A Magnificent Family – Review of The Medici: Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance by Paul Strathern

I had become vaguely aware of the Medici family a few years back from reading a very interesting book, The Artist, the Philosopher and the Warrior, that dealt with the intersection of the lives of three of the most interesting people of the renaissance period: the military commander and son of a pope, Cesare Borgia; the father of realpolitik, Niccolo Machiavelli; and one of history’s most brilliant minds, Leanardo da Vinci. In this book, the Medicis made various cameo appearances: as patrons of da Vinci or as rivals of the democratic / republican government that employed Machiavelli until it fell and Medici rule was restored. I found it quite interesting that one family had such an impact on the renaissance and filed it somewhere in my cluttered mind to read more about this family at some point.

This is why I was happy to come across this really interesting book that provides a very informative but highly accessible history of the Medici family. Starting from the generally accepted founder of the Medici family, Giovanni di Bicci and ending with Gian Gastone (the last male member of the line), we are taken on a whirlwind tour of the renaissance as this famous family faced its ups and downs in the notoriously fickle republican politics of Florence. We become acquainted with the Medicis’ active encouragement of artists of the high renaissance and their participation in, and moderating influence on, the tempestuous political environment that was pre-unification Italy. To read the history of the Medici family is to become acquainted with 350 years of Italian (and wider European) history.

I found a number of the Medicis to be particularly noteworthy. There’s Giovanni di Bicci, the founder of the family who came from humble roots but who through sheer tenacity and a great deal of shrewdness was able to establish a bank that was one of the few multinational enterprises of his day. His son, Cosimi pater patriae (father of the nation) extended the power and wealth of the family but there is no doubt that Giovanni was a very giant shoulder that he was able to stand on. Probably the Medici I found most fascinating is Giovanni di Lorenzo, better known as Pope Leo X. This second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent (and great-grandson of Cosimi pater patriae) became a Cardinal at the age of 13, had been thrown out of Florence with his elder brother by the age of 19 and had been elected pope at the age of 38 - partly on the hope that this famously overweight and unhealthy cardinal will be passive and will soon oblige everyone by passing on to heaven shortly. He shocked everyone by reigning for a very active eight years, during which he was an active patron of the arts, vigorously championed the military aspects of the papacy and managed to restore his family’s hold over Florence – something his incompetent older brother had managed to lose after the death of their father: Lorenzo the Magnificent. The urge by this possibly agnostic pope to raise huge sums of money for his public works projects (especially for reconstructing St. Peter’s Basilica) led to the aggressive and shameless sale of indulgences that drove a young German priest named Martin Luther to launch what came to be known as the Protestant Reformation.

The story of the Medici is not one of an unbroken chain of great men. The male line of the Medici essentially ended with Gian Gastone, the last Medici to be Grand Duke of Tuscany (the Medici ended up becoming along the way). This is a man that is as close to a poster child for the dangers of hereditary leadership as is possible to devise. Although Gian Gastone’s father had managed to preside over a long decline of the city over 50 years of a largely mediocre reign, under Gian Gastone’s reign Florence really came off the rails. During a visit to Florence during his reign, the French philosopher Montesquieu remarked that "there is no town where men live in less luxury than Florence" – this said about a city that brought enlightenment and splendor to Europe under the direction and patronage of his ancestors. He was said to spend the vast majority of his time in bed, entertained with the most debauched acts by the Ruspanti – a group of young men; hardly ever rose before noon and paid zero attention to affairs of state. He was so ineffectual a leader that the inheritance to his grand duchy was twice awarded by leading European powers during his lifetime with absolutely no input from him – they just told him which European prince he had to adopt as his heir and he simply just went along with it.

The biggest point I took away from reading the book was how difficult it is to maintain intergenerational competence and hence to sustain hereditary as a meaningful organizing principle for any kind of leadership (business, political or otherwise). Too many great family histories tend to start off with striving, disciplined men from relatively humble roots like Giovanni di Bicci and end with incompetent men like Gian Gastone, who no one would elect dog catcher if there weren’t born into the role.