Medici, Cosimo de' (1389–1464)

Ruler of Florence and founder of the Medici dynasty, one of the wealthiest and most influential clans of Europe. The son of Giovanni de' Medici, a gonfalero (high official) of Florence, Cosimo inherited a fortune made by his father in the new industry of international banking. The Medici profited from expanded trade and business contacts among the nations, which called for more sophisticated methods of exchanging and investing money. On inheriting the family's bank in 1429, Cosimo set out to increase business by lending money to European rulers and investing in trading expeditions to Africa and Asia.

Cosimo rankled the aristocrats of Florence by enlisting the artisans and guilds of the city to his side. He was arrested in 1433 at the instigation of his most powerful rivals, the wealthy Albizzi clan. Threatened with a trial and execution, he was eventually exiled from the city after paying a bribe to the head of the city's justice department. In the next year, a new Florentine government overturned his sentence, the Albizzi were banished, and Cosimo returned to the city. He soon held the reigns of power firmly in his hands, by appointing his own supporters to the high offices known as magistracies. Although he held no formal title, Cosimo enjoyed fervent support among common people and ordinary workers. With his popularity greater than ever, he reformed the tax system to favor the middle class and spent great amounts of money on important public works, including the restoration of the Church of San Lorenzo. He allied the city with Milan and Venice, in order to balance the power of Naples and the Papacy. This balance of power survived into the late fifteenth century under the skillful management of his grandson, Lorenzo de' Medici.

Cosimo also began a Medici tradition of patronage of the arts and letters. He invited artists and sculptors to contribute their works to his palace and local churches. He collected manuscripts from throughout Europe and had them copied and preserved. The books were gathered in local monasteries and made available to scholars and writers. Cosimo also founded the Academy of Plato, also known as the Neoplatonic Academy, to teach the philosophy and writings of this ancient Greek writer, under the leadership of Marsilio Ficino. These actions made Florence the center of an emerging new view of the world that placed the genius of human artists and philosophers on an equal footing with the inspiration of traditional religion.

See Also: Ficino, Marsilio; humanism; Medici, Lorenzo de'