Medici Money: Banking, metaphysics and art in fifteenth-century Florence

One says the Florentines do this or that, but it must be understood that while the duke makes decisions rapidly and alone, the Florentines have all kinds of republican mechanisms in place that allow them to argue and procrastinate for days and weeks. The dominant Albizzi family is for war. Giovanni di Bicci is against it. Giovanni di Bicci has just been offered the honor of becoming count of Monteverde (a citadel to the south of Florence) by Pope Martin, no doubt in recognition of the very large loan that Martin somehow never gets around to paying back. Giovanni turns down the title. By Florentine law, a titled nobleman and his family are excluded from government. The Medici thus serve notice that they will not renounce their place in public affairs. Since the costs of any war fall mainly on the plebs — which in fifteenth-century Florence means the small-time artisans, woolworkers, shopkeepers, and so on — Giovanni’s antiwar position is popular.

The duke of Milan (or his mercenaries) grabs the towns of Forlì and Imola to the east of Florence. The Florentines besiege Forlì. To draw off the siege, Milan attacks Zagonara. This small town is Florentine property, closer to home. The Florentines abandon Forlì and head for Zagonara. It’s raining heavily. The men march for hours through thick mud and are routed on arrival. Thousands of horses are lost. “Nonetheless, in such a defeat, celebrated in all Italy, no one died except Ludovico degli Obizzi together with two of his men who fell from their horses and drowned in the mud.” Or so says Machiavelli.

Not all condottieri are equal. As with sportsmen, there are regular players and there are stars. The Florentines get serious and hire Niccolò Piccinino. He’s expensive. New taxes have to be raised. This time they begin to hit the rich as well. This wasn’t part of the original plan. “It pained them,” says Machiavelli of the wealthy families, “not to be able to carry on a war without loss to themselves.” To make the tax unpopular and so have it withdrawn, certain subversive citizens insist that it be collected with the utmost severity. More people are killed during the tax collection than at Zagonara. Afraid that their grip on power is weakening, the Albizzi start to plan a coup that would restrict government to an inner circle of the most powerful families. But Giovanni di Bicci refuses to come on board, thus killing the project before it’s off the ground and making himself even more popular among the plebs. Meanwhile, Milan captures all Florentine citadels and outposts in Romagna to the east of the city. The situation is getting desperate.

The expensive Piccinino and his men are sent on a mission to “persuade” the nearby lord of Faenza, ex-ally of Florence, to join them against Milan. Instead, Faenza fights the condottiere and, despite Piccinino’s star status, defeats and captures him. Undismayed, Piccinino the prisoner manages to talk the lord of Faenza round. He will join the Florentine side after all. Rhetoric is an effective weapon. Once released, however, Piccinino himself changes sides and goes off to fight for Visconti, who has offered him more money. Money is even more effective. The winter break in hostilities, it should be said, often amounts to a sort of condottiere transfer market. Fees are rising. Some mercenaries hold discretionary accounts with the Medici bank. Or indeed other banks. What’s the point of buying property with booty if someone else can then seize it from you? Money is more easily placed beyond the reach of enemies. The line between war and business is getting blurred.

“Bewildered by their frequent losses,” as Machiavelli says, the Florentines now make the classic step of calling on the Venetians. The Venetians hesitate, unsure whether their preferred condottiere, Francesco Carmignuola, hasn’t perhaps defected to Milan along with Piccinino. When Visconti tries to poison Carmignuola, it’s clear that he has stayed loyal after all, and a deal can go through. Again the world is wishfully divided up: eventual gains in Lombardy will go to Venice, in Romagna and Tuscany to Florence. Having recovered from the attempted poisoning, Carmignuola is in venomous mood and captures Brescia, right in the center of the northern plain. A huge prize, for Venice. The Florentines are not overjoyed.