Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici

Giovanni di Bicci de ' Medici ( * 1360, † 1429) was a Florentine merchant and banker who had acquired a large fortune by skilful business. He was the nephew of banker Vieri di Cambio de ' Medici and the father of Cosimo de' Medici.

Giovanni came from a relatively minor branch of the Medici family, the Bicci ( de Medici ). They were largely spared by the political Prestigverlustes as a result of the Ciompi rebellion and the subsequent dictatorship Salvestro de Medici.

He began in 1380 as a small money lender and then went into the Roman branch of the Bank of his uncle, Vieri de ' Medici, where he later became a minority partner and the branch in Rome under the name Vieri e Giovanni de' resulted in Roma Medici. Thanks to a small fortune from his marriage to Piccarda Bueri, Giovanni di Bicci bought de 'Medici in 1393, the branch in Rome. In 1397, two years after his uncle's death, he moved his activities to Florence and founded together with the family Bardi Banco Medici. This formed the basis for the subsequent rise of the Medici, one of the most powerful families of that time in Europe. Giovanni di Bicci de ' Medici increased sequentially, to, inter alia, also thanks to his services to the papal finances, one of the most important and influential people. In 1420 he left the management of the assets and his sons Lorenzo and Cosimo de ' Medici. After his death, Cosimo strengthened the position of power of the Medici family from further