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Rachel Bacchus

Dr. Robert Grant

HIS 101-001

11 December 2019

Puppet Masters of Florence: The Unofficial Reign of the Medici

Florence found great pride in being a republic, run by select representatives of the people.

However, this was far from the true political reality. In actuality, Florence was bound to the

decisions of the wealthy, specifically a few wealthy families that influenced the decisions of the

republic priori. One of these families was the House of Medici, the wealthiest family in Florence,

who invoked an era of unofficial rule and hidden reign under the direction of its founders and

bank. Whether acting as puppet masters or frontrunners, the Medici abused their financial power

and exercised great control over Florence and beyond.

In the eleventh century, Italy found itself naturally focused on larger trade. As economy

grew, Italy was faced with the generation of large amounts of wealth. The Renaissance was made

possible by funding and wealthy donors. In this period, usury, or the act of charging interest, was

considered sinful (Parks 22). By charging interest on loans, lenders appeared to be making

money without hard work which went against God’s punishment on mankind in Genesis. If

bankers could support the arts and commission painters to create works for the church, they

believed this would redeem their souls (Parks 63). So much of the Renaissance and the religious

art that emerged was funded by the guilt of wealthy individuals; it was era described as “a

religious age in love with transgression” (Parks 63). At this point, banks existed and would grow
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large but never lasted (Parks 22). Their failures stemmed from their loans given to royalty who

had enough power to refuse paying back their debts.

In the fourteenth century, the Medici family were able to make their mark in Florence by

avoiding this error of lending to royalty. Their banking system revolved around their promise to

support the people of Florence. The Medici Bank founder, Cosimo di Giovanni de Medici,

played the puppet master by twisting the strings of the bank from behind-the-scenes while he

formed relationships with the working class as well as the political powers in the priori (Parks

62). While becoming an enemy to rivaling banking families such as the Albizzi and the Pazzi,

the Medici were gaining the support and the clientele of the Florentine majority. Instead of

taking advantage of Florence, they made much of their money from manipulating foreign

exchange rates (Parks 46-47). Currency was worth more in the country that issued it originally,

so when an additional interest rate was taxed along by the House of Medici, the sum resulted in

their own fortune. 

As well as their expertise in economic endeavors, the Medici were skilled in forming

professional relationships and allies that strengthened their power over Florence and across Italy.

Through relationships with leading members of the priori, Cosimo is able to control politics by

means of bribery. While Florence prides itself on its democratic voting systems, they were only

representative of the intentions of the wealthy. Votes and elections were bought by the rich, no

exception to the House of Medici (Parks 62). Cosimo manipulated votes his way to keep his

bank the leading power in Florence. Even after his own exile, Cosimo de Medici’s money alone

maintains his control and influence affecting no major changes over society. He remains the

manipulative puppet master of Florentine society due to the fluidity of money and its ability to be

where he cannot. 
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The Medici family further demonstrate their control of money and social classes with

their institution of dual currency. In Florence, there was a separation of professional and

common currency (Parks 80). Florins made of gold were considered only redeemable for

professional trade and merchants. The wealthy could use this for greater and further money-

making endeavors; meanwhile, the common person would never have a use for such a coin. They

were reduced to the sole usage of the secondary silver piece. This coin was designed for

everyday use and transaction. Exchange between the two currencies was forbidden. Servants

were always paid in silver coins in order to maintain their lower class; they had no way to work

their way up into the “Florin Tier.” While claiming to be beneficial to foreign traders, in reality,

the separation and duality of currency was a stratagem contrived to regulate social class and

prevent any threat to wealthy powers.  

In addition to exploiting economy and currency to their benefit, the Medici family are

able to gain control over the religious population. Since everyone fears damnation coming from

usury and immoral money making, they fear business with the Medici. Yet, simultaneously, the

people of Florence worship and love money almost as much as they love their religion and are

actively seeking ways to make as much money as they can while still being worthy of salvation

(Parks 62). The Medici encouraged the people to pay their taxes and commit to their banking

business with art highlighting religious “tribute money” (Parks 129).  They commissioned

paintings to be made portraying Jesus and the esteemed and revered saints paying their taxes to

the state, the idea being that “even Christ paid taxes, you should too.” 

The Medici even went as far as manipulating the church itself and gained the business of

Rome’s affairs, tightening their grasp on Florence as well as the rest of Italy. It began when the

church wanted to earn interest on their account with the Medici Bank, but usury was an
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impossible task for the strictly moral, righteous church. However, the Medici knew how much of

an investment the church could supply so they invented the concept of a “discretionary account”

(Parks 32). It was not interest on technical terms, but the bank would monthly deposit a gift of

about ten percent into the church’s account at their own discretion. The identity of the depositor

was kept anonymous, and the church’s business with the Medici was sealed. Bishops and

Cardinals were comfortable with their acceptable wealth and maintained their relationship under

Medici authority in order to sustain their comfort.

Under leadership of Cosimo di Giovanni de Medici’s grandson, Lorenzo, the Medici

bank became an even greater power by earning the accounts of the Papal States in Rome. Unlike

his grandfather, Lorenzo preferred business in the spotlight. He made extravagant negotiations

with all the major powers of Italy, creating alliances and doing business with Milan, Venice, and

Rome. For the Papal States, Lorenzo needed to gain the trust and favors of the Pope. He

managed this connection with a familiar negotiation: arranged marriage. Lorenzo de Medici

married Clarice Orsini of the noble Orsini family in Rome in 1469 in order to build ties with the

Pope (Parks 99). Clarice was highly religious and provided the Medici with the familial alliance

they needed to form bonds and business with the Papal States, which became one of the largest

sources of financial revenue for the Medici Bank. 

Furthermore, Lorenzo de Medici raised and educated his second-born son, Giovanni, to

be trained as a Cardinal at age thirteen. Due to their familial ties and connections, Giovanni was

able to join the College of Cardinals three years earlier than technically allowed. When the time

came to choose a new Pope, Lorenzo’s son was elected. He took the papal throne as Pope Leo X

in 1513 at the age of 37. Giovanni worked the papacy for the benefit of the House of Medici,
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swaying votes and continuing business under the Medici’s bank. As Pope, Giovanni spent

lavishly on the arts and humanities, carrying on the foundational tradition of the Medici.

As far as Medici influence over art went, they funded much of the Renaissance. Artists

such as Sandro Botticelli, Filippo Brunelleschi, and Donatello flourished under the commissions

of the Medici family and bank (Parks 103). Botticelli painted noteworthy works such as the Birth

of Venus and Primavera as wedding gifts for the Medici marriages. Brunelleschi designed the

Duomo on the Florence Cathedral, and the Medici provided the financial support to construct it.

By associating the Medici name with architecture built for the glory of God, the Medici received

glory as well. For Donatello, the Medici commissioned his sculpture of the biblical character of

King David. David became a symbol of the Medici and of Florence, the underdogs up against the

stronger powers of Milan and other states of Italy. The Medici held control over the arts and

manipulated culture to always be in support of their family, wealth, and legacy.

By being strong and influential supporters of the arts, they inspired a social

transformation facing the outlooks on Christian ideas and art. This is one of the major ideas

belonging to the Renaissance. When art, poetry, and music are beautiful enough, they become

closer to the divine. By viewing and investing in such graceful and bewitching arts, one is

investing in a spiritual lift of the mind. With this in their minds, all art becomes sacred, and

secular art can begin to be widely accepted. This translates to the Medici in that their secular

actions can now be admissible. If money-making can be an artform, then the financial greed of

the Medici is justified before God and before the people of Florence.

The Medici family also controlled Florence through their threatening demeanor. Since

they funded almost all the families and workers in Florence, they could manipulate their actions
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and decisions. If someone were to refuse, the Medici could recall their debts or inflict worse

physical harm to the individual or their business. To call the Medici a kind of mafia would not be

an inappropriate assumption. The Medici had access and influence over the armies and soldiers

of Florence and could inflict punishment on anyone who tried to go against the family or bank

(Parks 87). Despite their many alliances, Florence was almost always at war with another Italian

state. The Medici made many enemies of rivaling wealthy families, and it is these rivalries that

lead to several of the Medici deaths.

So the Medici left a legacy as patrons of the arts and members of the priori and Papacy;

they financed great fortunes among Florence and the rest of Italy and created a new social

construct between the sacred and the secular arts. They created a lasting bank in renaissance Italy

while making a name for themselves as the Magnificent. But their unofficial reign was not

without its fiendish and immoral acts to prevent any “dethroning” of Medici power. They used

forceful elections and manipulations. They limited the class systems to prevent any rise of power

that would threaten their own. They raised armies and equipped militaristic tools to protect

themselves all in the name of protecting Florence. When experiencing the Renaissance and it’s

worth today, it would be impossible to ignore all that the Medici contributed with their influence,

but it is important to know the context and circumstances they facilitated in order to ensure their

legacy.

I pledge that I have acted honorably. 

 
 
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Signed: _____________________________
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Work Cited

Parks, Tim. Medici Money: Banking, Metaphysics, and Art in Fifteenth-Century Florence.

Profile, 2005.