The
House Medici
(pronounced med-ee-chee) or
Medici family
was a very important family in
Florence
,
Italy
from the year
1300
to about
1600
. They were the richest family in Europe for many years. Many leaders of Florence during the Renaissance were Medicis. The Medicis were important because they ran many banks, including the most important bank in Europe. They were so powerful they became like a royal family. 4 popes of the Catholic Church were from the Medici. Their names were Pope Leo X (the 10th), Pope Clement VII(the 7th), Pope Pius IV (the 4th), and Pope Leo XI (the 11th) 2 Queens of France were from the medici- Catherine de’ Medici and Marie de’ Medici.The heir to the Tuscan throne was traditionally known as the
Grand Prince
.
The family ruled the state with the title of
Grand Duke of Tuscany
.
Giovanni Bicep de' Medici, (1360-1429), was the first important member of the family. He invested his money very wisely and became rich. He and his son,
Cosmo de' Medici
, (1389-1464), began the Medici Banking Company, which did so well that they soon had branches of the
bank
in large cities all over Europe, including
London
and
Paris
. Giovanni Bicep and Cosmo were the richest men in Europe, and their family was politically the most powerful in Florence.
Florence already had an
industry
, the cloth industry. Florentine
merchants
(traders) traded with Lombard traders from the north of Italy. They bought English
wool
and Chinese
silk
to be woven into the most magnificent
cloth
in Europe at the riverside factories of Florence. Florence was perfectly sited for making cloth. A lot of water is needed to make cloth. Other
towns
nearby are high on the tops of hills, but Florence is in a wide
valley
, with the broad
Arno River
flowing through it. There was a
harbor
on the
coast
near
Pisa
. The Pisans were not very friendly towards Florence, so Florence took them over. Then the rich traders of Florence could have their own
ships
and did not have to worry about the Lombard traders who brought their
goods
across Europe and over the mountains on the backs of
donkeys
.
Cosimo de' Medici was a
patriot
and a
patron
. He was a "patriot" because he acted like a father to his city. He became part of the town
council
. They were a group of men called the "signorina" (the seniors or elders). Cosimo made laws that adjusted the
taxes
. Some of the rich people did not like this at all and left the city, making Cosimo more powerful. He took good care of industry, of trade and of
farming
, because Florence needed all these things. He particularly needed the
loyalty
of all the
farms
and villages, because a city in a valley is easy for an army to attack. Cosimo built public buildings and when he had a palace built for himself, he had long stone seats built along the walls for the poor and the elderly to sit on.
He was a patron because he supported the church, and lots of writers, artists, architects and
students
. He founded a "Platonic Academy" where students could study the works of Ancient Greek writers and talk about politics, religion and new ideas. The head of the Academy was a
philosopher
called
Marsillio Ficino
. Cosimo encouraged architects to design buildings in the
style
of Ancient Rome. He collected a huge
library
of books and gave them to the
monastery
of San Lorenzo to be used by students. When he wanted some quiet time, he went to friary, (which is like a monastery), Sant Marco's, where he encouraged one of the "brothers",
Fra Angelico
, to paint beautiful sacred pictures.
After the death of Cosimo, his grandson
Lorenzo de' Medici
became even more famous. He was called Lorenzo il Magnifico (the Magnificent). It was during the time of Lorenzo that some of the most famous artists in world history were alive in Florence, and worked for the Medici:-
Botticelli
,
Michelangelo
and
Leonardo da Vinci
.