FAMILY OF, celebrated in the history of Florence and Tuscany during the fifteenth century, was one which, by its extraordinary industry and activity at a time when the Florentines extended their commerce over the known world, rose to be one of the first in the republic. This opulence secured to its members so great an influence in public affairs, that they became the most powerful and the most highly respected of the many citizens whose public virtues were such as free and popular governments alone can develop. It was through the sincere attachment of their ancestors to the more democratic party of the democratic republic of Florence, that the House of Medici, in after generations, acquired its extraordinary popularity. The origin of its influence may be traced to Giovanni de' Medici, who in 1342 was in the service of Gauthier de Brienne, Duke of Athens, and tyrant of Florence. Gauthier having been chiefly indebted to him for the power he enjoyed, resolved to get rid of this obligation. Accordingly, under pretext that Giovanni had not with sufficient vigour defended Lucca against the Pisans, he caused him to be put to death. The Medici swore to be avenged, sided with the people, and by their powerful influence were chiefly instrumental in freeing their country from that tyrant. Soon after this the nobility, who had for fifty years been excluded from all share in public affairs, attempted to regain their ancient authority, but found a powerful opponent in Alamanno de' Medici, the head of the family, who called the people to arms, and finally expelled the nobles.

Some time after, when the two factions of the Ricci and the Albizzi were struggling for power, this house, though not so strong, remained faithful to the people; and in 1360 Bartomoleo de' Medici, son of Alamanno, conspired against the Albizzi, who were at the head of the government. The conspiracy was discovered; but he escaped capital punishment through the protection of his brother Silvestro de' Medici, a man high in office and greatly esteemed. Silvestro further increased his popularity in 1378, when, having been appointed gonfaloniere of justice, he thought it necessary, for the liberty of his country, to lower the authority of the Albizzi, and to raise the democratic party. After Silvestro's death, the aristocratic Albizzi having attempted to regain the power they had lost, the people revolted; and in 1393 chose Veri de' Medici, son of Silvestro, as their chief. This good citizen, however, instead of making himself master of the republic, as he could easily have done, modestly used his influence to calm the agitation and restore peace and unanimity. But the nobility did not fulfil their promises, and fearing the popularity of the Medici, banished the family of Silvestro from the republic. In 1397 one of them, Antonio de' Medici, having tried to get back to Florence, fell into the hands of his enemies, and was forthwith executed. Several conspiracies were attempted up to the year 1440, which effected nothing but the destruction of the more influential members of the family. The few who now remained in Florence were too insignificant to be suspected or feared. One of them, Giovanni de' Bicci de' Medici, born 1360, belonged to a branch of the family that, either from want of genius, or from poverty, had never been distinguished in public life. Giovanni passed his youth in obscurity, became a small merchant, rose to be a third-class banker, and by constant application and prudent economy gradually improved his fortune. Having visited Bible and Constance, where the famous councils were being held, he took advantage of the high rate of exchange, and greatly increased his wealth.

On his return to Florence, where his name was dear to a people who still held Silvestro and Veri in grateful remembrance, Giovanni was regarded by all, from his wealth and wisdom, as well as from his firm traditional attachment to pure democracy, as the only man in the entire republic capable of putting an effective check upon the growing influence of the oligarchy. The Albizzi, still in power, reluctantly yielding to the popular feeling, accepted Giovanni as one of the priors of Florence in 1402, 1408, 1411. This new position in public life gradually restored the declining influence of the family of the Medici. Giovanni went as ambassador to Naples in 1408, was governor (podestà) of Pistoja in 1407, and was sent ambassador to Pope Alexander V. in 1409 to congratulate him on his elevation to the papal chair. In 1412 he went to the congress of Pietrasanta to settle the dispute with the Genoese, who would not suffer Portovenere to be given to the Florentines. In 1420 he was one of the deputies appointed to accompany to the confines of the state Martin V., who had just been elected at the council of Constance; and finally, in 1421, he became gonfaloniere, and one of the ten who had to direct the war against Milan in 1423. He died in 1429, at the age of sixty-nine. From this Giovanni de' Bicci descended that double line of the Medici who, till a very recent period, ruled over Florence and Tuscany. He left two sons, Cosmo and Lorenzo, the former of whom may be considered as the founder of the family's greatness. Cosmo de' Medici, born in 1389, and elected one of the priors of Florence in 1416, became at the death of his father leader of the Medicean party. A banker, like his ancestors, he followed their example in liberality and splendour. In his palace, one of the finest in the world, he assembled the artistic, the literary, the learned, and the scientific men of Italy. The Greeks who had left the fallen empire of Byzantium sought refuge under his hospitable roof, and found in him a generous patron. He collected ancient books and works of art from all parts, and greatly contributed to the revival of learning in Europe. Knowing that patronage is more indispensable for the progress of the fine arts than for that of literature, he rewarded artistic genius with the utmost munificence. He distributed his bounty with an unsparing hand, often advanced money without security, and when he knew his claim might be disputed, he did not ask for a return. By these means he gained immense popularity, and was enabled to become a formidable opponent to Rinaldo degli Albizzi, at that time head of the Florentine republic. Rinaldo thought it necessary for his own safety to get rid of him; and having in 1433 succeeded in obtaining as magistrates of the Signoria men who were of his party, he summoned Cosmo to the palace, and, among other things, accused him of having caused the failure of the war against Lucca. The sentence of death was about to be pronounced, when the gonfaloniere, Bernardo Guadagni, bribed by Cosmo's friends, proposed that he and all his partizans should be exiled.

Cosmo retired to Venice, the ancient ally of Florence, and there, living in splendid exile, he built new palaces, gathered around him artists from all parts, collected books and manuscripts, employed learned men to correct them, and kept up a more active correspondence than ever with his friends and partizans both in and out of Florence. A year had scarcely passed, when, despite the exclusion of Cosmo's known friends from the ballot, the people elected a body of magistrates, or Signoria, less hostile to his family, by whom he was desired to return. Thus formally recalled, he triumphantly entered his native town, was enthusiastically received by the democratic party, and in 1434 intrusted by the priors to reorganize the state; while Rinaldo degli Albizzi and his friends were driven into exile. "This was a revolution," says Sismondi, "without bloodshed, but a revolution which laid the foundation of the Medicean tyranny, and sealed the death-warrant of the republic." After having ruled Florence for thirty years, he died in 1464, bequeathing his power to his eldest son Pietro. Cosmo was called by public decree the "Father of his country." His chief object, before his exile, was so to centre all the interests of Florence in himself, that he might become the soul of the political, monetary, commercial, artistic, literary, and scientific activity of his country. On his return, having defeated all rival factions, and assumed the supreme power, he thought Florence would never be tranquil, or maintain her ascendancy, so long as internal factions leagued themselves with neighbouring hostile potentates, who made party struggles subservient to their policy of repressing the Tuscan republic. The project he then formed of restraining the mutual jealousies of the Italian states by bringing them to a better understanding of their common interests, of making Tuscany the centre of a system of political equilibrium, or, in other words, making Florence the ruling power in Italy, while he himself was at head of affairs,—has been considered by some as Cosmo's principal title to political fame; while others more justly see in him the author of that centralization which, by destroying individual activity, prepared the way for the despotism of his descendants. He devoted himself very much to the study of Plato, whose philosophy he laboured to restore with all the energy he was accustomed to give to everything he undertook.

One of the most illustrious, if not the greatest member, of this family was Lorenzo I., afterwards called the Magnificent, born in 1448 of Lucrezia Tornabuoni and Pietro son of Cosmo. In 1467, when scarcely twenty years of age, he succeeded his father, a man of weak and irresponsible character, who, during the short period of his government (1464 to 1467), had greatly impaired the popularity of the reigning family. Surrounded by false friends, who envied the greatness of the pretended democratic family, Pietro had not sufficient penetration to perceive his difficult situation, or the talent to make himself master of it. Seeing his patrimony had been greatly reduced by the prodigality of Cosmo, he, to regain wealth, and keep up the family influence, asked all the old debtors of Cosmo, which included a vast number of the people of Florence, to return the money which had been lent to them. Discontent, prosecution, conspiracy, and bloodshed were the only result of this policy; and on the death of Pietro, Lorenzo became heir to an inheritance of discontent and disaffection, which, if not speedily put down, was likely to prove fatal to his rising ambition. Lorenzo set to work with all the energy of a youth of twenty. His experience of state affairs dated as far back as Cosmo's death in 1464, when, at the age of sixteen, he had been often called upon to take part in important affairs in place of his infirm father. His youth induced the true friends of the Medici to associate with him his younger brother Giuliano. Having enjoyed the advantage of a first-rate education in literature, science, and philosophy, they learned early to imitate the literary and artistic munificence of their grandfather as well as his political wisdom. No sooner, however, had the two young brothers been placed at the head of the government, than the famous conspiracy of the Pazzi broke out, by which Giuliano lost his life in the church of Santa Reparata; while Lorenzo, although wounded, succeeded in saving himself by taking shelter in the sacristy. The people, who loved the Medici, put all the conspirators to death on the spot; "and more than sixty persons," writes Machiavelli, "either real or suspected accomplices, were executed by the infuriated mob, among whom was Francis Salviati, Archbishop of Pisa." Pope Sixtus IV., who seems to have encouraged the murderous attempt, and who was as much the avowed friend of the conspirators as the enemy of the Medici, exasperated at the ill success of the plot, excommunicated Lorenzo and the Florentines, under pretext that they had hanged the archbishop in his episcopal robes, and detained the Cardinal Riaro in prison. Spiritual arms having proved ineffectual, he had recourse to temporal means, and by persuasion, exhortation, and menaces, induced some of the Italian potentates to raise an army against the Medici. Ferdinand, King of Naples, having become the principal ally of the pope, Lorenzo turned to France and Lombardy, and urged them to join him against the pope. The disasters experienced by the republic during the first campaigns only added to the excitement of the Florentines, who aided Lorenzo with the utmost enthusiasm. The evil, however, became too evident. Italy was about to become a battlefield, and civil progress would have been suspended, commerce and industry destroyed, the fortunes of the rising family endangered, if not annihilated, had not Lorenzo resolved by a bold and unprecedented act to extinguish the spark before it should burst forth into a flame. Without giving previous intimation, he set forth alone for Naples, and trusting to the faith of a noble adversary, put himself in the hands of his enemies. He went to the palace of King Ferdinand, and pled his cause in person, showing that the condition of Italy and the disposition of her princes and people were equally adverse to a general war; while the advantages of peace were as great as they were honourable. The king, struck with the ardour, eloquence, and political wisdom of the youth, not only consented to make peace, but immediately framed a treaty of mutual friendship between the two states (1479). The pope, thus left alone, was obliged to yield. Lorenzo returned to Florence, where he was looked upon with that respect which is the sure reward of successful daring. The policy of Cosmo now began to triumph; the influence of the Medici extended beyond the walls of Florence; their reputation became Italian; their preponderance was felt throughout the whole peninsula; and by their means the republic of Florence served to maintain a political equilibrium among the Italian states. The dream of Cosmo was thus realized by Lorenzo.

He now turned his attention to the arts of peace. Italian literature, which had shone with so much splendour through the genius of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, during the thirteenth century, had suddenly fallen into mediocrity and contempt. The study of Greek and Latin, which had been revived by the large-minded Cosmo, had perhaps tended to this injurious result. The lingua volgare was not yet considered noble; and no philosopher or scientific man could write his works in his native tongue. The learned language of the time was Latin, and all literary men, inspired by the example of Cosmo, gave their serious attention to its revival. Lorenzo, however, with a truer perception of the changes demanded by the progress of modern society, restored the Italian language to honour, wrote poetry in it himself, and led the way for Poliziano and Pulci, poets that will be read as long as the Italian language is known. He did not, however, neglect the classics; and he even vied with his grandfather in his zeal for collecting manuscripts and books; thus laying the foundation of the Laurentian Library, which, after all it has suffered from ruthless spoliation, is still the admiration of the world. Poliziano, in one of his letters, declares that Lorenzo used to say he would sell his furniture to buy new books, if he could not otherwise find means to do so. He sent Giovanni Lascaris, a learned Greek, twice to the East, at his own expense, to collect manuscripts. In addition to these services, this magnificent patron of learning established schools in all parts of the Florentine republic, and founded the university of Pisa, from which were disseminated through Italy, and thence through the rest of Europe, that taste for art, science, and literature, which has done so much for modern European civilization. It was to him that Machiavelli dedicated his famous book Il Principe, and the celebrated secretary characterizes him as "eloquent and witty in discussion, wise in resolve, prompt and courageous in action." So great was the influence of Lorenzo's reputation, that he succeeded in causing his son Giovanni to be created cardinal at the age of thirteen, who became afterwards the celebrated Leo X.; and likewise put forward Giulio de' Medici, the illegitimate son of his unfortunate brother Giuliano, who became the no less celebrated Clement VII. Lorenzo died in 1492, at the age of forty-four.

From Cosmo issued in direct succession the Dukes of Florence until 1537, when the Duke Alexander having been assassinated by Lorenzino, a descendant of the younger branch, the authority passed to that branch in Cosmo, who was the first of that series of grand dukes who ruled till 1737.

The Medici first gained absolute preponderance over the Florentine republic by their wealth, their patriotism, and their attachment to the democratic party. When their power was consolidated they became aristocratic, and finally upheld their authority by despotism and tyranny. Their in-

Among the numerous works referring to this subject the following are the more important:—Nestor, Histoire des Hommes Illustres de la Maison de Medici, Paris, 1654; Ruby's Discours de la Maison de Medici de Florence, Lyon, 1604; Strazzi, Della Famiglia Medici, 1618; Ammirato, Ritratti d'Uomini Illustri di Casa Medici del Regno de' Duchi di Firenze e Granduchi di Toscana d'Aulbercino, Eloges de Princes de la Famille de Medici, Paris, 1627; J. M. Braili, Florentina Historia, Libri viii., Lyon, 1562; Varillas, Les Anecdotes de Florence, ou l'Histoire Secrete de la Maison de Medici, Haye, 1657; Varchi, Storia delle Rivoluzioni di Firenze sotto i Medici, Colonna, 1792; Bianchini, De' Granduchi di Toscana di Reale Medici protettori delle Lettere e delle Belle Arti Regionali, Roma, Venezia, 1741; Boissat, Le Brillant de Rome, ou Vie des Hommes Illustres du nom de Medici, 1645; Galluzzi, Storia del Granduca di Toscana sotto i Medici, Firenze, 1781; Tenhove's Memoire of the House of Medici, translated from the French by Sir C. Clayton, Bath, 1797. For the Life of Cosmo the Ancient, see Rozzi Silvano, Vita di Cosimo de' Medici il più vecchio, Firenze; Maffei (Timoteo) In Magnificenza Cosimi Medici detractores Medici, ibid.; Fabroni, Magni Cosimi Medici Vita, Pisa, 1789, the best work on the subject; Cavalcanti, Del Curatore, dell' ingegno umile, e del triangolo ritornato di Cosimo Padre dello stesso Medici, published under the Canon Moreni, Firenze, 1821. For the Life of Lorenzo, Roscoe's Life of Lorenzo de' Medici, 2 vols. 4to, 1796, and the Italian translation, Milan, with many additions and corrections. The Life and Postfatti di Leo X., by Roscoe, contains one of the most interesting accounts of the revival of letters and of the progress of the fine arts in our language, and has added much to our accurate knowledge of that important historical epoch (4 vols. quarto). See also Litta, Famiglie Celebri Italiane, Milano, 1832-38. (N. F.)