The Medici: the Story of Power and Wealth as Europe's Most Powerful Family

From the wealth and luxury of Italy's most advanced cities, the ancient world of the God-believing Middle Ages was giving way to a new, confident humanism. In Europe, the Medici Bank was the most accomplished and concerned financial institution of its time, with offices and agents in all major commercial centers from London to Venice. Even the recent losses in the profitable papal business were viewed as little more than a minor setback by their Florentine rivals, the Pazzi family; the profits of the Medici bank had made Florence one of the architectural and cultural wonders of Europe, and the family had provided opportunities for artists like Donatello, Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci.