Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Final Outline

    Question:
    Why were the Medici able to have a successful and long rule, especially compared to the other families of their time that worked against them?
    Thesis:
    Even though adversaries worked against them, the Medici had a prominent rule in Florence beginning with Cosimo and ending with Lorenzo during the Italian Renaissance because the they were not arrogant and they did not take their position for granted as they founded and maintained Europe's most prosperous bank; however, when subsequent Medici rulers did in fact start to stray from the usual fairness and started reaching too far into the pockets of the people and the church, the powerful bank collapsed -- along with the Medici rule.   
    Definitions:
    Dynasty- A line of hereditary rulers in a country. (Oxford)
    Duchy- The territory of a Duke or Duchess; a dukedom. (Oxford)
    Humanism- A Renaissance cultural movement that turned away from medieval scholasticism and revived interest in ancient Greek and Roman thought. (Oxford)
    Double-entry bookkeeping system- A set of rules for recording financial information in a financial accounting system in which every transaction or event changes at least two different nominal ledger accounts. (Wikipedia)
    The Albizzi- A Florentine family originally based in Arezzo, who were rivals of the Medici and Alberti families
    The Alberti- A wealthy Florentine merchant banking family that was influential in European politics in the second half of the 14th century and notable for its patronage f the arts and beneficence toward the poor. (Encyclopedia Britannica)
    Cosimo de' Medici- The first of the Medici political dynasty, de factorulers of Florence during much of the Italian Renaissance. (Wikipedia)
    Piero de' Medici- the de facto ruler of Florence from 1464 to 1469, during the Italian Renaissance. (Wikipedia)  
    Lorenzo de' Medici- an Italian statesman and de facto uler of the Florentine republic during the Italian Renaissance. (Wikipedia)
    De Facto-
    -In fact, or in effect, whether by right or not. Often contrasted with de jure. (Oxford)
    -A Latin expression that means "by [the] fact." In law, it means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but without being officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure (which means "concerning the law") when referring to matters of law, governance, or technique that are found in the common experience as created or developed without or contrary to a regulation.  (Wikipedia)
    Sources:
    Primary: Lorenzo de' Medici 1491: Paternal Advice To A Cardinal; Niccolo Machiavelli 1496-1527: History of Florence: Lorence de' Medici; 1537-1743: The Medici Archives; November 24, 1494 Piero de' Medici: Letter to Lorenzo and Giovanni di Pierfrancesco de' Medici; June 24, 1453 Cosimo de' Medici: Letter to Francesco Sforza; January 19, 1488 Lorenzo de' Medici: Letter to Pietro Vettori; Leon Battista Alberti: On the Family.
    I have some books to pick up at the library also, and I will be using more wikipedia articles for background information.
    Outline:
    1. How the dynasty came to be/origins
      1. The Medici
        1. They started out being far less notable than most families in Italy of the time, even less notable that the Albizzi.
    1. They were connected to one of the more elite families through a marriage, which gave them a central position.
    1. Some members of the family rose to prominence in the 14th century due to wool trade.
    1. The Medici were involved in a plot in 1400, which ended in the banning of Medici family members from Florentine politics for 20 years.
      1. Two members of the family were excused from this. One of them, Averardo de' Medici, started the Medici dynasty. 
        1. Averardo was not a very successful business man or banker.
    1. People leading up to the Medici dynasty
      1. Averardo de' Medici's son was Giovanni di Bicci
    1. Giovanni started the Medici bank, and gained more wealth for the family.
    1. He became one of the richest men in Florence.
    1. He never held a real political position, but he gained a lot of like and respect for his family.
    1. Giovanni was trained by his uncle, who, unlike his father, was a more prominent banker and was good with business.
    1. Giovanni's son was Cosimo, who became the unofficial head of state.
    1. The Medici bank
      1. Started by Giovanni di Bicci and is usually stated to be founded in 1397.
        1. Largest and most respected bank in Europe during its prime.
    1. The bank is known for improving the general ledger system through the development of double entry system of tracking credits and debits.
    1. There was even a time when the currency issued by the Medici became the preferred currency in Europe.
    1. Even though Giovanni started the bank and became very respected, he did not become head of state; his son did.
    1. The bank really started to become more successful in 1397, when Giovanni separated his bank from his nephew.
      1. They moved to Florence.
    1. The Alberti, however, were a very large family there and had a lot of control over the Catholic Church's business.
    1. The Alberti soon were banished, however, which created a sort of void.
    1. More branches of the bank began to open.
    1. They soon began prospering, and even more branches were opened!
    1. When Giovanni died, the bank was smoothly passed into the hands of Cosimo. Not much was disrupted.
    1. Cosimo de' Medici
      1. His character/things he did
    1. Because Florence liked the idea of their being a democracy, Cosimo pretended to have little political ambition and  did not often hold a public office.
    1. Despite this, he did have plentiful wealth, which he used to control voting.
    1. The other leading families in Florence, like the Albizzi and the Strozzi, felt threatened by the power he had.
    1. He was accused for the failure of the conquest of Lucca.
    1. He was imprisoned, but he managed to turn that sentence into an exile. He took his bank with him, and all of the people followed.
    1. The amount of people that left Florence was so large that the exile had to be lifted.
    1. Piero de' Medici
      1. Inherited the bank from his father.
    1. He already had a financial overview prepared.
    1. He made some people pay loans that had been outstanding that his father had just let be.
    1. This made many people go bankrupt.
    1. It also put a few more people on the anti-Medici side.
    1. Faced the war against the Republic of Venice.
    1. He continued his family's tradition of artistic patronage.
    1. Lorenzo de' Medici
      1. Florence flourished under his rule.
    1. People in the Pazzi conspiracy attacked Lorenzo and his brother on Easter Sunday. His brother was killed, and Lorenzo was stabbed, but he escaped.
    1. He later pursued a policy that attempted to  maintain peace and balance of power between northern Italian states.
    1. The Albizzi and Alberti families
      1. The Albizzi
      1. The Alberti
    Works cited:
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