Medici Family: Unstoppable Rise

It is said that in ancient times, a giant armed with six iron balls whirling at the ends of chains terrorized Tuscany. A brave knight named Averardo di Medici, accompanying Charlemagne on his journey to Rome, was the only one bold enough to confront the creature. Like David against Goliath, the paladin managed to slay the beast. Impressed, Charlemagne granted Averardo the right to settle in the mountainous Mugello region near Florence, where his heroic deed had taken place. For centuries, the Medici family referred to this legendary ancestor to assert the antiquity and quasi-divine origins of their dynasty. However, this too-perfect tale conceals a more pragmatic reality—the slow rise to supreme power of a family of minor Tuscan notables.

Had the history of Florence ended in 1400, the Medici would likely have been a mere footnote. Their name might have appeared only in the long list of clans that, in the Trecento of pre-Renaissance Italy, vied for public offices in the city’s complex institutional system. Perhaps a Medici would have been mentioned as a magistrate here or as a conspirator there, but nothing more. Arriving in Florence in the 12th or 13th century from their rural stronghold in Mugello, this bourgeois family of landowners and merchants lacked the stature to play a leading role. They did not possess the prestige of old noble families like the Pazzi or Strozzi, nor the immense wealth of the new commercial and financial elite, such as the Peruzzi or Acciaiuoli. In late medieval Florence, there was little indication that the Medici would ever be more than useful allies to the truly powerful.

Their fate began to turn in 1378, with a famous event: the Ciompi revolt, an uprising of textile workers, led by one Salvestro de’ Medici. However, this merchant and notable did not belong to the common people at all. But, as a good tactician, he intended to exploit their anger to bring down the old families of magnates who monopolized municipal power. The episode ended badly and Salvestro was banished from the city, along with many of his allies and lineage.

This disgrace had another effect: it caused a schism in the Medici clan, composed of several branches united under the same coat of arms. The faction divided into two “parties,” “both equally engaged in the race for power, following two absolutely contrary political approaches,” explains historian Jacques Heers in his book The Medici Clan (Perrin ed., 2008). “For the bold ones, the call to the street and riot, for the cautious ones, waiting for the right moment to, finally, pick a ripe fruit.” The first group took part in rebellions at the end of the 14th century and failed miserably – one Antonio de’ Medici was even executed.

The second group bet on the long term, patiently building their fortune and reputation. And thus initiating the rise of the Medici.

The Rise of the Medici Bank

This second group, the one that bet on the long term before aiming for political power, first established itself in the business world. Their instrument of conquest was a bank. This wasn’t anything new in the family: the practice of usury (lending with interest) was already well-established. The Medici didn’t acquire their lands and farms in Mugello by slaying a giant, but by lending money to desperate landowners, whose property they would eventually confiscate. This was a rather inglorious practice, though they were far from being the only ones to engage in it. It wasn’t until the second half of the 14th century that a Medici founded a proper banking establishment, with branches in other Italian cities.

His name was Vieri di Cambio and he belonged, as his name indicates, to the Arte del Cambio, the powerful corporation of “money changers” (bankers), founded in 1250 in Tuscany, which launched the florin, the main currency of the Middle Ages. In the 1380s, this wealthy and respected notable recruited a distant cousin from another branch of the Medici family, Giovanni di Bicci, as manager of his Rome branch. After Vieri di Cambio’s death, Giovanni took over the Rome office, then returned in 1397 to establish headquarters in Florence. This marks the birth of the Medici Bank, the one that would make history.

Presented as the founder of the dynasty, Giovanni di Bicci is the first of the clan whose face we know. In the few surviving portraits of him, the small man has dull eyes and thinning hair, far from the splendor his successors would later display.

The Banco dei Medici established itself in an already well-structured market. Since the 12th century, the rise of banking had accompanied Europe’s economic development, responding to various needs: money lending (usury), deposits, currency exchange, but also transfer of funds without using physical currency between two distant commercial centers. The profession remained rudimentary: “banks” often consisted of nothing more than tables or benches (which explains their name), set up in marketplaces like the Mercato Vecchio in Florence.

Strategic Expansion and Risk Management

Giovanni di Bicci and his son Cosimo established strict rules for their banks to reduce risks. Alongside the activities of the usurers to whom the Medici belonged, the sector saw the emergence of its first multinationals. In Florence, for instance, the banks of the Bardi and Peruzzi operated throughout Europe in the early 14th century. The Italians were the specialists in banking activities. Giovanni di Bicci’s bank entered this market with advantages that allowed it to prosper quickly.

First, there was the void left at the end of the 14th century by the disappearance of the great Florentine banks – those of the Bardi and Peruzzi, swept away by bankruptcies, or that of the Alberti, banished from Florence around 1390. Additionally, the Medici demonstrated shrewd management. Giovanni di Bicci, then his son Cosimo, who took the reins in the 1420s, established strict rules for their branches to limit risks. For example, they avoided lending to unreliable clients, particularly… princes of all kinds, who were too prone to bankruptcy.

Similarly, geographical expansion was carefully considered: the bank had branches as far as London, Bruges, and Geneva, but did not venture into the Levant, and remained less extensive than that of the Bardi before it. The selection of personnel was also given particular attention. The family business recruited from within the clan or among its allies. Giovanni di Bicci and Cosimo the Elder each had their ministro, their loyal and competent general manager. Giovanni Benci, Cosimo’s manager, was an exceptional businessman. He applied an innovative structure to the Medici Bank: each of its branches was a separate company, where the manager was a minority shareholder, while the parent company held the majority and oversaw the whole operation. Thus, the failure of one branch would not threaten the entire enterprise. This formula was destined for a bright future: it’s what we now call a “holding company.”

Rome: The Bank’s Golden Goose

One branch in particular mattered more than any other to the Medici: Rome. The papal city, where Giovanni di Bicci had learned his trade, became his golden goose: it represented between one-third and half of the bank’s total profit!

In fact, Florentine bankers had long been the favorite financiers of the Holy See, as the Tuscan city was “Guelph,” meaning it supported the pope in his conflict against the Germanic emperor (who was supported by the “Ghibellines”). The Medici took up this very lucrative torch.

“In Rome, the company handled a considerable amount of money,” recounts Renaissance historian Ivan Cloulas, a great specialist of the Medici. “It collected certain fees paid to the papacy and, most importantly, received deposits from ambassadors, pilgrims, and ecclesiastics of all ranks – abbots, bishops, cardinals, and dignitaries of the Curia.” This windfall was invested by the bank not only in banking operations but also in investments such as wool cloth factories, Florence’s flagship product.

Political Involvement and the Papacy

These flourishing Roman affairs strengthened over time, especially as the Medici didn’t hesitate to involve themselves in papal affairs. In the 1410s, following the Great Western Schism and the Council of Pisa, the Catholic Church was in an incredible situation, with three rival popes, one in Avignon and two in Rome. Giovanni di Bicci sided with the last elected and most legitimate pope, John XXIII, becoming his close advisor and even paying his ransom when he was imprisoned by the Germanic Emperor Sigismund!

John XXIII didn’t reign long, but this support ensured great prestige for the Medici. They established themselves as the long-term official bankers of the Roman Curia, managing its treasury.

From Banking to Political Power: The Medici’s Rise in Florence

The Medici’s close relationship with the papacy was, at first glance, paradoxical. Their banking empire thrived on financial practices that the Church officially condemned, particularly usury—the charging of interest on loans. According to Christian doctrine, “Money should not create money.” Maritime insurance, which the Medici engaged in through their operations in Venice and Genoa, was also viewed as a form of usury.

However, like other bankers of their time, the Medici devised clever legal and theological loopholes to circumvent these prohibitions. They might, for instance, lend money in one currency and be repaid in another, or reframe interest payments as voluntary “gifts.” Over time, the Church softened its stance on usury, especially when it benefited from Medici financial services. Still, moneylenders remained morally suspect. Once the Medici seized power in Florence, their critics branded them caorsini—a pejorative reference to Cahors, a French city infamous for its moneylenders. Even Niccolò Machiavelli would later describe the family as “a race of usurers.”

The Shift to Political Influence

While lending was certainly a lucrative activity, it didn’t ensure renown… So the Medici sought prestige elsewhere: in politics. In the Florence of that time, dominated by major guilds, it was only a small step from business to power. And the clan did far better than rival families. Giovanni di Bicci paved the way. He held various positions in the Signoria (the municipal government)… Slowly but surely, this discreet man built up his popularity, which would be demonstrated in 1429 by the splendor of his funeral. It remained for his son Cosimo to carry this success forward. This rather ugly but affable and elegant man proved even more skilled than his father.

However, it was his son, Cosimo de’ Medici, who would elevate the family to true dominance.

Cosimo’s Political Genius

At the head of the family bank in the San Lorenzo district, he developed his circle of supporters, rallying both the common people and great families to his cause, placing his allies at the head of his branches, providing financing… Until he came to be seen as the providential man in a Florence in crisis (fiscal and budgetary problems, military setbacks…). In 1433, Rinaldo degli Albizzi, a noble who dominated Florence, worried about Cosimo’s popularity, had him arrested under false pretenses and imprisoned in the Palazzo della Signoria. Some called for his execution, but he was only banished. The Medici leader was sent to Venice. But the very next year, the municipal institutions fell into the hands of his supporters. Cosimo made a triumphant return.

This marked the beginning of a new era. The Medici were no longer just powerful bankers; they were the true rulers of Florence.

Cosimo de’ Medici: The Uncrowned King of Florence

With Cosimo’s triumphant return to Florence in 1434, a new political order took shape. The city, in theory, remained a republic, governed by councils and magistrates. However, in practice, Cosimo controlled the mechanisms of power from behind the scenes. The future Pope Pius II (then the Bishop of Siena) famously remarked:

Political questions are settled in his house. The men he chooses fill public offices… He decides on war and peace… He is king in all but name.

Cosimo wasted no time in securing his position. His revenge against Rinaldo degli Albizzi and his faction was swift and ruthless. A systematic purge followed:

• Exile for over a hundred prominent citizens.
• Executions of key rivals.
• Economic warfare—opponents faced confiscation of property, taxation harassment, and public humiliation.

Power Through Wealth and Patronage

Cosimo ensured his control by rigging elections and installing loyalists in government through special emergency committees (balìe). At the same time, he cultivated an image of benevolence and generosity, distributing his immense wealth strategically:

• Lavish donations to the Church and civic institutions.
• Extravagant public celebrations to reinforce his popularity.
• Financial lifelines to struggling aristocrats and merchants, ensuring their loyalty.

Machiavelli, in his Florentine Histories, noted how Cosimo’s strategic generosity won him both gratitude and power:

More generous than others, his spending contributed to his glory, and his liberality made him beloved by his friends whom he saved from ruin. There was not a single important citizen to whom he had not lent large sums of money. Whenever he learned that a distinguished citizen was in need, he immediately came to his aid.

This philanthropy extended to the arts and architecture, solidifying the Medici as Florence’s greatest patrons. Under Cosimo, the city flourished as a center of Renaissance culture, with the family funding projects by Brunelleschi, Fra Angelico, Donatello, and Ghiberti.

The Medici Fortune: From Banking to Absolute Power

Cosimo’s financial dominance mirrored his political ascent. In 1427, his father Giovanni di Bicci ranked only as the third richest man in Florence. By 1457, Cosimo was undisputedly the wealthiest, while his aristocratic rivals had been reduced to insignificance.

Historian Jacques Heers observed:

His fortune, still uncertain in 1427, had become overwhelming by 1457 compared to the other aristocratic families, reduced to almost nothing. It was his exercise of absolute power that made him and his close circle truly wealthy.

Was the Medici Rise Inevitable?

Did the Medici intend to seize power from the outset, or were they simply the right family at the right time? Even contemporaries could not say for sure. Heers concludes:

No one at the time could determine if this was part of a grand strategy. Even today, we cannot say for certain.

What is clear is that Florence, never a true democracy, had never before surrendered so completely to the influence of one man for over three decades. Cosimo de’ Medici, without ever officially claiming a title, ruled as the city’s prince, eliminating all rivals while continuing to manage the Medici Bank with unparalleled success.

The Decline of the Medici Bank and Rise of a Dynasty

But after his death in 1464, the Medici entered another dimension. The bank gradually took a back seat. Under Piero the Gouty and then Lorenzo the Magnificent, son and grandson of Cosimo the Elder, it declined, weighed down by poor economic conditions, incompetent leadership, management errors, and overly generous loans to princes… Until the final bankruptcy in 1494, when the clan was driven from Florence (they would return in the following century). But by this point, the Medici were much more than mere bankers: they were a dynasty that would have its dukes, popes, and queens of France in the 16th and 17th centuries.

After the bank’s demise, the Medici’s political power continued to grow. Over the next centuries, the family’s influence would extend beyond banking to the papacy, royalty, and aristocracy:

• Papal Medici: Lorenzo’s son, Giovanni, became Pope Leo X in 1513, and later, Clement VII followed in 1523.
• Dukes and Queens: By the 16th and 17th centuries, the Medici family produced Dukes of Florence, Queens of France, and even the Grand Dukes of Tuscany.

Q/A on the Medici Family