The House of Medici: It's Rise and Fall

The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall / Christopher Hibbert / 364 pages
Reviewed by Matthew

The Medici, first family of Renaissance Florence, patrons of Michelangelo, Galileo, Di Vinci, and Brunelleschi, bankers to the nobility of Europe; they thrived by grabbing for power like 15th century Mafioso and they set the stage for a rebirth of artistic achievement and learning. Christopher Hibbert gives us a look back at the family over nearly five centuries in a book that’s richly detailed and peppered with interesting tidbits about them.

The rough streets of Florence, where wealthy families kept control over the neighborhoods with fortified villas and gangs of enforcers, a volatile and unaligned city, a breeding ground for murder and depravity, but it was also a place of intense creativity and radical thought. Hibbert does an excellent job explaining the inner dynamics of this unique place and everyone living there as a sort of mob that gives the ruling families their power. Florence itself is just as important as the Medici, both knew they would be nothing without the other. He vividly shows us how explosive and fickle the city can be, starting the book on the triumphant return of patriarch Cosimo I following a ten-year exile imposed on him by the Signoria. Later he gives giving a gripping account of “The Pazzi plot,” where the Pope and the Pazzi, a rival powerful Florentine family, assassinate Guiliano the head of the family during Easter services only to face the revenge of his brother, Lorenzo, “Il Magnifico,” that plays out as if planned by Michael Corleone.

Of course its not all blood and palace intrigue. We also are introduced to the Medici’s house artists, a who’s who of renaissance thinkers. Hibbert tells us how the Medici were willing to support their artists with schools, apprenticeships and commissions for works. Propaganda and public works took on new meaning as they used their retinue to create masterpieces from the David to the Duomo all the while keeping the fickle taste of the Florentines in mind. These medieval godfathers used their influence to change religious doctrine and place themselves into the highest levels of the Papal authority, protecting the texts of classical masters from destruction by the Inquisitions and religious fervor of the day, and it was all done because of an ingrained passion for truth, knowledge and of course personal gain.

I recommend Hibbert’s book to anyone interested in the renaissance or art; this may even be a good choice for the casual reader of history who wants something more than just cold dates and names. It’s an exciting book and one of the best of many on this interesting family.