Customer Reviews

Rise And Fall Of The House Of Medici

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This excellent book is a complete history of the Medici family and their considerable input to the Renaissance.
Part I (-1462), after giving brief details of Giovanni de' Medici, really opens up with Cosimo and takes great pains (perhaps biased) to stress his image as a political player who ousts the ruling Albizzi family from Florence just after 1433. The author is careful to indicate his belief that Cosimo de' Medici exhibited a shrewdness of political character, the first private citizen since the Fall of Rome to exercise kingly authority from a place in the shadows. Fundamentally, Cosimo exercised major influence over all the major secular and temporal figures in Italy. The book then details Cosimo's 'dabbling' with the doctrinal conferences between Constantinople and Rome and gives a summary of his political domination for thirty-odd years. Once Cosimo was established as the paternoster of Florence (and therefore Italy), the book moves on to discuss his architectural patronage There is discussion (indeed as there is of most of the artists patronaged by the Medici throughout the book) of both Ghiberti and Brunelleschi. The book deals with Cosimo's involvement in war, particularly with the establishment of Sforza as Duke of Milan, at the time in major opposition to European power-brokering. There is a brief intro on his sons Giovanni (who dies from an obesity related illness) to Piero. Hibbert leaves us with a lasting impression of an almost 'saintly' man who's brilliant business acumen made him the greatest man of commerce in history.
Part II (1464-1492) opens with Piero de' Medici and his problems with Niccolo Soderini. By 1467 his ascendancy was assured and we continue on the trail of munificence with Piero's patronage of Botticelli et al. Part II is mainly devoted to Lorenzo. The author gives us a fairly complete physical and character description (all these can be backed up by the centre plates with various paintings and busts). The generosity of the Medici espoused here emphasizes that, like all empires up to the 16th century, they tended to be founded around single brilliant men (Cosimo, in this case) who then left a legacy. Hibbert shows us several other key moments. The massacre at Volterra, the assassination of Guiliano de' Medici by the Pazzi family, Florence's 'en masse' excommunication, Lorenzo peace treaty with Naples in 1479 and finally his early death in 1492.
Part III (1492 - 1537) starts with Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici. A petulant man, the other figure on the scene at the time was Fra Giralomo Savaronola (a major figure in Eliot's 'Romola'). Hibbert devotes a lot of time to this man, the priest of San Marco from 1489, who was convinced of his prophetical skills. Charles VIII of France invasion in 1494 plunged the Medici back into European politics with Piero negotiating a Florentine surrender. At this point serious divisions in the Medici family manifested themselves with his cousins actively siding with Charles VIII. Savaronola's execution came too late for the Medici and they were outcast from Florence. Piero died in 1503 and his brother Giovanni became Rome's youngest Cardinal at 16. Spain invasion of Italy and sack of Prato led to the restoration of the Medici and 6 months later Giovanni became Pope Leo X. Like most Popes of the time he looked after his family's interests, wanting to turn Italy into one Medici-governed state. He managed to spend more excessively than any former member of his family, draining papal treasury reserves until his death. It just before this the Medici family suffered a crisis of a different sort. The death of Leo X's nephew, Lorenzo de' Medici meant a lack of legitimate heirs. It is at this point we hear of a female Medici - Caterina - assuming prominence. After the German sack of Rome in 1527 Florence turned against the Pope who was seeking with Charles V to restore the Medici. The Prince of Orange's army forced a Florentine surrender and Alessandro de' Medici was sent by the Pope to govern her. His murder by Lorenzaccio de' Medici who seems to have indulged the Medici family prediliction for excess, meant the ascension of Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici rule the family.
In Part IV (1537 - 1743) Hibbert covers a period three times as long as the preceding sections. He begins with Duke Cosimo I and ends with Anna Maria. Cosimo I brought the Medici back into some order and restored Florence, He became a Grand Duke under Pius V in 1569. Of his five sons, Francesco rose to prominence after the death of Cosimo's wife, Maria in 1564. Hibbert moves on to Grand Duke Fernando I in 1587. Again the Medici are famous for their pagentry and courting of European nobility. In 1690 Cosimo II succeeded and unbelievably increased the family reputation for lavishness. He was a patron of Gallileo. In 1642 Fernando II took over and attempted to keep the Medici out of politics. Hibbert devotes considerable time to his son's (Cosimo III) problematic marriage to Marguerite-Louise d'Orleans. In fact, this is really the only topic concerning Cosimo III. His son, the Grand Prince Ferdinand turned out to be a disappointment. In fact, what undid the Medici was that no heirs could be produced.The invasion of Austria meant that Anna Maria, Cosimo's surviving daughter was permitted to live out her life. She died in 1743.
To conclude, Hibbert book is enormously refreshing to read and he moves through the three hundred years of the Medici with an almost Suetonius-esque alacrity. What he demonstrates is an 'empire' that is built from one man's banking genius into an Italian dynasty. The Medici's patronage of the arts permitted the Renaissance and they irredeemably changed the course of European history. This book is a must-read for anyone wanting a general history of both the Medici and the Italian Renaissance.

A popular overview of the Medici dynasty. It's readable, and serves well as a starting point for learning about the Medicis.
There is an index, but no bibliography, and the Notes section deals almost exclusively with buildings and artworks associated with the Medicis. The Medici entry in the Encyclopaedia Britannica is as complete as Hibbert's book, and I would recommend it as strongly as I would Hibbert.

A well-written, level look at a fascinating historical dynasty, whose early members knew and supported some of the shining lights of western civilization (or maybe any civilization):
Brunelleschi, Michelozzo, Donatello, Fra Filippo Lippi, Fra Angelico, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Pico della Mirandola, and Leonardo da Vinci. Whew! Course, one could ask, "If it hadn't been for the Catholic Church, what would these people have done?" It was a decadent society, suffering from too much inbreeding and its attendant fertility problems, and too many arranged marriages with partners whose faces looked like shovels and whose personalities were dug out of the Staten Island landfill. The mendacity of the Church simply amazes. One can easily understand why the Reformation spread like wildfire. How the Catholic Church survived is less obvious. ...

Hibbert says on p.122 that Lorenzo de' Medici commissioned Andrea del Sarto to paint frescoes. Lorenzo died in 1492. Del Sarto was born in 1486 (The Reader's Encyclopedia).
How could this be?

Hibbert does a very good job in providing a really antiseptic, dispassionate, unbiased view of the life and times of the Medici largely from the perspective of empire building and the power struggles it brought. Unfortunately I found the book rather lifeless in that it did not present a moving account of the great Medici family, their trials and tribulations and most importatnly, their interest in the arts. I primarily wanted to read more about the connections between the great renaissance artists and the Medici family since theirs is perhaps one of the most important families to have influenced art and culture in those times. In that respect this book was a serious let down. There are but passing references to the association between the Medicis and Michaelangelo, Ghirlandaio and a few others - not a long drawn examination as was expected.

What the book does offer is a fairly detailed description of the machinations of the Medici family - escpecially the accounts about Cossimo Sr. at the founding of the family and Cossimo II toward the end of the dynasty. The description of war and political strategies are noteworthy. The value of the book depends on what you are looking for. IF you want to know more about the art and culture angles, you are better advised to look elsewhere.

This talented author of a long list of popular histories does an excellent job of telling the story of one of the most fascinating families in European history. Founded by the wiley oligarch Cosimo (called Pater Patriae), the enormously wealthy Medici became Grand Dukes of Tuscany and provided some of Europe's most colorful statesmen, popes, soldiers, scholars, and patrons of the arts. They were the embodiment of the Renaissance in Italy and they ruled Florence, frequently controlled the papacy, and influenced the policies of the entire Continent for 300 years. Princesses married them, kings borrowed money from them, other city states feared them, and Michelangelo and Botticelli worked for them. To understand the origins of both modern Europe and the self-made aristocrat, you must read about them.

This was an excellent book in many ways. The reader comes away with an understanding of just how influential the Medici were. One also gets a good look at the Papacy and the political workings of the church. I found it readable up to a point but the enormous amount of detail on who was related to whom and who was murdering whom and why left me rather confused at times. If you are a history major focusing on Italy the details about the structure of the government will probably be interesting for you. I found it over burdened with a mountain of detail that detracted from the enjoyment of this book.

Christopher Hibbert does a fine job of putting into perspective the importance of the Medici family in the Golden Age of Florence. It is a story that all art historians know the ending to, but the book is so absorbing that it reads almost like a novel. If you don't read the book before going to Florence, then certainly pick it up afterwards and re-enjoy the city in a new perspective.

A wonderful story, fascinating and well written, the tale of the founders, insofar as any one family can be so called, of the Renaissence. The Medici have fascinated me ~ as no doubt many others ~ for a long time; i am interested to learn as much of them as i can. This book has arranged that. I do have a few quibbles with it, though, which detracted from my enjoyment of it. First, it really ought to come equipped with a family tree, chart, some kind of description to show the various relations between the family members. I was reduced to flipping back and forth, at times, to try and remember who a certain person was. Even Hibbert himself is not entirely certain, it would seem, as he confuses Lorenzaccio di Pierfrancesco and Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco, who have to be of separate generations, if the rest of the line is to make sense. Secondly, the notes, while interesting, are also frustrating, as they give information about the various palazzi and artworks of Florence; the information is really intrusive in this manner: It would have been better if integrated into the text ~ though this would be a different, lesser, book ~ or left out entirely; Hibbert at times seems not to know if he is writing a history or a guidebook to Firenze -- the latter i didn't need. In the main, however, i really enjoyed this book, and would have liked it even a little longer, had Hibbert given more information about the later generations it would have been better (he doesn't even mention Leo XI, who was a Medici, for example).

Christopher Hibbert is a rare history writer. Hibbert writes about some tough topics in history and makes them very interesting. Hibber is one of those few historians that write so well you think you are there. His books on the French Revolution and the English Civil War are two prime examples of that ability. His book on the Renaissance through the story of the Medici family is another great example of his writing.

The Medici family was a patron family in Italy during the Renaissance. Basically they paid for some of the art created in Italy during the Renaissance.

In telling the story of the Medici family, Hibbert is really telling the story of Italy and Renaissance Italy. Hibberts gift is biography and his writings make the individual historical figures become very human and alive.

I found the most interesting section of the book the story of the Priest Savonarola. Hibbert does a great job discussing his role in Italy and the controversies he created.

In short, anyone interested in Renaissance history, Italian history, or good readable history will enjoy this work and others by Christopher Hibbert.

Wandering the streets and piazzas of Florence and Fiesole would have been much more meaningful for me had I read this book before I visited. I picked it up on my last day (in Siena), and while I read the book in Paris kept thinking, "Aha! That's what went on there!" I'll never look at the Palazzo del Vecchio the same again, or the piazza in front of it, knowing some of the horrific things that happened there. I can't vouch for Hibbert's historian skills, but this book is a wonderful read, as gripping as a novel.