Banco Medici
The Banco Medici was the Medici family's banking house . It formed the basis for the power and influence of the Florentine family and was considered one of the largest banks in Europe around the mid-15th century .
prehistory
The Medici's activities in the credit business have been documented since the 13th century. Their business volume at that time was , however, very modest compared to that of other important Florentine banking families , such as the Bardi , the Peruzzi and the Acciaiuoli .
While the Medici presumably withdrew completely from the banking business after 1330 and concentrated mainly on the management of their property, the three most important banking families from Florence had branches in practically all important cities in Europe at the beginning of the 14th century and de facto held the monopoly of papal finances . Their dominance came to a sudden end in 1345 when the English King Edward III. refused to repay his Hundred Years War debt.
After the banking families that were most influential up to that point in time were driven into bankruptcy , Vieri di Cambio de 'Medici (1323-1395), known in the Medici family as a skilled merchant, got into the credit business . Between 1348 and 1392 he built a widely branched bank with several branches in the most important European cities.
His pupils and later partners included his nephew, Giovanni di Bicci de 'Medici (1360–1429), who first ran the branch in Rome and took it over in 1393 thanks to a small fortune of 1,500 florins from his marriage to Piccarda Bueri . While the once very successful banking house of Vieri di Cambio de 'Medici, after his age-related retirement in 1393, went under under the leadership of his two sons, his nephew's banking house was extremely successful.
The creation and rise of the Banco Medici
In 1397, two years after the death of his uncle, Giovanni di Bicci de 'Medici moved his activities to Florence and founded the Banco Medici. The starting capital was 10,000 florins, over half of which belonged to Giovanni di Bicci de 'Medici and the rest to several partners. Like other banking houses at the time, the Banco Medici took over the function of a deposit bank , was active in the bills of exchange and lending business and made investments .
In 1408 the Banco Medici had two important branches in addition to its headquarters in Florence, Venice and Rome . The branch in Naples was also run by the one in Rome .
In 1413 Giovanni di Bicci de 'Medici, the most important banker of Pope John XXIII. , with whom he was close friends, and subsequently took over the de facto monopoly of the papal finances. This monopoly was short-lived and ended in 1415 with the deposition of John XXIII. The Banco Medici then competed with the Albertini and Spini banks, but thanks to a crisis in the latter, it regained great influence in the Roman Curia . Most of the profits came from Rome. From 1397 to 1420, the Banco Medici made a profit of 151,820 florins, of which 113,865 went to Giovanni di Bicci de 'Medici.
Under the leadership of Cosimo de 'Medici (1389–1464), also known as Cosimo il Vecchio , the bank and with it the family expanded their financial position of power. Profits rose to 186,382 florins between 1420 and 1435.
The exile of Cosimo de 'Medici
A first setback suffered by the Medici in 1433, as between them and the Albizzi a power struggle for supremacy in Florence broke out and Cosimo de 'Medici this first imprisoned and then ten years in exile was exiled. Cosimo then settled in Venice and also moved the headquarters of the Banco Medici there.
The departure of the bank plunged Florence into an economic and political crisis, which in 1434 led to the overthrow of the Albizzi and the lifting of exile and thus the return of Cosimo de 'Medici and his banking house to Florence.
Death of Cosimo de 'Medici and decline of the bank
After Cosimo's death, the Medici Bank suffered great losses. The political environment was unfavorable. The first difficulties arose at the branch in Lyon , but it was saved by Francesco Sassetti . Angelo Tani tried at least temporarily to stabilize the branch in London until 1469. The dissolution of the Duchy of Burgundy , which was heavily indebted to the Medici , meant that the bank in Bruges led by Tommaso Portinari had to be liquidated in 1478 with the loss of at least 70,000 florins . Ultimately, the Wars of the Roses in England , the Ottoman expansion and the related Ottoman-Venetian War led to the bank's ruin in the early 1490s. In 1494 the Milan branch also ceased to exist. In the same year the Medici were expelled from Florence.
swell
Important sources were discovered in the Florentine Archives in the 1950s. In particular, the secret business books ( libri segreti ) are an important source for the history of the Florentine Medici Bank in the period between 1397 and 1450. Secret business books for the period after 1450 have not yet been found, but there are many business letters for this period. Partnership agreements, bills of exchange, certificates of deposit , confidential reports and an unexecuted restructuring plan have also been handed down.
See also
literature
- James Cleugh: The Medici. Power and splendor of a European family. 4th edition, Piper, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-492-23667-7 .
- Raymond de Roover: The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank 1397-1494. Oxford 1963.
- Volker Reinhard: The Medici. Florence in the age of the Renaissance. Munich 1998.
- Tim Parks: Medici Money. Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag Munich, 1st edition, paperback April 2009.
Individual evidence
- ↑ William Berdrow, book Famous merchants , men of energy and enterprising spirit portrayed in their lives underway, p 5 ff., Springer-Verlag, 11 November 2013
- ↑ Mediateca Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence - history (ital.) ( Memento of 5 March 2008 at the Internet Archive )
- ↑ 1397-1429 - Giovanni di Bicci founds the Medici bank (Eng.) ( Memento of March 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ The Exile of Cosimo de 'Medici (English) ( Memento of March 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive )