Piero di Cosimo de' Medici

The Medici family did not always start off with controlling Florentine’s politics and being Florence’s richest family. They were the first dynasty to not prevail their social position by warfare or inheritance but through financial transactions and banking. Not only they are the head of Europe’s largest bank but they dominated the Italian city throughout the Renaissance and beyond from 1434 to 1737. The House of Medici rose to prominence and power around 1291. Together with bringing peace and…

power and energy and blame the Medici by stating that they were starting to stifling freedoms and power for themselves. This misconception leads to the public’s approval for authority to diminish drastically. Support for this transformation of the government grew with one of the “principal condition for an effective republic restoration was; however, that private citizens should no longer be able to exercise control over the government” (5-5). Although the Medici family was a strong component…

first carnival celebrated after the return of the Medicis from exile in 1512, after they had been expelled from the city in 1494.17 In 1512, Giuliano and Lorenzo de Medici returned with papal support to Florence, but this was not marked by any public ceremony.18 This carnival thus was the first public ritual that the Medicis could use to their advantage to signify their return to the city. Patronage of this event was a strategic move for the Medicis. Indeed, hierarchies are inverted during…

“O human race born to fly upward, wherefore at a little wind dost thou fall.” With his allegorical writing style, Dante Alighieri revolutionized literature in the renaissance period with masterpieces such as Dante’s Inferno. Dante Alighieri was born on May 21, 1265 in Florence, Italy. He was born to a wealthier family and had a good education as he learn poetry, philosophy, and many other literature skills he used in his writing. From the outside, his life looked perfect though his mother…

rich merchants who spent large amounts of money patronizing artists, the most famous of which are the Medici (Frey 315). Events like the Great Schism and the Reformation weakened the Catholic Church (Jensen 193) which had been the center of life in the Medieval era (Frey 31). The Medici Family had more influence on Italian culture and society than the Catholic Church during the Renaissance. The Medicis were one of the richest families in Europe. Originally middle class bankers from Florence,…

Saint Aloysius Gonzaga Although Saint Aloysius Gonzaga has passed, his influence, story, and legacy will not be forgotten. Aloysius Gonzaga was born on March 9th, 1568. He was born in Italy to a family of power. Throughout Gonzaga’s life he endured major sickness, a conversion to the Jesuits, and a death caused by disease. Saint Gonzaga’s legacy has been remembered to this day through the naming of numerous schools and a university (“Society of Jesus”). Although his life was cut short by…

The Medici commissioned several frescos throughout Florence depicting The Adoration of Magi, which portrayed the Medici on a level equal to biblical figures. This imagery clearly would have resonated with people who saw it, as the artwork as meant to display the prevalent power and importance of the Medici and their allies (Gilbert). This implementation of propaganda through architecture would have proven…

Florence was one of the five major city states that rose as a result of the “Dark Age” and black plague. After this, the guild system was rarely used and wealthy, powerful families began to rule (which in Florence was the Medici family). Florence played a major role in the Renaissance because it encouraged and promoted art and culture; it became the center for literature and art and supported those writers and artists affluently. Patrons were the largest supporters for scholars, writers, and…

In a time when ideology and convictions were shaped by the church, a new ideology was on the horizon that would begin the revolutionary transformation of the western world into what we know as the renaissance period. This new way of thought was brought about due to certain doctrines of the Catholic church that was viewed as uncanonical and dogmatic. The idealistic movement of Renaissance humanism’s spread throughout first Florence and then western Europe was greatly due to men with common…

Within about 40 years the Medici Bank was able to procure so much wealth and profit that it was economically equal with the Florentine treasury. Risks were taken to obtain as much profit as possible. Loans were given out to princes, kings, and even the hard working merchant. Everything was done for the money. The Medici Bank and family were the icons of Florence and the model standard when it came to wealth and power, they became the silent rulers of their hometown after the realization that…