to align himself with Baldassarre Cossa, a cardinal who would become the Antipope John XXIII during the Western Schism. In return for support from the Medici Bank, Cossa appointed them as managers of the papal treasury, a lucrative privilege that earned the bank a substantial amount in commissions.
Although Cossa was deposed after five years, Giovanni had by then foreseen the return of the papacy to Rome and found favour with Oddone Colonna, who as Pope Martin V maintained the Medici as papal bankers.
At the same time, he honoured Baldassare Cossa’s trust in him by paying a 38,000 ducat ransom to secure his release from prison in Germany. When Cossa died in 1419, Giovanni sponsored the construction of a magnificent tomb for him in the Florence Baptistery.
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| The Old Sacristy, a Brunelleschi masterpiece, where Giovanni de' Medici is buried |
Through all this, Giovanni De’ Medici diligently protected the image he liked to portray as a humble businessman rather than a political figure. He insisted that he and his sons rejected the finery they could easily have afforded in favour of dressing like ordinary Florentines. He always believed that keeping on the side of the people would serve the family well.
As an example, when Florence was hit by a serious outbreak of plague in 1417, Giovanni made substantial funds available to help the sick. He also used his considerable influence within the Signoria, Florence’s ruling council, to replace the city’s inequitable and oppressive poll tax with a new property tax he had designed himself that shifted the burden of tax to the wealthy, even at considerable cost to himself.
The Medici’s long tradition of patronage of the arts can also be attributed to a large degree to the example set by Giovanni, who made large donations to the work of artists such as Filippo Brunelleschi and Jacopo della Quercia.
Most notably, he commissioned the great Florentine architect Brunelleschi, famous for the colossal dome of Florence’s duomo, to renovate the ancient Basilica of San Lorenzo, destined to become the church of the Medici family.
The Old Sacristy in the basilica is regarded as among Brunelleschi’s masterpieces - and of early Renaissance architecture in general. Donatello also contributed significant sculptural work to the project.
The structure was completed in 1428, a year before Giovanni died. As per his wishes, Giovanni De’ Medici was buried in the Old Sacristy. His wife was buried with him after her death four years later.
De’ Medici was thought to be 69 at the time of his death. Though less flamboyant than some of his descendants, his achievements were foundational. By establishing the Medici Bank and securing the family’s early fortunes, he set in motion a dynasty that would shape European history for centuries.
Travel tip:.jpg "The Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence became the family church of the Medici dynasty")
The Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence became
the family church of the Medici dynasty
The Basilica di San Lorenzo, the burial place of the principal members of the Medici family, is one of the largest churches in Florence, situated in the middle of the market district in Piazza di San Lorenzo. Filippo Brunelleschi was commissioned to design a new building in 1419 to replace the original 11th century Romanesque church on the site but the new church was not completed until after his death. It is considered one of the greatest examples of Renaissance architecture. Numerous architects worked at the church, including Michelangelo. Brunelleschi designed the central nave, with the two collateral naves on either side, and the Old Sacristy. The sacristy chapel is a cube with a lateral length of about 11 metres (36 feet), covered with a hemispheric dome, that is without any decoration beside its twelve ribs that converge in an oculus. The interior became a standard in Renaissance architecture, as did Brunelleschi’s use of white walls.
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Travel tip:
The beautiful Florence Baptistery, featuring
Ghiberti's 'Gates of Paradise' is a city landmark
The Florence Baptistery, where Giovanni De’ Medici commissioned a tomb for Baldassare Costa, is also known as the Baptistery of Saint John, dedicated to the patron saint of the city, John the Baptist. The octagonal baptistery stands where Piazza del Duomo meets Piazza San GThe architecture of the Baptistery takes inspiration from the Pantheon, an ancient Roman temple, yet it is also a highly original artistic achievement, although the identity of the architects who worked on its construction in the 11th and 12th century is undocumented. What is known is that the North Doors and the famous East Doors - dubbed the Gates of Paradise and widely regarded as a masterpiece of Renaissance art - were constructed in the 15th century by the sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti. The project was awarded to Ghiberti after he entered a competition for designs in which the judges were unable to decide between his submission and that of Filippo Brunelleschi, with whom he might have shared the commission had the latter not refused.
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More reading:
The colourful life of Baldassare Cossa
Why Cosimo di Giovanni de’ Medici is seen as the founder of the Medici dynasty
The architectural genius of Filippo Brunelleschi
Also on this day:
1549: The birth of Francesco Maria II della Rovere
1778: The death of scientist Laura Bassi
1816: Rossini’s Barber of Seville premieres
1950: The birth of journalist Pino Aprile
1993: The death of car maker Ferruccio Lamborghini