The Medici

Family
The Medici
Family
• House of Medici.
• Italian bourgeois family.
• First attained wealth and political
power in the 13th century through
their success in commerce and
banking.
• Ruled Florence and, later, Tuscany
(1434-1737).
• Dynasty began with the founding of
the Medici Bank in 1397.
The Medici
Family
 The Medici
• Cosimo
1464)The Elder.
Family
Cosimo de’ Medici (1389–

• Italian banker and

politician.
• Established The
Medici Family.
• Made Florence origin
of Renaissance
through support of
arts, culture, science,
and humanities in
1434.
The Medici
Family Medici Bank (1397-1494)
• Founded by Giovanni di Bicci de
Medici (1397)
• Europe’s largest bank
during the Medicis’
prime.
• Most prosperous and
most respected in
Europe.
• The Medici Family was
considered the
wealthiest in Europe.
The Medici
Family Medici Bank (1397-1494)
• Founded by Giovanni di Bicci de Medici (1397)
• Used Fractional Reserve Banking system
 holds only a fraction of deposits in the bank, with
remaining funds used to lend or invest to obtain a yield.
 double-entry bookkeeping
 A ledger that records both
debits and credits.
 led to the bank’s failure.
The Medici
Family
 The Medici
• Family
Influential in the Renaissance period in
the 15th century.
• Enabled great artists, humanists and
writers to produce influential works
• Brought stability and peace to the city of
Florence
• Brought peace to North Italy.
• Very instrumental in the growing interest
in Greek culture and history.
• Dynasty ended after the last Medici ruler
died in 1737 without a male heir.
• Ruled for almost 300 years
 POPE LEO X (1475-1521)
• Giovanni di Lorenzo de’
Medici
• Catholic Church head and
Papal States ruler (9 March
1513 - December 1521)
POPE CLEMENTE VII (1478-1534)
• Gulio de’ Medici
• Catholic Church head and Papal
States ruler (19 November 1523 -
25 September 1534)
 POPE PIUS IV (1499-1565)
• Giovanni Angelo Medici
• Catholic Church head and Papal
States ruler (25 December 1559
- December 1565)
 POPE LEO XI (1535-1605)
• Alessandro Ottaviano de'
Medici
• Catholic Church head and
Papal States ruler (1 April
1605 - 27 April 1605)
 Impacts to Arts, Culture, &
Science
• Revival of learning, rationality and
the arts.
• Made Florence undisputed beacon
of culture during Renaissance.

• New techniques in painting and

discoveries in science.
• Stoked the humanist flame.
 Influenced the Protestant
Reformation.
 Creation of new universities.
 Age of Exploration
 Artists & Scientists
supported by the Medici
Family
• Loreno Ghiberti
• Filippo Brunelleschi
• Michelangelo
• Donatello
• Fra Angelico
• Leonardo da Vinci
• Raphael Santi
• Galileo Galilei
Renaissance Humanism
Renaissance Humanism
• An intellectual
movement typified by a
revived interest in the
classical world and
studies which focussed
not on religion but on
what it is to be human.
Renaissance Humanism
HUMANISTS
• Believed in the importance of
education in classical
• literature.
Promotion of civic virtue
 realizing a person's full
potential for own good
and for the good of the
society.
Renaissance Humanism
MAIN ELEMENTS
• Interest in studying literature and art from antiquity.
• Interest in the eloquent use of Latin and philology.
• Belief in the importance and power of education to create
useful citizens.
• The promotion of private and civic virtue.
• Rejection of scholasticism.
• Encouragement of non-religious studies.
Renaissance Humanism
MAIN ELEMENTS
• Emphasis on the individual and their moral autonomy.
• Belief in the importance of observation, critical analysis, and
creativity.
• Belief that poets, writers, and artists can lead humanity to a
better way of living.
• Interest in the question 'what does it mean to be human'?
Renaissance Humanism
FRANCESCO PETRARCH
(20 July 1304 CE - 19 July 1374 CE)
• Petrarca, Born in Arezzo, Italy
• An Italian scholar, poet, and one of the earliest
Humanists.
• Studied law at:
 University of Montpellier at age 12 (1316–
1320)
 University of Bologna (1320–1323)
• Was primarily interested in writing and Latin
literature.
Renaissance Humanism
FRANCESCO PETRARCH
(20 July 1304 CE - 19 July 1374 CE)
• Collected crumbling manuscripts in his travels.
• Prime mover in the recovery of knowledge
from writers of Rome and Greece.
• Served as an ambassador.
• "The First Tourist"
• Challenged medieval traditions of the
Catholic church.
• Italian celebrity, crowned the poet laureate
(official state poet) of Rome in 1341.
Renaissance Humanism
CANZONIERE
• "Rime in vita e morte di Madonna
• Laura"
Composed of 366 poems.
• Written in Italian.
• Innovative collection of poems
celebrating his idealised love for Laura.
 married young woman Petrarch first saw
in church.
 believed to be fictional by others.
• Written over a 40-year period. (1327-
1368)
Renaissance Humanism
GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO (1313 CE – 1375 CE)
• Born in Tuscany (Either Certaldo or Florence)
• Italian poet, writer, and scholar.
• Important Renaissance humanist.
• His most famous and influential work is the
Decameron.
 compiled between 1348 and 1353 CE
 made up of 3 men and 7 women characters
 Each member is allowed to become
king/queen for a day.
Renaissance Humanism
GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO (1313 CE – 1375 CE)
Some of the 100 short stories in “Decameron”:
 Day 1, 10th Story: Master Alberto
of Bologna.
 Day 5: 6th Story: Gianni di
 On theProcida
Catholic Church's list of
forbidden books in the mid-16th century
CE.
Renaissance Humanism
GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO (1313 CE – 1375 CE)
 Day 1, 10th Story: Master Alberto of
Bologna.
 the story is about Alberto de’ Zancari,
an old brilliant physician, that fell in
love with Malgherida de’ Ghisolieri.
 Were chastised by Master Albert by
mocking him with clever remarks.
Renaissance Humanism
GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO (1313 CE – 1375 CE)
 Disappointing love affairs and
deteriorating health made Giovanni
depressive.to burn and sell his work,
 Attempted
letters, manuscripts, and library.
 Petrarch convinced him not to burn his
belonging, offered to purchase them
from him.
 Literary presented to monastery of Santo
Spirito, in Florence, after his death.
THANK YOU
 References
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History.com Editors. (2018, August 21). The Medici Family. HISTORY; A&E Television Networks.
https://www.history.com/topics/renaissance/medici-family
LitCharts. (n.d.). LitCharts. Retrieved October 20, 2023, from https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-
decameron/day-1-tenth-tale#summary-241994
Petrarch (1304–1374) - The Complete Canzoniere. (2019). Poetryintranslation.com.
https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Italian/Petrarchhome.php
Redman, J. (2023, April 16). The Fall of Medici Bank: Lessons on Fractional Reserve Banking From
15th Century Italy – Featured Bitcoin News. Bitcoin News. https://news.bitcoin.com/the-fall-of-
medici-bank-lessons-on-fractional-reserve-banking-from-15th-century-italy/
Whipps, H. (2008, May 5). How the Wealthy Medici Changed the World. Livescience.com; Live
Science. https://www.livescience.com/4918-wealthy-medici-changed-world.html