Cosimo de' Medici
Cosimo de' Medici (1389 – 1464) was a Florentine banker and statesman who ran the Medici Bank and, while holding almost no public office, effectively led Florence for thirty years, from 1434 until his death. Arrested and exiled by the Albizzi faction in 1433, he returned the next year, and his patronage of artists and scholars such as Brunelleschi, Donatello and Fra Angelico laid the foundations of Renaissance Florence. After his death he was given the title “Father of the Fatherland”.
| Lived | 1389 – 1464 |
|---|---|
| Active in | Florence · Padua and Venice (in exile) |
| Known for | The Medici Bank; patron of the Renaissance; “Father of the Fatherland” |
| Game start | 1433 · age 44 · Head of the Medici Bank (commoner banker) — The Ledger of the City of Flowers |
Life at a glance
- 1389 Born in Florence on 27 September, son of the banker Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici.
- 1429 His father dies and he inherits the Medici Bank, which handles the papacy's funds.
- 1433 Blamed for the failed war against Lucca, he is arrested on 7 September by a Signoria of Rinaldo degli Albizzi's faction, locked in the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio, and exiled to Padua for ten years.
- 1434 When a pro-Medici Signoria is chosen he returns to Florence in October, and the Albizzi faction is exiled.
- 1436 Brunelleschi's dome is completed and Pope Eugene IV consecrates the cathedral.
- 1439 Pays to bring the council on the union of the Eastern and Western churches to Florence, and welcomes the Byzantine emperor John VIII.
- 1440 The Milanese army is beaten at the Battle of Anghiari.
- c. 1444 Has Michelozzo build the Medici palace, and opens a library at the convent of San Marco that anyone may use.
- 1454 After Francesco Sforza, whom he had financed, became Duke of Milan in 1450, the Peace of Lodi establishes a balance of power in Italy.
- 1464 Dies on 1 August at his villa at Careggi, and the Signoria awards him the title “Father of the Fatherland”.
Family
The family members who appear with this character when you start the game. Years follow the historical record; where none survives, a ? is shown.
| Relation | Name | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Father | Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici | 1360 – 1429 | Banker who founded the Medici Bank |
| Mother | Piccarda Bueri | ? – 1433 | |
| Younger brother | Lorenzo | 1395 – 1440 | Ran the bank with him |
| Wife | Contessina de' Bardi | c. 1390 – 1473 | Daughter of the Bardi banking family |
| Son | Piero | 1416 – 1469 | Piero “the Gouty”; succeeded his father as leader of Florence; father of Lorenzo the Magnificent |
| Son | Giovanni | 1421 – 1463 | Managed the bank but died before his father |
In the game
You begin in September 1433 in Florence as a banker of forty-four. You are a commoner with no land or title, but you have the papacy's ledgers, branches in many cities, plenty of gold and wit. This morning the Signoria summoned you to the Palazzo Vecchio, and the first event is the tower where you are locked up, the “Alberghettino”.
The turning point is “If Cosimo had not returned”. Whether you send gold to the gonfaloniere from the tower, smuggle letters to your friends in Venice, and the year you spend in exile move the balance between the Medici and Albizzi factions. Return in 1434, and the story runs through the council and Anghiari, the Milanese succession and the Peace of Lodi to your becoming “Father of the Fatherland”; fail to return, and another branch runs to the end in which you live as an exile on the Venetian lagoon.
Your wife Contessina, your frail eldest son Piero, your second son Giovanni and your brother Lorenzo are with you. The ending is in 1464, and the Pazzi conspiracy of 1478 waits in your heir's generation.
- Scenario guide The Ledger of the City of Flowers
- Era guide Middle Ages
Frequently asked questions
Why is Cosimo called “Father of the Fatherland”?
After his death the Signoria of Florence gave him the title “Father of the Fatherland” (Pater Patriae) in honour of thirty years of peace and prosperity, and it was carved on his tomb in San Lorenzo. In ancient Rome the title had been given to Cicero and Augustus.
Why was Cosimo arrested and exiled?
When the war against Lucca begun in 1429 failed, Rinaldo degli Albizzi, who held power, blamed the Medici and tried to break their growing influence. Some wanted him put to death, but the sentence was ten years' exile in Padua, and it is said that he spent money to get the sentence lightened.
What was Cosimo's role in the Renaissance?
He was patron of Brunelleschi's San Lorenzo, Michelozzo's Medici palace and the convent of San Marco (with Fra Angelico's frescoes), and works by Donatello, and he collected classical manuscripts and opened a library. Giving Marsilio Ficino the villa at Careggi so that he could translate Plato into Latin was the starting point of Florentine Platonism.
Sources
Vespasiano da Bisticci, Lives of Illustrious Men; Niccolò Machiavelli, Florentine Histories, books 4–7; general histories of the Renaissance.