In the fifteenth century, the Medici family rose to power in Florence from an undistinguished background. Like most of the Renaissance rulers in Italian towns, the Medici became prominent patrons of learning and the arts. In the rapidly expanding cities, the merchant guilds, mendicant orders, and leading families saw patronage as a means of expressing both their growing wealth and power. The arts were good for the cities' economy and prestige, and, for an obscure family like the Medici, such sponsorship increased their personal prestige. In the fifteenth century, "merchants turned into courtiers" (Kempers 15). No matter whether they were particularly interested in scholarship or the arts, the families also began to value patronage because it demonstrated their cultured attitudes. Men like Cosimo de' Medici spent heavily on public works because, according to Leon Battista Alberti, Cicero recommended public giving. The Medici and others after them believed they were emulating noble Romans who, as Cicero told them, had founded the Republic on this public virtue rather than on the desire for private wealth (Stephens 101). But, for all their public giving and personal culture, the majority of the Italian rulers were soldiers and statesmen first. Lorenzo de' Medici, however, was a truly devoted to ideas and literature, and he himself became a fine poet: "Lorenzo was basically an intellectual, and such he remained throughout his life" (Micheletti 20).
The Medici family had first risen to prominence on the skills of Cosimo, Lorenzo's grandfather, "an exceptionally gifted merchant and banker" who became one of the wealthiest men in Italy (Hook 4). The struggle for power in Florence took place between powerful merchant families, and Medici dominance depended on hard work and skilled statesmanship. Theoretically, the city's government was in the hands of all its citizens. But power was actually held by the oligarchy, which ensur...