Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici
| Giovanni de' Medici | |
|---|---|
Portrait by Cristofano dell'Altissimo.
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| Spouse(s) | Piccarda Bueri |
| Issue | |
| Noble family | Medici |
| Father | Averardo de' Medici |
| Mother | Jacopa Spini |
| Born | 1360 Florence, Republic of Florence |
| Died | 20 February 1429 (aged 69) Florence, Republic of Florence |
Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (c. 1360 – February 20/28, 1429) was an Italian banker, a member of Medici family of Florence, and the founder of the Medici Bank. While other family members, such as Chiarissimo di Giambuono de' Medici, who served in the Signoria in 1201, and Salvestro de' Medici, who was implicated in the Ciompi Revolt of 1378, are historically significant, Giovanni's founding of the family bank truly began the family's rise to power in Florence. He was the father of Cosimo de' Medici (Pater Patriae), grandfather of Piero di Cosimo de' Medici, great-grandfather of Lorenzo de' Medici (the Magnificent) and great-great-great-grandfather of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici was born in Florence, the son of Averardo de' Medici and Jacopa Spini. Though he is considered the founder of the rich Medici dynasty, he was not born into a rich family. The little money left by his father was divided between a widow and five sons, leaving Giovanni with little.
Giovanni was somewhat uninterested in politics, unless the issues pertained to his family or bank. Often, when his name was put forward to participate in the Florentine government (reggimento), he chose to pay the fine rather than serve. That being said, he did serve as Priori in the Signoria in 1402, 1408 and 1411 and as Gonfaloniere, for the statutory two-month period, in 1421. In 1402 he served as one of the judges on the panel that selected Lorenzo Ghiberti's design for the bronzes on the doors to the Florence Baptistry.
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