How Did The Medici Family Influence European Society
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The Medici family was arguably the most powerful and influential family of Europe during the period of the late Middle Ages. Wealthier than the Rockefellers and more powerful than the Tudors, the House of Medici financed the Renaissance and detonated the Reformation. Accumulating its legendary power by establishing and managing the “Medici Bank,” the Medici family was to remain omnipotent influentially, only as long as their emphasis and concentrations were directed towards their business ventures. As the Medici family’s involvement in politics and the church grew, its members’ immersion and concern with royal, illustrious affairs caused the decline of the great economic empire. However, as the dominating power of Europe for three-hundred years, the Medici family had extraordinary influence over European society. The…show more content… The success of the bank transformed the Medici family into what historians believe to be one of the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest, family in Europe. The Medicis introduced innovations in accounting, and handled many of Europe’s wealthiest merchant’s finances. In fact, at one point the “florin”, the currency of the Medici Bank, was the preferred form of money for the whole of Europe. Additionally, much of the bank’s capital was used to fund the Medici’s luxurious lifestyles, and Medici military operations.
Giovanna de Bicci de Medici is credited with founding and launching the Medici Bank in 1397. He did so by rising to the position of general manager of a distant relative’s ,Vieri di Cambio, bank in Rome in 1385. As the manager of the only surviving branch of the bank, Giovanni separated his bank from di Cambio and moved it to Florence. This foresightful relocation proved to be extremely auspicious and advantageous as Florence had yet to gain a decent port on the Mediterranean , and allowed the bank to invest its capital more easily in Florence than