The Medici Family During the Renaissance

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Florence, Italy was a city just like any other during the Renaissance. It was city of 50,000 people, less than there were in Paris and Venice but more than most other European cities. The busiest parts of the city were the Ponte Vecchio, a place lined with markets and houses, the neighborhood of the Orsanmichele and Mercato Vecchio, or the Old Market. Florence was a place of beauty and leisure. A Venetian visitor once said, “There is in my opinion no region more sweeter than that wherein Florence is a placed for Florence is situated in a plain surrounded on all sides by hills and mountains…And the hills are fertile cultivated, pleasant…” (Unger, pg. 1). Florence was a very prosperous city; it made fortunes off of wool and banking trades. A certain Florentine family contributed to the vast wealth as well. The Medici family was no doubt the foundation of prosperity for Florence. The Medici Family was one of the most powerful families of Renaissance Florence. They were a banking family. The first Medici bank, started by Giovanni di Becci de’ Medici, was a small scale business run in the bathroom. The bank grew through Giovanni’s extraordinary salesmanship and financial caution (PBS: Godfathers of the Renaissance). He gave out loans to those who they believed would help the bank persevere and thrive. Known as patrons of the arts, the Medici family funded and encouraged art by Botticelli, Brunelleschi, and Michelangelo. Consequential members of the family such as Giovanni de’ Medici, Cosimo de’ Medici, Lorenzo de’ Medici, and Ferdinando I de’ Medici helped to increase the affluence of Florence during the Renaissance. Giovanni di Becci de’ Medici It would be a lie to say that Giovanni de’ Medici was the first in his f... ... middle of paper ... ...use of these patrons of the arts. Works Cited Page Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. . 19 November 2009 . Hibbert, Christopher. The House of Medici. New York: William Morrow & Company, Inc., 1975. Lorenzo de' Medici.24 November 2009.25 November 2009 . Parks, Tim. Medici Money. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005. pbs.org/Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance. Thirteen. 21 September 2009. The Medici Family.16 October 2009 . Unger, Miles. Magnifico: The Brilliant Life and Violent Times of Lorenzo de' Medici. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008.

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