The man who made the Medici "God's Bankers"
When Giovanni “Big Change” di Bicci, patriarch of the Medici banking family, lived and worked in Rome, he nurtured a friendship with a Neapolitan that would launch the foundling Medici bank into the forefront of European commerce. It would also intertwine the Medici family with the Papacy - a relationship that would prove to be a double-edged sword in generations to come. That man’s name was Baldassarre Cossa - noble born, alleged pirate; extorter; robber; and a man who was destined to be Pope.
As was the custom in quattrocento Florence, members of the Arte del Cambio - the Bankers Guild - set up their tables in the neighbourhood of the Orsanmichele - the city’s communal granary - to do business. These tables were simple boards placed atop two trestles and covered with the traditional green cloth of the guild that gave a rich contrast to the gleaming gold Florin and silver Lire. Florentine bankers would sit behind their tables, their cash locked in a strong box beneath their tables, while their guards appeared to lounge unconcerned nearby. Legitimate customers would attend their particular banker and carry on all business atop the bankers table - “above board”. But those who wished to keep their financial matters private or secrete them from the law, would slip their deposits or payments “under the table”. Many Florentine bankers would keep two sets of books, one for legitimate customers and another set with carefully coded entries for those less than legitimate customers.
It was this second “under the table” sort of relationship that the Medici bank first developed with Baldassarre Cossa. Cossa needed a way to cleanse the money’s he collected through less than scrupulous means; extortion money and levies against foreign students of Bologna and from the family income allegedly derived through piracy. Under the directorship of Giovanni, the Medici bank was happy to oblige, taking - of course - their customary ten percent. But aside from a professional relationship, Giovanni and his son Cosimo developed a lasting friendship with Cossa which also fit nicely into Giovanni’s network of amici degli amici - “friends of friends”.
In 1402, Giovanni leant his financial weight and political connections to Cossa’s bid to become a Cardinal under Pope Boniface IX. As Cardinal of Frascati, Cossa proved himself able and energetic in his new role especially in financial matters. But it was the time of the Great Schism, with first Boniface IX, Innocent VII, then Gregory XII in Rome and Benedict XIII at Avignon.
Cardinal Cossa became a leading force in bringing about the Council of Pisa in 1409; an attempt to end the Great Schism. The council had a wide international attendance, and declared both Gregory XII and Benedict XIII to be heretical and schismatic and therefore not popes. The Cardinals elected Pietro Cardinal Philarghi as Pope Alexander V. Ironically, though the Council of Pisa sought to unite the church under one Pope, it only served to complicate the Schism by adding a third.
When Alexander V died a year later, the now popular Cossa was elected Pope Giovanni [John] XXIII and established his papacy in Rome. Not forgetting his old friends, Giovanni XXIII made the Medici bank branch in Rome the Depository of the Papal Chamber - Giovanni “Big Change” di Bicci and the Medici family had become “God’s Bankers”.
The Medici bank now held the ultimate power position in the world of international banking; They collected all Papal incomes; paid out the vast Papal expenditures; leant money to finance Pope Giovanni XXIII’s war on Naples and even more to pay the reparations when the war was lost. As the official Papal bank, the Medici created the most persuasive debt collection leverage of the day; pay up or be excommunicated. Fifty percent of the Medici bank’s profits were derived directly from the Papal accounts.
While the Medici flourished, their good friend Pope Giovanni XXIII was not faring so well in his efforts to assert himself as the one true Pope. After the failed Council at Rome [1412-1413], Giovanni XXIII was pressured by his strongest ally, the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund to convene the Council of Constance. This Council convened from November, 1414 to April, 1418 and held fourty-five sessions. It succeeded in healing the Schism by ultimately declared all three Popes false and electing Pope Martin V on November 11, 1417.
During the Council, the Medici faced a crisis when their good friend Giovanni XXIII was declared deposed on May 29, 1415. The dilemma was how to address their divided loyalty between friendship and business. But Giovanni di Bicci, always the consummate businessman, had the solution; Wherever the Pope traveled, part of the Medici bank’s Rome branch traveled with him in the persona of four bank officers. When his good friend was deposed and later imprisoned for his attempt to flee the jurisdiction of the Council, two of the Medici bank officers remained with him in prison, while the other two stayed loyal to the Church, and ultimately Pope Martin V. It was thus that the Medici maintained themselves as the Papal Bank while still remaining loyal to their good friend.
Using his influence as the Papal banker, Giovanni di Bicci implored that Pope Martin V forgive the ex-Pope and paid a ransom of 3500 Florin to secure his release from prison. Sadly for Baldassarre Cossa, the shame of being deposed as Pope Giovanni XXIII appeared to crush him and led to his demise in 1419 at the age of 49. Cossa died in Cosimo de Medici’s home, naming Giovanni di Bicci as one of four executors and bequeathing the Medici family his large collection of gems.
The ex-Pope’s dying wish was that he would be buried in the Baptistery of San Giovanni, the oldest and most holy place of worship in Florence. Only three other Bishops had been buried in the Baptistery and those only in humble stone boxes. Plus the Baptistery's patrons, the Arte della Lana - Wool Merchant’s Guild - were very protective of the black and white marbled patterned Byzantine designs on the interior walls.
Despite the Medici's influence in the city, the guild decreed that the ex-pontiff’s tomb could not extend onto the floor and must lay flat against the wall between two pillars - a spare two feet in depth. It was Cosimo de Medici himself who took on the tasks of fulfilling Cossa’s last wish and of satisfying the Arte della Lana’s requirements. To do so, Cosimo enlisted two talented young men; the architect Michelozzo di Bartolommeo, and the sculpture Donati di Niccolò di Betto Bardi - Donatello, and set them to work on the challenge. For their part in the creation of the tomb, Donatello would remain Cosimo’s favoured sculptor and Michelozzo his favoured architect.
The lavish tomb that Michelozzo and Donatello created remained within the minimal footprint required by the guild, but as there was no restrictions placed on height, it rose twenty-four feet from the Baptistery floor. On top of a base comprised of three stone female figures - Faith, Hope, and Charity - rested the sarcophagus framed by two naked angels unfurling a scroll. Above the sarcophagus lay a narrow bed carved of marble complete with mattress and pillow and upon it the reclining figure of Cossa/Giovanni XXIII cast in bronze, his face turned toward the congregation. Atop this is an elegant bed canopy carved in stone with the curtains drawn back and seemingly held in place by a ring affixed to the Baptistery ceiling. The scroll held by the angels proclaimed;
JOHANNES XXIII QUONDAM PAPA
(“John XXIII, erstwhile Pope”)
The statement this tomb made was clear; The Medici never forgot their friends and - despite the fall of Cossa - they remained “God’s Bankers”.
Sevrin de Savage
November 3, Anno Societatis XXXX