The Medicis were one of the richest families in Europe. Originally middle class bankers from Florence, they rose to power because of their skill at their craft (Jensen 64). They …show more content…
One example of this is when the Medici family delayed a clerics transition to a bishop. Until, he and his father, a cardinal, had paid off their debt to the Medici Bank ("Banking: Those Medici"). By doing this the Medici family proved that their influence had a powerful effect on even high ranking clergy. Another instance where the Medici family proved to be superior to the Catholic Church is in 1447. Pope Sixtus IV attempted to assassinate Lorenzo de Medici and his brother (Greenblatt 14). In retaliation, the people of Florence imprisoned everybody involved in the assassination and hanged the archbishop of Florence (Greenblatt 14). The Pope went to war against the Medici family in response to this. He attempted to use the church's influence to draw the King of Naples, a military ally, into entering the conflict (Greenblatt 15). Lorenzo de Medici managed to use skillful diplomacy to prompt the King of Naples to sign a peace treaty instead (Greenblatt 16). Incidents like these show that the Medici can leverage their diplomatic influence to best the Catholic church in non civil matters as well as