Cosimo de Medici
Cosimo de Medici was born in Florence on September 27, 1389. His father, Giovanni de' Medici, founded the Medici bank in 1397. When he was young, he and his friends would sneak into churches and steal books and artwork from the Greek and roman era that had been hidden by the church in the Middle Ages. Giovanni died in 1429 and Cosimo inherited the bank from him. He expanded the bank into the largest and most respectable bank in Europe.
He continued the family tradition of helping the poor against wealthy ruling families. This gave him favor among the people and gained him many supporters. The other families became jealous of his popularity and wanted to ruin him and his family. The Albizzi family was the leader of this group, with the head Rinaldo degli Albizzi. It was the most powerful family in Florence before the Medici’s came to power. In 1433 the families had Cosimo arrested, hoping to have him executed. Cosimo paid of the head of justice and was exiled instead.
The next year a new government, who favored Cosimo, came to power. His exile ended and he returned to Florence. From then on he used large amounts of money to keep control on the government. Before his father died he gave him the advice to stay out of the spotlight. Because of this he controlled the government behind the scenes so that people would not think that he had too much power.
When he had complete control of the government he reformed the tax system. He reduced taxes on the middle class and poor and raised taxes on the wealthy. This gave him favor with the middle and poor citizens, but amplified the discontentment of the ruling families. The tax money was spent on public projects to beautify Florence. One of these projects was the Dome of Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower. It was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi and was the first dome built without scaffolding since the Middle Ages.
He also made Florence a world cultural center. He had manuscripts from the ancient world shipped from Florence from the Middle East. He had manuscripts that could not be bought copied. He had most of them sent to monasteries all throughout Florence, where they were available to the public. He kept some of them in a private library for himself. Many people became interested in the works of ancient Greece and Rome.
He founded the Platonic Academy in 1458, due to the great interest of Classics and persuasion from scholars. The academy held Plato’s work translated into Latin. Scholars from all over came to the academy to read and discuss Plato’s work. Also some of the greatest architects, painters, and sculptors visited the academy.
On August 1, 1464 Cosimo died. The City was so grateful for all of the things that he did that they awarded him the title Pater Patriae which means “Father of his Country”. This was carved on his tomb in the Church of San Lorenzo. It was a well deserved name. He put Florence on the map and propelled it from a typical Middle Ages City to a world famous cultural center.
Cosimo was extremely important to the Renaissance. He reintroduced the classics to Europe. If he and his friends had not broken into churches when they were young the knowledge of the Greeks and Roman might still be hidden in the catacombs of churches. With the reintroduction of classics people became interested in learning again. They learned not to blindly believe everything the church said and think for themselves. This caused people to view the world completely different and in very different ways than the church.
Cosimo also supported new and radical art and ideas. Europe was still very religious of during his life. It was a new concept of having non religious artwork. During the Middle Ages arts only purpose was to depict religious scenes. There was no focus on the quality of art because the only important thing was that Jesus and other saint were recognisable, which was easy because they had giant halos around their heads. Cosimo wanted art to be nice to look at. It was also unheard of to have nude art. Cosimo had many nude statues and paintings commissioned during his lifetime.
He was an early Humanist. He was an scholar, supporte art, and showed the power of the Medici family to the entire world by all the projects he did. Without Cosimo de Medici the Renaissance would not have happened at the time it did and the way that it did. He was the mastermind of the rebirth of learning and prosperity of the Renaissance.
He continued the family tradition of helping the poor against wealthy ruling families. This gave him favor among the people and gained him many supporters. The other families became jealous of his popularity and wanted to ruin him and his family. The Albizzi family was the leader of this group, with the head Rinaldo degli Albizzi. It was the most powerful family in Florence before the Medici’s came to power. In 1433 the families had Cosimo arrested, hoping to have him executed. Cosimo paid of the head of justice and was exiled instead.
The next year a new government, who favored Cosimo, came to power. His exile ended and he returned to Florence. From then on he used large amounts of money to keep control on the government. Before his father died he gave him the advice to stay out of the spotlight. Because of this he controlled the government behind the scenes so that people would not think that he had too much power.
When he had complete control of the government he reformed the tax system. He reduced taxes on the middle class and poor and raised taxes on the wealthy. This gave him favor with the middle and poor citizens, but amplified the discontentment of the ruling families. The tax money was spent on public projects to beautify Florence. One of these projects was the Dome of Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower. It was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi and was the first dome built without scaffolding since the Middle Ages.
He also made Florence a world cultural center. He had manuscripts from the ancient world shipped from Florence from the Middle East. He had manuscripts that could not be bought copied. He had most of them sent to monasteries all throughout Florence, where they were available to the public. He kept some of them in a private library for himself. Many people became interested in the works of ancient Greece and Rome.
He founded the Platonic Academy in 1458, due to the great interest of Classics and persuasion from scholars. The academy held Plato’s work translated into Latin. Scholars from all over came to the academy to read and discuss Plato’s work. Also some of the greatest architects, painters, and sculptors visited the academy.
On August 1, 1464 Cosimo died. The City was so grateful for all of the things that he did that they awarded him the title Pater Patriae which means “Father of his Country”. This was carved on his tomb in the Church of San Lorenzo. It was a well deserved name. He put Florence on the map and propelled it from a typical Middle Ages City to a world famous cultural center.
Cosimo was extremely important to the Renaissance. He reintroduced the classics to Europe. If he and his friends had not broken into churches when they were young the knowledge of the Greeks and Roman might still be hidden in the catacombs of churches. With the reintroduction of classics people became interested in learning again. They learned not to blindly believe everything the church said and think for themselves. This caused people to view the world completely different and in very different ways than the church.
Cosimo also supported new and radical art and ideas. Europe was still very religious of during his life. It was a new concept of having non religious artwork. During the Middle Ages arts only purpose was to depict religious scenes. There was no focus on the quality of art because the only important thing was that Jesus and other saint were recognisable, which was easy because they had giant halos around their heads. Cosimo wanted art to be nice to look at. It was also unheard of to have nude art. Cosimo had many nude statues and paintings commissioned during his lifetime.
He was an early Humanist. He was an scholar, supporte art, and showed the power of the Medici family to the entire world by all the projects he did. Without Cosimo de Medici the Renaissance would not have happened at the time it did and the way that it did. He was the mastermind of the rebirth of learning and prosperity of the Renaissance.