Student Question
How did the Medicis maintain control over Florence?
Quick answer:
The Medici family gained and held control in Florence through their wealth, political influence, patronage, and brutality. The founder of the family's power, Giovanni de' Medici, used his wealth to enter political office, influence supporters, and earn favor with the poor and working classes. His son and great-grandson, Cosimo and Lorenzo, built on his foundation. Cosimo became the unofficial ruler of Florence, and Lorenzo took the title “Il Magnifico.” Later, the family attained the titles of Duke and Grand Duke.
The Medici family gained and kept control of Florence for several centuries because of their money, influence, patronage, and (sometimes) brutality.
The Medici line rose to power in Florence under Giovanni de' Medici in the late 1300s and early 1400s. Giovanni was a banker and became a wealthy man, and he used some of his money to gain political influence. He was elected to the Signoria, the city's ruling body, and the family continued to rise in prominence and power although Giovanni himself was not all that interested in politics. His political position was important to him because it supported the family's banking and trade endeavors. Giovanni did, however, attain favor with the poor and working classes when he supported a property tax on the wealthy and when he patronized the arts and created work for Florence's many arts and craft guilds.
Giovanni's son, Cosimo the Elder, took over...
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from his father. He continued the family's businesses, patronage, and political influence, but he also took that influence to the next level. He grew so powerful that he became the “Gran Maestro” of Florence in 1434. The position was technically “unofficial,” but in reality, Cosimo ruled the city with the proverbial iron rod. He used his money to put allies into supporting roles, silence the opposition (often by force), curry favor with the populace, and put on a great show of power and grandeur both at his own family palace and by his patronage of the arts and the Church. Cosimo died in 1464, and the city buried him with kingly honors, declaring himpater patriae, the father of his country.
Cosimo's grandson, Lorenzo, followed closely in his grandfather's footsteps. He expanded the family's wealth and influence even further, supporting grand artistic projects, ruthlessly putting down opposition (including that of the monk Savonarola and the so-called Pazzi plot), and gaining the title “Il Magnifico,” the Magnificent.
Lorenzo's son, Piero, however, was not nearly so savvy in politics and business as his ancestors, and he lost power for the Medici family in Florence and was forced into exile. Thanks to the influence of a cousin who had become the pope, the Medici exile lasted only fewer than twenty years, and Medici descendents officially gained the title of Duke of Florence and, later, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Medici relatives entered positions of power throughout Europe and helped to uphold the family's status and control, which was now formally hereditary. The Medici rule in Tuscany finally ended in 1737, when the last Medici duke died without an heir.