Godric of Finchale

Cosimo de` Medici- beginningsCosimo di Giovanni de' Medici (27 September 1389 1 August 1464).Born Sept. 27, 1389, Florence died Aug. 1, 1464, Careggi, near Florence, founder of one of the main lines of the Medici family that ruled Florence from 1434 to 1537.Florence in the time of Cosimo, was considered the financial capital of the world. The banks of Florence were the standard to reach.The son of Giovanni di Bicci (13601429), Cosimo was initiated into affairs of high finance in the corridors of the Council of Constance, where he represented the Medici bank.

Cosimo de` Medici- beginningsHe would learn and from his father Giovanni and upon his death in 1429 would succeed his father with great resolve and relentlessness. Because of his father accumulated wealth, he was certainly the wealthiest man of his time, not only in terms of bullion (GOLD) but also in the amount of bank and promissory notes payable to his bank in Florence and to its branches operating in all the important financial markets of Europe. Cosimo unlike Godric, who abandoned his business pursuits, would make money and salvation (redemption, deliverance) one and the same.

Medici- bankingWars and the need for money by the monarch's in order to keep the military mite happy and well fed is how the banking industry in Italy throve.The banchi grossi was partly owned and run by a dominant family the Medici's.This bank was run by the father of Cosimo, Giovanni di Bicci born in 1360 and considered the richest man in Florence. It was from there that the Medici family entered into banking and its fortunes and became established.The name Medici started to spread in ways across all arenas, especially the political arena. The family name carried many names of dukes, grand dukes and cardinals; numerous illegitimate children and an army of political intriguers.

Medici- bankingThe War with Milan raged until 1402, at a cost of about 2.5 million florins. A FLORIN (or flower) = 3.52 grams of 24-karat gold.Also in rough terms, the gold in a florin was calculated to be 10 days wages of a unskilled laborer, or 3.5 days of a skilled worker, 4 months rent of a country cottage, or 2 weeks rent of a city college.With this said, the war with Milan would have cost 10 x 2.5 = 25 million days of wages for a unskilled laborer OR 13,700 years of rent on a Florentine townhouse. Floooose means Money and a lot of it for the Medici Bankers or Money changers.

Cosimo de` Medici- controversyCosimos great power alone would have been sufficient to set the oligarchy (thepersonsorclasssoruling) against him; his popular policies rendered him completely intolerable (unbearable). The Albizzi, one of the other leading families at that time, attempted a coup. In 1431 Cosimo was vacationing when he received a summons to reply to his indictment for the capital crime of having sought to elevate himself higher than others. The Albizzi soon discovered that so wealthy a man could not be assassinated so easily or sentenced to death.He was sentenced to banishment for 10 years. Cosimo retired to Padua and Venice, where he was received like a sovereign (supreme).

Cosimo de` Medici- returnsExactly one year later, a sudden and unexpected move by the Medici, in which they doctored elections, gave them back the signoria (council of government). Cosimo triumphantly reentered the city; and his enemies (Rinaldo Albizzi) went into exile, never to return until his death in 1464. The Medici principate (supremepoweroroffice) had begun (1434). He than took power and became the Florences political, social, cultural, and business leader for the remaining period of his life.

Cosimo de` Medici- salvationAs Cosimo grew older and he knew his life was coming to an end, he knew his was on shaky ground and he needed salvation for all his sins as a usurer. Usury (a person who lends money at interest) is considered by Christianity a mortal sin and that any person makes use of it like banks, would be barred from receiving holy communion. This troubled the Aging Cosimo and in turn requested and audience with the Pope Eugene IV and asked him how he could expiate his professional lifetime of wrong deeds.

Cosimo de` Medici- Closing momentsThe Pope would request that he reconstruct the Dominican and San Marco convents and sequentially the Pope will issue an unprecedented ecclesiastical order; The usurer Cosimo de` Medici was henceforth (from this time fourth) formally absolved of all sins.Cosimo before laying to rest in August of 1464, spent hundreds of thousands of florins of his private fortune to building monasteries, churches and libraries.

Cosimo de` Medici- after deathAfter his death by one year, he was given the title of pater patriae or The Father of his Country.Cosimo introduced capitalism and being a good thing. You can have profit while also protecting your soul.Only three decades after his death the great Medici bank (banchi grossi) would falter and disappear altogether.Cosimo helped to create a society that revolved not around God but around a society with man at the center.After 500 years, power was shifting from the men of the Church to the men of business.

Lessons learnedyour thoughtsDid Cosimo de` Medici use his wealth to change public opinion?What do you think of the Church and the Popes decision to absolve any wrong doing of Cosimo?Is Cosimo any different the Godric?Should banks be able to work by taking interest from people?What is business in your opinion?Is banking a business?