By William Landon, Northern Kentucky University
Historians with preconceived conclusions in mind can easily manipulate the evidence of the life you leave behind. You could be made to appear as a saint or as a self-serving deviant. This is illustrated concretely in the history and historiography of the Medici family. Let’s find out how.
The Medici Myths
The Medici have been the subject of hundreds of scholarly monographs, thousands of journal articles, historical novels and, recently, films, theatrical productions and television programs. Nearly all of these works, in some fashion, fit into what one excellent historian, John Rigby Hale, called the Medici Myth. This myth takes two forms—the white and the black.
At their root, the Medici myths are differentiated by partisan politics. Those who support the white myth argue that without the Medici’s princely rule in Florence, the Renaissance as we know it today would never have happened. Those who support the black myth argue, conversely, that the Medici family’s domination of civic politics destroyed the Florentine Republic—the freest form of political association since the golden age of Athens.
The white myth tends to focus on the beauty of the material culture left to posterity by the Medici influence. The black myth, generally, wonders what was lost as a result of the Medici rule and how the Renaissance might have developed in a free society.
This article comes directly from content in the video series How the Medici Shaped the Renaissance. Watch it now, on Wondrium.
The White Myth
If one subscribes to the white Medici myth, the Medici family are almost above reproach. They were entrepreneurs who invented the modern banking system. The profits from their banking enterprises were used to instigate the visual world of the Italian Renaissance. Their personal tastes, channeled through their patronage networks, funded some of the world’s greatest artists, architects and intellectuals. And, their political acumen earned Florence, a city of roughly 45,000 people, international influence. That influence led to four members of the Medici family being elevated to the papacy and, therefore, allowed them to help craft the world of European politics.
The white myth also suggests that when Florentine republican sentiment flared, as it did frequently in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Medici were challenged and, sometimes, unfairly exiled from their native city. The republican ingrates were, therefore, to blame for stalling Florence’s ascendency, which could only be achieved with Medici guidance.
The Black Myth
If, on the contrary, one finds the black myth to be more compelling, then the Medici were guilty of using their wealth and influence to buy power in Florence until they were eventually able to lord over it. For example, after a period in the political wilderness, in the late 14th century, the Medici made their way from the thorny Tuscan hinterlands of the Mugello, and from cities as far-flung as Rome, back to Florence proper. And upon their return, they promptly began to use the capital from their newly formed family bank to make their way into the halls of power in the fledgling Florentine Republic.
By the early 15th century, the head of the Medici family had, once again, been elected to public offices. But he chose them carefully, taking great pains to appear a civic-minded republican. Behind the scenes, however, as the Medici bank made loans to Florentines from all walks of life, they created a patronage network, which was quite literally indebted to the Medici family.
When Florence’s old families realized that the Medici had managed to take political control of their city via an economic revolution, the Medici were rightfully sent into exile, only to return with a vengeance, exiling numerous Florentine republicans in hateful spite—a cycle that was repeated numerous times.
Until at long last, the Medici, through their international connections to the Holy Roman emperor, Charles V, threw off the last pretenses of being citizens amongst equals by seizing power and ushering in centuries of tyranny.
Florence wasn’t able to throw off the yoke of Medici domination until the middle of the 18th century, when the Medici family, which had controlled Florence since 1434, found itself without a male heir. Florence fell into the hands of foreigners, but mercifully, the black myth concludes they weren’t Medici.
Goals of the Medic Myths
So, both sides of the Medici myth contain real historical truths. But their goals aren’t to understand the Medici and their links with Florence in a holistic manner, rather to support a specific agenda. Both myths, therefore, leave out evidence which might otherwise undermine their subjective conclusions.
There is virtually always some truth to be found in both myths. But objective history forces us to seek some middle ground.
What we can conclude is that the Medici myths aren’t useful to us. We don’t need positive or negative myths to explain to us that the tensions between princely and republican rule defined nearly every aspect of the Florentine Renaissance; and we do not need to praise, or to blame one side or the other. We’re left with the material culture of the Renaissance. We need to make sense of it, and to understand how the Medici helped to shape it.
Common Questions about the White and Black Myths about the Medici Family
Those who support the white myth argue that without the Medici’s princely rule in Florence, the Renaissance as we know it today would never have happened. Those who support the black myth argue, conversely, that the Medici family’s domination of civic politics destroyed the Florentine Republic.
The Medici family were almost above reproach. They were entrepreneurs who invented the modern banking system. Their personal tastes, channeled through their patronage networks, funded some of the world’s greatest artists, architects and intellectuals. And, their political acumen earned Florence international influence.
The Medici bank made loans to Florentines from all walks of life, thereby creating a patronage network, which was quite literally indebted to the Medici family. Thus, the Medici family managed to take political control of Florence via an economic revolution.
