The Godfathers of the Renaissance
The PBS Research button below will provide you with an opportunity to research the Medici family beyond that of the required reading.
Download the file below and use it as you watch the video at the bottom of the page.
| viewguide1.pdf |
Required Reading
The Medici didn't start out as the most powerful family in Italy. Other families were just as rich, and just as ambitious. But no one knew more about getting ahead - and staying ahead - than the Medici.
They clawed their way to the top, sometimes through bribery, corruption and violence. Those who stood in their way could end up humiliated - or dead. And the Medici exploited a network of “friends of friends” - hangers on who would do anything to stay close to the family.
For the Medici, this network of amici degli amici - the magic words in Renaissance Italy - was the key to fame, fortune and survival.
The power of the Medici stretched all the way to Rome, where even the papacy was something to be bought and sold.
They were the Godfathers of the Renaissance.
The Medici created a lucrative partnership with another medieval power, the Catholic Church. In what had to be one of the most ingenious enterprises of all time, the Medici bank collected 10% of your earnings for the Church. If you couldn't pay, you faced excommunication - a one-way ticket to hell.
The Pope himself had a massive overdraft, and the Medici bank became the most profitable business in Europe. By 1434, half the bank's revenue came from the Rome “branch”, which was in fact little more than a mobile bank that followed the Pope around the world.
Papal connections gave the Medici bank immense power, soon everyone wanted an account with the Pope's personal bank. On one occasion the nomination of a new bishop was “delayed”, until his father - a Cardinal - had repaid their debts to the Medici bank.
And the Medici kept ahead of their banking rivals because of the invention of limited liability. Giovanni di Bicci had set up a franchise system, where regional branch managers shared a stake in the business. Giovanni also banned loans to princes and kings, who were notoriously bad investments.
Consequentially, the Medici business remained in the black while its competitors lost fortunes.
In many societies there is nothing more humiliating than to receive a brutta figura - a loss of face in society.
The fear of public humiliation informs every choice, every argument, every decision - in 15th century Italy.
During the Medici's feud with the Albizzi in the 1430s, rumors were spread by a poet called Filelfo, a ‘friend’ of the Albizzi family. Filelfo claimed Cosimo was a traitor and a cheat. Filelfo's words were instrumental in turning the government against the leader of the Medici. When Cosimo returned to power, Filelfo was terrified, but unlike his friends he was allowed to escape with his life.
But one day, down a dark alley, a different kind of justice caught up with him. Filelfo was attacked by a group of men, armed with a blade. When they had finished with him, Filelfo had a fresh wound, stretching right across his face, from ear to ear - a loss of face indeed.
Che brutta figura! - humiliation as revenge.
They clawed their way to the top, sometimes through bribery, corruption and violence. Those who stood in their way could end up humiliated - or dead. And the Medici exploited a network of “friends of friends” - hangers on who would do anything to stay close to the family.
For the Medici, this network of amici degli amici - the magic words in Renaissance Italy - was the key to fame, fortune and survival.
The power of the Medici stretched all the way to Rome, where even the papacy was something to be bought and sold.
They were the Godfathers of the Renaissance.
The Medici created a lucrative partnership with another medieval power, the Catholic Church. In what had to be one of the most ingenious enterprises of all time, the Medici bank collected 10% of your earnings for the Church. If you couldn't pay, you faced excommunication - a one-way ticket to hell.
The Pope himself had a massive overdraft, and the Medici bank became the most profitable business in Europe. By 1434, half the bank's revenue came from the Rome “branch”, which was in fact little more than a mobile bank that followed the Pope around the world.
Papal connections gave the Medici bank immense power, soon everyone wanted an account with the Pope's personal bank. On one occasion the nomination of a new bishop was “delayed”, until his father - a Cardinal - had repaid their debts to the Medici bank.
And the Medici kept ahead of their banking rivals because of the invention of limited liability. Giovanni di Bicci had set up a franchise system, where regional branch managers shared a stake in the business. Giovanni also banned loans to princes and kings, who were notoriously bad investments.
Consequentially, the Medici business remained in the black while its competitors lost fortunes.
In many societies there is nothing more humiliating than to receive a brutta figura - a loss of face in society.
The fear of public humiliation informs every choice, every argument, every decision - in 15th century Italy.
During the Medici's feud with the Albizzi in the 1430s, rumors were spread by a poet called Filelfo, a ‘friend’ of the Albizzi family. Filelfo claimed Cosimo was a traitor and a cheat. Filelfo's words were instrumental in turning the government against the leader of the Medici. When Cosimo returned to power, Filelfo was terrified, but unlike his friends he was allowed to escape with his life.
But one day, down a dark alley, a different kind of justice caught up with him. Filelfo was attacked by a group of men, armed with a blade. When they had finished with him, Filelfo had a fresh wound, stretching right across his face, from ear to ear - a loss of face indeed.
Che brutta figura! - humiliation as revenge.
Please watch the video in two segments. Watch the first 30 minutes in class, and the remaining 26 minutes at home. YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE A COMMENT IN THE BLOG ABOUT THE VIDEO!!!!
RSS Feed
