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Medici Cosimo (Elder)

Name: Cosimo de' Medici, the Elder

Nickname/Alias: Cosimo the Elder; Cosimo il Vecchio

 

Achievements: Florentine financier, statesman and philanthropist who founded one of the main lines of the Medici family,  that ruled Florence from 1434 to 1537.

 Born: September 27, 1389; Florence, Italy

Died: August 1, 1464; Careggi, near Florence, Italy (Aged 74).

 Field & Discipline: Banking, Politics; Art; Financier; Statesman; Art Patron

Language: Italian; Latin

Father: Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (1360-1429)

Mother: Unknown

Siblings: Lorenzo (1394-1440)

Spouse: Unknown

Children: Piero (1416-69); Giovanni (1424-63)

Education: Florence

Life & Times:

In 1413 Cosimo was sent to the Council of Constance as representative of the Medici bank, and to learn more about ecclesiastical politics. In 1421, when Cosimo was taking over the bank from his ageing father, Pope Martin V appointed the manager of the Rome branch of the Medici bank "depositary of the papal chamber," which meant that all papal revenues were to pass through his hands.One result of this close relationship with the papacy was that Cosimo became extremely wealthy. During the 1420s he became involved in Florentine politics, but his wealth aroused the suspicion Rinaldo degli Albizzi (a member of another of Florence's leading families), and a personal rivalry developed between the two men.

In 1429-30 Cosimo opposed a war against Lucca (promoted and to a large part orchestrated by Albizzi), and when this enterprise ended in failure in 1433, Cosimo was imprisoned, escaped death by bribery and went into exile in Venice where he remained until October 1434, when his friends won power again and the Medici were recalled. Cosimo returned to Florence in triumph as the most powerful politician in the city, and almost immediately banished the Albizzi and their followers.

Cosimo worked indirectly through the traditional republican forms of government, paying for his friends and adherents to occupy the highest political positions in the city's government while rarely holding office himself, giving the appearance of upholding a constitutional regime.Meanwhile, his position on the board administering the public debt enabled him to extend financial favors to members of his own party, and the business of the Medici bank provided opportunities for cementing political alliances with money.

 His political power established in Florence, Cosimo began an ambitious building programme, completing the public buildings which the government or guilds had already undertaken (including [completed work of] Brunelleschi's* work on San Lorenzo and on the Sagresta Vecchia) and commissioning Michelozzi to build the great Medici palace which still stands in the Via Larga.He also commissioned the construction or renovation of many ecclesiastical buildings, including the monastery at San Marco, the Medici chapel and dormitory of Santa Croce, a chapel at San Miniato, and the Badia in Fiesole.

In addition to architects, Cosimo employed a number of other exceptional artists, including the sculptors [employed] Ghiberti* and [employed] Donatello*, and the painters Andrea del Castagno, Fra Angelico, and Benozzo Gozzoli.

Cosimo's other great passion was literature and scholarship, and he spent enormous sums financing methodical searches across Europe for ancient manuscripts and even, with the permission of Sultan [bought manuscripts through] Mehmed II*, in the East.

These searches, the majority of which were organized from Florence by the great humanist [employed] Niccoli*, formed the basis of what was to become the world's first public library (now called the Laurentian, or Laurenziana, after his grandson); Cosimo established the library, opened it to the public, and published manuscript copies compiled by  the humanists Leonardo Bruni, [published] Poggio Bracciolini*, Marsilio Ficino and others.

In 1439, at the ecumenical Council of Ferrara-Florence, Comiso attended the lectures delivered by the Greek scholars, principally [attended lectures by] Plethon's*: "On the Difference Between Aristotle and Plato", which excited Cosimo and the humanists with a new interest in [influenced by] Plato*, who had been largely ignored in the West during the Middle Ages in favour of [rejected views of] Aristotle*.  Cosimo became inspired with the project of founding a Platonic Academy of Florence.  At the same time the University of Florence resumed the teaching of Greek, virtually unknown in the West for 700 years.

Cosimo was also deeply involved in international relations, as the widespread activities of the Medici bank, with offices in all the major European cities, provided him with a unique source of information on political developments in other states, and made him a sought-after counsellor on foreign affairs.Probably the most spectacular result of Cosimo's policies was the diplomatic revolution of the late 1440s which ended the struggle with Milan, when he made an alliance with Francesco Sforza (who became a close and powerful friend) and his followers, who received large sums of money to provide him with troops.

The result was to align Florence and Milan in war against Venice and Naples, and when peace was made at Lodi in 1454 and Sforza's opponents were forced to recognize his rule, Florence was placed in a highly advantageous position.Later, this alliance would also permit Cosimo to crush his own opposition through a coupd'état in August 1458, and to create a Senate composed of 100 loyal supporters (the Cento, or Hundred), which allowed him to live out the last six years of his life in security. Soon afterwards, he re-established close links with the papacy via Pope Pius II, who in 1462 granted him monopoly over the Tolfa alum mines (alum was essential to Florence'stextile industry) which furthered increased his wealth and power.

Extra Connections:  He employed [employed] Nicholas V* before he was Pope.

Assessment:  He entrenched the position of the Medici family.

Oneliner: Cosimo de’ Medici (the Elder), ruler of Florence.

Bibliography:

J. F. Padgett,"Robust Action and the Rise of the Medici, 1400–1434" American Journal of Sociology, 1993

Wikipedia