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{{
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox noble
| name = Giovanni de' Medici
| image = Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici Portrait by Agnolo Bronzino.jpg
| caption = Portrait by [[
| spouse = [[Piccarda Bueri]]
| issue = [[Cosimo de' Medici]]<br />Damiano<br />[[Lorenzo the Elder]]<br/>Antonio
| full name = Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici
| noble family = [[Medici]]
| father = [[Averardo de' Medici]]
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| birth_place = [[Florence]], [[Republic of Florence]]
| death_date = 20 February 1429 (aged 69)
| death_place =
}}
'''Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici''' (
==Biography==
Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici was born in [[Florence]], Italy. He was the son of [[Averardo de' Medici]] and Jacopa Spini.<ref name=":1" /> His father, Averardo died in 1363 with a respectable amount of wealth. This inheritance was divided among Giovanni and his four brothers, leaving Giovanni with very little.<ref name=":1" /> However, his uncle, [[Vieri de' Medici]], was still a prominent banker in Florence. Vieri helped Giovanni begin his career in the Florentine banking system. He worked his way up through the ranks, eventually becoming a [[Partner (business rank)|junior partner]] in the branch located in Rome.<ref name=":1" /> Vieri de' Medici retired in 1393 leaving the bank in the hands of Giovanni.<ref name=":1" /> From this point the Medici bank grew vastly and quickly. This growth culminated with the acquisition as the Chief Papal Banker, which meant that the Medici Bank now handled the accounts of the Church.<ref name=":1" /> The Medici family bank, which he founded in 1397, became his main commercial interest. The Medici bank under Giovanni had branches throughout the northern Italian city-states and beyond, and constituted an early "multi-national" company.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}
Giovanni owned two wool workshops in Florence, and was a member of two guilds: the ''[[Arte della Lana]]'' and the ''[[Arte del Cambio]]''.<ref>Hibbert, 33.</ref> 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 Baptistery]].<ref>Parks, 8.</ref> Giovanni also funded the construction of the sacristy in the [[San Lorenzo, Florence|Church of San Lorenzo]] in the year 1418.<ref name=":1" /> He picked [[Filippo Brunelleschi | Brunelleschi]] to be the architect and chose [[Donatello]] to create the sculptures.<ref name=":1" /> These are just a few of the many contributions that Giovanni made to the art world.
In 1414, Giovanni bet on the permanent return of the [[papacy]] to [[Rome]] after a long period of exile and schism, and was correct; the papacy was permanently installed in Rome in 1417 under a single pope after the deliberations of the [[Council of Constance]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}} Rewarding Giovanni for his support, [[Pope Martin V]] gave Giovanni's general manager control of the [[Apostolic Chamber]].<ref>Grendler et al. S. v. "Medici, Cosimo de.
In 1418, Giovanni Medici collaborated with one of Florence's chief nobles, [[Niccolò da Uzzano]], to secure the release of the deposed [[Antipope John XXIII]], who was imprisoned in Germany. De Medici paid the stiff ransom of 38,000 ducats himself, and when the former pope died the following year in Florence, de Medici sponsored the construction of his magnificent [[Tomb of Antipope John XXIII|tomb]] in the Baptistery.<ref>{{cite book| title=The Medici| author=G.F. Young| publisher=Modern Library| year=1930|
Despite his growing wealth, Giovanni was diligent in his efforts not to separate the Medici family from the other citizens in Florence. He did so by continuously ensuring that he and his sons dressed and behaved like the average working-class citizens of Florence. This was in part due to his desire not to draw undue attention to himself and his family, and to ensure that, unlike other wealthy families, the Medici remained in the favour of the population. His hopes were to build a positive reputation of his family by avoiding conflicts with the law and keeping the people of Florence happy. His disposition can be understood in his writings, "Strive to keep the people at peace, and the strong places well cared for. Engage in no legal complications, for he who impedes the law shall perish by the law. Do not draw public attention on yourselves yet keep free from blemish as I leave you."<ref name=":0" />
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Giovanni stayed at arms length from politics for much of his life, but he was urged to reluctantly accept various positions of high office throughout his life in the [[Signoria of Florence]] because of the prestige and universal popularity he enjoyed in the city. His attitude is exemplified in his writings to his son Cosimo, saying, "Do not make the government-house your work shop, but wait until you are called to it, then show your selves obedient."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Lorenzo De' Medici, The Magnificent|last=Von Reumont|first=Alfred|publisher=Smith, Elder & Co.|year=1876|location=London|pages=35–36}}</ref> He served as a ''Priore'' in the Signoria in 1402, 1408, and 1411 and as a ''[[Gonfaloniere of Justice|Gonfaloniere]]'' for the statutory two-month period in 1421.<ref>Hibbert, 32.</ref> In 1407, he also served as the governor of the city of [[Pistoia]].<ref name=":1" />
In the sphere of politics, Giovanni stayed true to his reputation and the tradition of the Medici family as champions of the people and intractable opponents of the nobility of Florence. In 1426, he exerted his considerable personal influence in the Signoria to replace Florence's inequitable and oppressive [[poll tax]] with the ''[[Catasto]]''. This was a
==Issue==
By his wife Piccarda Bueri, he had four sons:
*[[Cosimo de' Medici|Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici]] (1389–1464).{{sfn|Tomas|2003|p=7}} Pater Patriae and Lord of Florence, grandfather of [[Lorenzo de' Medici|Lorenzo the Magnificent]].
*Damiano di Giovanni de' Medici (d.1390).{{sfn|Tomas|2003|p=7}} Most probably Cosimo's twin, died young.
*[[Lorenzo the Elder|Lorenzo di Giovanni de' Medici]] (1395–1440).{{sfn|Tomas|2003|p=7}} Progenitor of the "''Popolare''" branch of the family, the [[List of rulers of Tuscany#Medici grand dukes of Tuscany, 1569–1737|Grand Ducal]] line will descend from him.
*Antonio di Giovanni de' Medici (born c. 1398). Died young.{{sfn|Tomas|2003|p=7}}
==Legacy==
When he died, di Bicci was one of the wealthiest men in Florence, as shown by his tax report of 1429.<ref>Grendler et al S. v. "Medici, Cosimo de.
[[File:Rimini151.jpg|thumb|Bust of Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici by [[Romeo Pazzini]] (
==Fictional depictions==
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== Sources ==
*{{cite book | title=Encyclopedia of the Renaissance | url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofre0000gren | url-access=registration |
*{{cite book | title=The House of the Medici: Its Rise and Fall | url=https://archive.org/details/houseofmediciits00hibb | url-access=registration | last= Hibbert |first= Christopher |author-link= Christopher Hibbert |year=1975| publisher=William Morrow & Company, Inc. | isbn=
*{{cite book | title=Medici Money: Banking, Metaphysics, and Art in Fifteenth-Century Florence | url=https://archive.org/details/medicimoneybanki00park | url-access=registration | last =Parks |first= Tim |author-link= Tim Parks| year=2005 | publisher=W.W. Norton & Company | isbn=
*{{cite book |title=Lucrezia Tornabuoni de' Medici and the Medici family in the fifteenth century |last1=Pernis |first1=Maria Grazia |last2=Adams |first2=Laurie |year=2006 |publisher=Peter Lang Publishing, Inc, New York}}
*{{cite book | last=Tomas | first=Natalie R. | title=The Medici Women: Gender and Power in Renaissance Florence | publisher=Ashgate | location=Aldershot | year=2003 | isbn=0-7546-0777-1}}
*{{cite book |title=The Medici| last=Young| first=G.F.| year=1930| publisher=Random House. New York}}
==External links==
* [https://www.pbs.org/empires/medici/index.html PBS - Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance]
* [http://www.mega.it/eng/egui/epo/medalb.htm THE MEDICI Genealogical tree] from Florence Art Guide
* [http://galileo.rice.edu/gal/medici.html Medici Family] from The Galileo Project
* [http://galileo.rice.edu/images/people/Medici_fam.gif Image of Medici family tree]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Medici, Giovanni Di Bicci De}}
[[Category:Italian bankers]]
[[Category:Italian Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Medieval bankers]]
[[Category:1360 births]]
[[Category:1429 deaths]]
[[Category:House of Medici|Giovanni di Bicci]]
[[Category:14th-century people
[[Category:15th-century people
[[Category:15th-century Italian nobility]]
[[Category:Burials at San Lorenzo, Florence]]
[[Category:14th-century Italian businesspeople]]
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