Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici founded the Medici bank in 1397 after splitting from his nephew to establish a bank branch in Florence. As the new bank grew and expanded, so did the wealth and power of the Medici family. When Cosimo il Vecchio de’ Medici, Giovanni’s son, took over the banking business in 1434, the increasing economic power of the Medici family allowed them to establish themselves as effective rulers of Florence while keeping the republican system of government nominally intact. The bank provided the Medici family a combination of economic and political power that facilitated the stability of Medici rule. Thus, the failure of the Medici bank during the reign of Lorenzo il Magnifico was key to the collapse of the Medici family’s power in Renaissance Florence because of the vital role that the bank played in the family’s ability to control the city. The power, prestige, and wealth of the Medici bank allowed the Medici family to obtain their power in Florence in the first place. Though the Medici also participated in the Florentine cloth trade, it was the immense wealth of the bank, and thus the family’s immense personal wealth, that formed the substance of Medici power in Florence. As the bank expanded to include branches in Venice, Geneva, London, Lyon, Avignon, Bruges, and Milan, the international economic power of the Medici increased dramatically. This economic power and influence with foreign rulers, especially rulers like the Pope, who was dependent on the Medici bank for loans, facilitated the Medici family’s rise to power in Florence. , Historians like Manfredi Piccolomini of the Medici Archive Project have also argued that the possibility of controlling or eliminating their domestic banking competition drove... ... middle of paper ... ...y 52.4 (1999): 994-1020. JSTOR. 18 Mar. 2010. Pastor, Ludwig. The History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages: Drawn from the Secret Archives of the Vatican (Vol. 5). Charleston, SC: Bibliobazaar, 2009. Piccolomini, Manfredi. "Historical Context for Financial Crises: The Medici and Their Bank." The Medici Archive Project. 29 Mar. 2010. manfredi-piccolomini-university-new-york-prague>. Pottinger, George. The Court Of The Medici. First American Edition. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1978. Rowdon, Maurice. Lorenzo the Magnificent. London: Weidenfeld And Nicolson, 1974. de Roover, Raymond. "The Decline of the Medici Bank."The Journal of Economic History 7.1 (1947): 69-82. JSTOR. 18 Mar. 2010. de Roover, Raymond. The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank 1397-1494. New York: Harvard, 1968.
Elected in 1958 as a ‘caretaker Pope’, Pope John XXIII implemented the greatest reforms in the Church’s history. His involvement within the Church had played a significant contribution to the reforming of social, political and liturgical Christian traditions. During the early twentieth century, the Catholic Church still held the century old conservative beliefs and traditions as they continued to separate the Church from the secular world, therefore, disadvantaging the Church to a world that was modernising. In addition to this, the Church restricted modernist thoughts due to the belief that new theologies would threaten the power and authority of the Church, but ...
“I’ll be out of here and away from all you knaves for one time anyway, as not a month will pass before you’ll see whether I’m nobody or a somebody.” The story of Bianco Alfani reflected the nature of 14th century Florentine society where, as Alfani remarked, the election to public office could make or destroy a person. In late 14th century and early 15th century Florence, decreased population and expanding commerce provided a favorable environment for ambitious individuals. The real life examples of Buonaccorso Pitti and Gregorio Dati demonstrated the positive role of ambition in Florence. Pitti, a nobleman had an extremely successful career, partaking in military campaigns, holding public office in Florence and being an ambassador to foreign courts. Gregorio Dati, the grandson of purse venders, engaged in commerce, rising in social standing which culminated with his election to public office. Holding office was a definitive sign of success and recognition in Florence. In contrast was the tale Bianco Alfani, a deemed man unworthy of office. As told by Piero Veneziano, Alfani was the chief jailor in Florence who was duped into believing he had been named captain of the town of Norcia. Alfani publicly made a fool of himself, spending all his money and creating a great fanfare over his supposed appointment. Comparing the lives of Pitti and Dati to the story of Bianco Alfani illustrates how economic and social change in 14th century Florence produced a culture centered on reputation and commerce. For men like Pitti and Dati, who flourished within the constraints of Florentine society, their reward was election to office, a public mark of acceptance and social standing. Those who were ambitious but failed to abide by the values o...
U Mcllvenna, Scandal and Reputation at the Court of Catherine de Medici, University of Sydney
The direction now of my research is to begin investigating the context of the debate. To achieve this aim I will need to be consulting books of both secular and church history for the time of Jesus and the Council.
Venetians on the other hand controlled most of the trade and shipping in the northern Italy. The Medici family ran Florence’s banking and international finance; they were an influentional family in the Renaissance Italy. The Medici family was well accomplished and famous for their banking systems, especially the double entry system. This system was introduced by Giovanni Bicci de Medici. This system made it easy to record credits and debits for the person writing them, while registering money flow, money going in and money going out. The system was also helpful for the merchants since if allowed them to use this to record credits rather than carrying coins and do the trade. The Medici bank was known internationally due the trade and fund transferring; it allowed the Medici bank be the dominant bank in Italy and Europe. Florentines accounting techniques supplied the coating in the Florentine economy. The Medici banking system began the era of credit in economy. Florentines also had strong currency which gave an upper hand to them over other cities. The Florentine gold coinage was considered standard in Europe. The Medici bank branches present in all major cities of Italy, also Avignon, London, Geneva and most importantly
From Cosimo the Elder to Lorenzo, the three generations witnessed the most glorious time of the grand Medici family. Cosimo accumulated enormous fortune for his successors and set up a great example as a generous patron. Piero maintained the family position in the last five years of his life and preserved the family tradition. Lorenzo had the most art talent and accelerated the blossom of Renaissance in many ways. But the latter two of the Medici rulers wasn't able to keep expanding the banking business. On the contrast, the Medici bank had been shrinking even since the death of Cosimo. Two years after Lorenzo died in 1492, the bank finally failed due to system flaws and other reasons after almost a hundred years' existance.10
He was the first of the Medici political dynasty during the majority of the Renaissance. Giovanni was the founder of the Medici Bank which lead to the Medici supremacy. Unlike the rest of the medici family, Giovanni had to work extremely hard for money. He was born into a home with five siblings putting him in a position with no financial support. Vieri di Cambio de’ Medici taught Giovanni everything he needed to know about banking. Vieri owned his own bank chain from 1348 to 1392 in Europe. Once Vieri retired Giovanni created the Medici bank in 1397 in Florence and a branch in Rome. Due to the booming success of the first Medici bank, three more branches opened in Rome, Venice, and Florence. In 1402 Giovanni opened a wool factory. Six years later a new factory was opened for trading spices, olive oil, jewelry, and other goods. Soon after that there was a fourth Medici Bank branch open in Naples and Gaeta. Giovanni setup success for his family after marrying and having kids with business skyrocketing. Giovanni died at age 69. He had given the majority of control of the bank to his two sons, Cosimo and Lorenzo to carry on the family
conditions and contacts in the society, saw the root cause of the stalled Florence as the absence of
Lorenzo de’ Medici, a renowned statesman and patron of the arts, wasn’t acknowledged as “The Magnificent” for nothing. After his father, Piero di Cosimo de ' Medici, died in 1469, Lorenzo took the reigns as head of the Medici household and business, and thusly led Florence to its prime as one of the most powerful city-states in all of Italy. Lorenzo had the abilities capable of pulling off such a feat. In fact, it is said that, “Lorenzo was playing a part. Not a real Prince, he must act the prince.
Bulman, Raymond F, and Frederick J Parrella. From Trent to Vatican II. 1st ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.)
J. C. Moore (ed.), Pope Innocent III and his World (Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999) C. Morris, The Papal Monarchy: The Western Church from 1050 to 1250
Gonzalez, Justo L. 1984. The early church to the dawn of the Reformation. San Francisco: Harper & Row.
In the late fifteenth, and early sixteenth centuries the first economic Golden Age began. Two families, the Fugger's and Medici's were of immense wealth and power. Both helped to finance projects for certain people and institutions of power, like the Pope, English Monarchy and the Holy Roman Empire. Their economic success and political influence caused much turmoil then, and even more in the future. Because of the Fuggers' and Medici's wealth and power in society they easily influenced politics, especially ecclesiastical governance by usury and sale of indulgences.
The Church was organised into a hierarchical system that sustained the Church’s stability and control over the people and lower clergy, by organising them into different groups. First there were the ordinary believers, the citizens of the kingdom who followed the Christian faith. Then there was the clergy, the members who devoted their lives to the church. Each group of the clergy was assigned specific functions by the clergy nobles to help run the Church competently. Amongst all the clergy associates, the Pope was at the top, he had the equivalent if not more power than the ruling monarch and was in charge of all political affairs and administered the clergy. He was able to dictate political laws and even comment on the Monarch’s decisions. Under the Pope, there were the bishops. The bishops directed church courts and managed cases correlated to the public such as marriage, wills and other public predicaments. Priests held religious services that consisted of sacraments, baptisms and the usual Sabbath services. The monks and nuns received manual labour that required helping clean the monasteries and assist the needy. Educated monks copied manuscripts of medieval and ancient knowledge in the Scriptorium. Finally...
"Famiglia De Medici: The Extraordinary Story Of The Family That Financed The Renaissance." Business Insider. 6 Dec. 2013. .