by Tim Parks
Nicolai Rubinstein’s book The Government of Florence Under the Medici is as essential as it is infuriating. Rubinstein brings together decades of meticulous scholarship and is admirably impartial as he analyzes how exactly the Medici manipulated the Florentine constitution. Unfortunately, he leaves certain crucial explanations of the workings of that constitution until deep into the book. Often whole chapters begin to make sense only when you discover a footnote on page two hundred and something with the vital piece of information. This is only for the seriously committed.
The same goes for Raymond de Roover’s The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank, 1397–1494. Of all the books you can read on the Medici, Roover’s has the most extraordinary facts, but they are hidden away among balance sheets, reflections on accounting practices, considerations of trade patterns, and so on. Curiously, there is almost no overlap between these two monumental works, as if the Medici had split their political and commercial lives quite drastically, something that is hard to believe.
More recently, the historian Dale Kent has added a third dimension to this Medici duality with her meticulously researched book Cosimo de’ Medici and the Florentine Renaissance. This gives an exhaustive account of all the artworks and buildings that Cosimo may or may not have commissioned, the nature of his involvement, and the context in which it all took place. Kent lets herself get drawn into a lot of sterile argument with other academics about the nature of Cosimo’s intentions, but the book is absolutely fascinating, assuming you have oceans of time on your hands.
Enough. There are scores of relevant books, literally hundreds of collections of learned articles—on Florentine dress, on the changing nature of exile in the 1500s, the sumptuary laws, the voyages of the trading galleys. As you proceed, you realize how many of the texts contradict each other, even on matters of bare fact, and how elusive any definitive vision of the Medicis must be. At this point, my advice is to stop worrying too much about “the truth” and to go back to what material from the time is still available and readable. Machiavelli’s Florentine Histories is a joy, and Francesco Guicciardini’s various historical accounts likewise. Both were written in the early sixteenth century. Then there are Lorenzo il Magnifico’s clever poems, Savonarola’s solemn sermons, Ficino’s bizarre Platonist reflections. The web of ideas soon grows thick indeed. What you are looking at is the birth throes of our modern mindset.
In conclusion, if you want to check out someone who had the talent and imagination to give a profound sense to all this material, consult Jakob Burckhardt’s The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy. Burckhardt wrote his book in the 1850s, and historians today like to consider it outdated and mistaken. But for scope, brilliance, and a readiness to reflect deeply on the meaning of it all, Burckhardt puts most of those who have followed him to shame.
Illustration Credits
Page 27: Scala/Art Resource, NY. Uffizi, Florence, Italy. Page 56: Alinari/Art Resource, NY. Baptistery, Florence, Italy. Page 75: Scala/Art Resource, NY. Brancacci Chapel, S. Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy. Page 102: Scala/Art Resource, NY. Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, Italy. Page 105: Scala/Art Resource, NY. Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence, Italy. Page 126: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY. Museo di S. Marco, Florence, Italy. Page 129: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY. Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence, Italy. Page 132: Scala/Art Resource, NY. S. Stefano dei Cavalieri, Pisa, Italy. Page 166: Scala/Art Resource, NY. S. Maria Novella, Florence, Italy. Page 191: Samuel H. Kress Collection, Image © 2004 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Page 230: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY. Narodowe Museum, Gdansk, Poland. Page 237: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY. Museo di S. Marco, Florence, Italy.
Index
Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations.
abaci, 37
“About Famous Women” (Boccaccio), 55–57
Abraham and Isaac, 8, 13
Acciaiuoli, Agnolo, 154–56, 157, 163, 167, 192
Acciaiuoli, Donato di Neri, 160
Acciaiuoli, Lorenzo, 154
accoppiatori, 139–40, 142, 147, 156, 160, 165, 167, 199–200
accounting:
imaginary currency invented for, 36–37
methods of, 5, 33–34
Achilles, 11–12, 18, 158
Adoration of the Magi (Gozzoli), 128–29, 129, 169
Adoration of the Shepherds (Goes), 178
Agamemnon, 11–12
Agazzari, Filippo degli, 10
Alberti, Leon Battista, 19, 26
Albizzi, Rinaldo degli, 81, 86, 89–91, 104, 116, 154
Cosimo de’ Medici’s exile and, 92–98
exile of, 100
Albizzi family, 73, 77, 78, 81, 118, 120, 137, 139, 141
power struggle between Medici family and, 88–98
Alfonso of Aragon, 141
alum, 22, 39, 188, 192–99, 204, 233
collapse of market in, 197–99
main markets for, 196
Medici bank’s monopoly on, 190, 193, 195–96, 200, 205
sources of, 194–95, 197, 200
uses and importance of, 188, 190, 192, 194
value of market in, 194
Volterra and, 199–203
Ancona, Medici bank branch in, 116, 117
Angel Appearing to Zacharias, The (Ghirlandaio), 168
Angelico, Fra, 124–25, 126, 128, 133
Angevin family, 68, 71, 116, 141, 218
Anghiari, Battle of, 140
Anglo-French War, 112, 114
Anjou, Prince Jean d’, 189
Annunciation (Angelico), 125
Antonio of Florence, Archbishop (later Saint), 24, 33, 63, 109, 123–24, 148, 151, 241
Aragon family, 116
Arena Chapel, 10
aristocracy:
Lorenzo de’ Medici’s aspirations to, 4, 203, 221–22
Medici as, 160–61, 170, 178, 246
see also nobility
Aristotle, 14
Arnolfini, Giovanni, 176
art:
collecting habit and, 5
Cosimo de’ Medici’s commissions in architecture and, 3, 56, 58–59, 62, 84, 104, 105, 108, 121–22, 124–30, 126, 129, 151, 186, 225, 246
humanism’s affect on, 130
Lorenzo de’ Medici’s patronage of, 187
money and political power tied to, 2, 9, 10, 17–19, 124, 158–59, 161
morality and patronage and, 186–88
patrons portrayed in, 125–27, 126, 129–30, 129, 136, 151, 166, 168–70, 178, 211, 230, 231
religion and patronage and, 127–34
religious purpose of, 124–25
Arte di Calimala (Merchants’ Guild), 33, 58
Arte di Cambio, see Exchangers’ Guild
Arte di Por San Maria (Clothmakers’ Guild), 33
astrology, 34, 62
Augustine, Saint, 207
Avignon, 51
Medici bank branch in, 170, 232
Badia di Fiesole, 127
balia, 141, 142, 149, 158, 192, 199
Cosimo de’ Medici exiled by, 95–98
function of, 95–96, 138–39
banca grossa, 32
banche a minuto, 31–34
bank, etymology of term, 29
banking:
by banche a minuto, 31–34
collecting habit and, 5
Cosimo de’ Medici’s love of, 62, 188
currency exchange deals and, 40–46, 91–92, 174
discretionary deposits and, 22–25
distrust of, 2, 89
Florence’s neighborhood for, 29
holding system and, 48–49
Italian monopoly on, 21
language used as camouflage in, 24, 31
moral law and, 11–15
by pawnbrokers, 30–31
political power and, 17
pre-Medici innovations in, 5–6
trade and, 22–23, 39–40, 46–47, 240
Tuscans and, 28
see also accounting
banks, falling trade and failures of, 173
Baptistery, 54, 56, 57–59
Barcelona, 22, 135, 174
Bardi, Alessandro, 168
Bardi, Bartolomeo de’, 83, 111
Bardi, Benedetto di Lippaccio de’, 38, 47
Bardi, Gualterotto de’, 111
Bardi, Ilarione di Lippaccio de’, 39, 47, 52, 83, 111
Bardi, Ubertino de’, 42, 83, 111
Bardi bank, 6, 48, 118
Bardi family, 154, 162
Giovanni de’ Medici and, 6
as partners in Medici bank, 38–39, 83
removed from Medici bank, 111
Baroncelli, Bernardo di Bandini, 214, 216–17, 229
Baroncelli, Pierantonio di Bandini, 214
barons, 49
Bartolomeo, Fra, 237, 238
Basle, 116
Medici bank branch in, 113
Beaufort, Henry, 24
Becchi, Gentile, 188
Benci, Giovanni d’Amerigo, 64, 66, 76–77, 112, 115, 116, 149, 170, 198, 242
Benedict XIII, Pope, 51
Bernardino di Siena, 103, 116, 131
Bernardino of Feltre, 13
Bible, 93
bills of exchange (cambiale), 5–6, 48
description of, 40–41
in exchange deals, 40–46
stare sugli avvisi and, 47
Birth of John the Baptist (Ghirlandaio), 166, 169
bishops, 20, 68, 113
Bisticci, Vespasiano da, 122, 127, 140
blasphemers, 14
Boccaccio, Giovanni, 7–8, 10, 51, 55–57
Boni, Gentile di Baldassarre, 38
bookkeeping, see accounting
Borromei, Carlo, 205
Borromei family, 205
Botticelli, Sandro, 186, 187, 209, 218, 225
Bracciolini, Poggio, 55, 119–20, 121
Brancacci, Felice, 74
British Empire, 121
Bronzino, Agnolo, 27
Bruges, 20–21, 25, 44, 72, 110–11, 113, 118, 204, 214
Medici bank branch in, 114, 116, 120, 135, 174–77, 179, 197, 198, 213, 220, 228, 229, 231–32
Brunelleschi, Filippo, 5, 85, 89, 122–23, 124
Bruni, Leonardo, 55, 185
Bueri family, 162
Burckhardt, Jakob, 17, 65
Burgundy, 174, 196–97
burial, denied to usurers, 10
Calderoni, Anselmo, 106–7
cambiale, see bills of exchange
cambio secco (dry exchanges), 45–46
Canigiani, Gherardo, 181–82, 213–14
cardinals, 20, 49, 113
Carmignuola, Francesco, 79, 84
Carnival, Lorenzo de’ Medici’s bawdy songs composed for, 209–10, 239
Castagno, Andrea del, 218
Castro, Giovanni da, 195
catasto (wealth tax), 73, 81–83, 85
Cavalcanti family, 83
celibacy, vows of, 64, 68
Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, 175–77, 178, 182–83, 197, 214–15, 229
Charles VIII, King of France, 244–45
children, illegitimate, 64–65
Christian gentleman, 121
Christianity:
East-West schism in, 116, 134–35
fundamentalism in, 234–36
humanism’s relationship to, 57, 92–93
political patronage and, 124
purpose of art in, 124–25
see also Eastern Church; religious confraternities; Roman Church
Christians, banned from pawnbroking, 31
Cicero, Marcus Tullius, 55, 62, 116, 159, 172
Città di Castello, 203
Clothmakers’ Guild (Arte di Por San Maria), 33
coinage:
kings’ heads on, 12, 17
quattrino bianco, 226
trimming of, 43
see also florins, Florentine; piccioli
collecting habit, psychology of, 5
Commentary on My Sonnets (Medici), 241
compromisers, fundamentalists and, 23
condottieri (mercenary warlords), 78–79, 84, 86, 89, 116, 164, 220, 223
function of, 72–73
Constance Church Council (1414), 51–52, 55
Constantine the Great, 93
Constantinople, 21, 73, 135, 147, 229
Coronation of the Virgin, The (Angelico), 125, 126
Cosimo de’ Medici and the Florentine Renaissance (Kent), 108
Cosma, Saint, 91, 125, 126, 133
Cossa, Baldassarre, see Giovanni XXIII, Pope
Cotswolds, 22, 44, 136, 198
Councils:
of 100, 148–49, 158, 199–200
of the Commune, 95, 96, 137, 139, 141, 143, 145, 147–48, 200, 212
of the People, 95, 96, 137, 139, 141, 143, 145, 147–48, 200, 212
Counter-Reformation, 9, 243, 246
courtiers, 49, 65
credit:
Florence as center of international web of, 2
letters of, 6, 21, 25, 111, 135–36, 229–31
crusades, 121, 176, 194
Curia, see popes
currency:
for accounting, 36–37
for international exchange deals, 113
intrinsic value and, 12–13, 32
currency exchange:
banking profits derived from, 40–46, 91–92, 174
dry, 45–46, 104
between florins and piccioli, 31–35
Geneva as center for, 112–13
as source of Medici family’s wealth, 40, 44, 91–92
warnings and, 47
Damiano, Saint, 91
Dante Alighieri, 5, 13–14, 15, 26, 59, 83, 207
daughters, nephews given hereditary precedent over, 205–6
Davanzati, Riccardo, 135
David (Donatello), 102, 103
debt bonds, 80–81
Decameron (Boccaccio), 10, 51, 53–54
Della famiglia (Alberti), 26
democracy, 162
consensus and persuasion and, 88–89
money and, 159
official vs. unofficial shifts of power in, 91
pretense and, 138, 142, 143, 149, 200
referendums and, 95
two-party, 149
see also political power
De mulieribus claris (Boccaccio), 55
denari a fiorino, 37
deposit accounts, 6
Depositary of the Papal Chamber, 47
Dialogue on Liberty (Rinuccini), 227
discretionary deposits, 50, 79, 171
description of, 22–25
Divina commedia (Dante), 13–14, 26, 59, 207
doge, of Venice, 87
Dominic, Saint, 123–24, 125
Dominican order, 80–81, 122–24, 134
Donatello, 56, 58–59, 85, 102, 103, 116, 131, 132, 133
Donati, Lucrezia, 189–90, 193, 201, 209, 241
Donation of Constantine, 93
double-entry bookkeeping, 5, 33–34, 37
dowries, 9, 19–20, 154, 161–62
dry exchanges (cambio secco), 45–46, 104
ducats, Venetian, 43, 90, 92
duomo, 8, 29, 85, 89, 104, 122–23, 124, 206, 214–17, 242
Dwerg, Hermann, 24
Eastern Church, 116, 134–35, 140
education, 158–60
Edward III, King of England, 6
Edward IV, King of England, 179–83, 214
Eight of the Guard, see otto di guardia
England, usury legalized in, 243
English Cotswolds, see Cotswolds
Este, Borso d’, 163–64
Eugenius IV, Pope, 93, 97, 98, 100, 113, 116, 122, 123, 125, 127
exchange, see bills of exchange; currency exchange
Exchangers’ Guild (Arte di Cambio):
grounds for expulsion from, 30, 43
maximum time for exchange deals set by, 41–42
pawnbrokers barred from, 31
rep
utation of, 11
written transactions as rule of, 29–30
excommunication, 33, 87, 151
of Lorenzo de’ Medici, 218
as threat, 20, 104, 113, 148, 195, 196–97, 205
Eyck, Jan van, 176
Faenza, lord of, 78
family, as social unit, 26–28
Ferrante, King of Naples, 190, 205, 222–23, 245
Ferrara, marquis of, 97
feudal law, 6, 16
Ficino, Marsilio, 185, 206–9, 210–11, 236
fiorino di suggello, 43
Flanders, 20, 21
Flanders grossi, 114
Florence:
advisory bodies of, 94–95, 137
artists of, 225
bank failures in, 173, 240
banking authority in, see Exchangers’ Guild
banking neighborhood of, 29
Cosimo de’ Medici exiled from, 3, 94–100
Cosimo de’ Medici’s political power in, 3, 86–87, 106, 107–8, 137, 139–41, 143, 153–55
daily toil in, 37–38
dominions of, 67, 70, 71, 77, 79, 85–86, 200, 205, 226
dry exchanges banned in, 46
duomo of, see duomo
emblem of, 17
French invasion of, 4, 9, 244–45
galley ships of, 118, 178–79, 198
Giovanni de’ Medici elected gonfaloniere of, 62
gold currency of, see florins, Florentine
government debt bonds in, 80–81
as international center of credit and art, 2
in Italy’s internal wars, 66–79, 84, 88–90, 99–100, 106, 116–18, 141, 146–47, 150, 218, 221, 244
Lorenzo de’ Medici’s political power in, 4, 199–200, 209, 225–27
Lorenzo de’ Medici’s political reform of, 226
Lorenzo de’ Medici’s proprietary view of, 208
Lorenzo de’ Medici’s taking of money directly from, 220
Medici-Albizzi power struggle in, 88–98
Medici bank branch in, 49, 81, 83, 91, 94, 112, 171, 180, 217, 231, 232
Medici family’s expulsion from, 234, 246
Medici family’s roots in, 28
Medici political power in, 117–18, 143–45, 148–49, 167, 200, 204, 217, 223
in “Most Holy League,” 147
nobility excluded from government of, 77, 162
Orsanmichele neighborhood of, 29
pawnbrokers fined or licensed in, 31
Piero de’ Medici’s flight from, 4, 9, 245
Piero de’ Medici’s political power in, 3, 155, 160, 163–67
political parties banned in, 84, 137
political structure of, see balia; Councils; gonfaloniere della giustizia; parliament, of Florence; priors; signoria
population of, 7
post-Cosimo de’ Medici power struggle in, 153–57, 163–67