Medici Money Banking, Metaphysics, and Art in Fifteenth-Century Florence [Paperback]

Before they achieved renown as patrons of the arts and de facto rulers of Florence, the Medici family earned their fortune in banking. But even at the height of the Renaissance, charging interest of any kind meant running afoul of the Catholic Churchs ban on usury. Tim Parks reveals how the legendary MedicisCosimo and Lorenzo the Magnificent in particularused the diplomatic, military, and even metaphysical tools at hand, along with a healthy dose of intrigue and wit, to further their fortunes as well as their familys standing.Marvelously entertaining. . . . Parks displays a keen observance of peoples complexities and malleable motives in this account of the fabled Medici dynasty.Fascinating . . . elegantly told.A model for all economic historians. . . . Parks, who is skeptical about bankers, writes about them with pace, wit, and some passion.A swift and brilliant synthesis of finance, politics, and history.Ben Sisario,