| |
Shop
| |  |
|
Best Sellers
| | Home Medici Money: Banking, Metaphysics, and Art in Fifteenth-Century Florence (Enterprise) | |
|  | |  | | | Medici Money: Banking, Metaphysics, and Art in Fifteenth-Century Florence (Enterprise) | | | | | SKU:
1002375865 | | In Stock | | Availability:
Usually ships in 1 business days | | | | | | “A swift and brilliant synthesis of finance, politics, and history.”—Ben Sisario, New York Times Book Review Before they achieved renown as patrons of the arts and de facto rulers of Florence, the Medici family earned their fortune in banking. But even at the height of the Renaissance, charging interest of any kind meant running afoul of the Catholic Church’s ban on usury. Tim Parks reveals how the legendary Medicis—Cosimo and Lorenzo “the Magnificent” in particular—used the diplomatic, military, and even metaphysical tools at hand, along with a healthy dose of intrigue and wit, to further their fortunes as well as their family’s standing. | | | |
List Price:
| $15.95 | |
Our Price:
| $10.64
& eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25.
| |
You Save:
| $5.31 (33%)
|
| | |
|
| | Product Details | | Author: | Tim Parks | | Paperback: | 288 pages | | Publisher: | W. W. Norton & Company | | Publication Date: | May 17, 2006 | | Language: | English | | ISBN: | 0393328457 | | Product Length: | 7.88 inches | | Product Width: | 5.92 inches | | Product Height: | 0.71 inches | | Product Weight: | 0.57 pounds | | Package Length: | 7.8 inches | | Package Width: | 5.3 inches | | Package Height: | 0.8 inches | | Package Weight: | 0.5 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 30 reviews |
| |
| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review: ( 30 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 34 found the following review helpful:
 A well-written history book (for a change)! Feb 07, 2006
By Nicholas Warren
The focus of the book is the rise, and fall, of the Medici bank, rather than the Medici themselves. However, the former explains a lot about the latter. It takes you through the founding of the business, as a not-wholly reputable business conducted by merchants and sailing very close to the winds of usury, to the over-stretching of the bank and its demise. However, by this time, the Medici had become indispensible to the financing of wars, which had enabled them to become politically very powerful. Ironically, they could now afford to neglect the very business that had initially been responsible for their power and concentrate on dynastic marriages among the nobility of Europe (by the sixteenth century, Marie and then Catherine de Medici had become queens of France).
Along the way, the reader is introduced to the scions of the Medici family, including the two best known, Cosimo (also styled pater patriae) and Lorenzo (il magnifico) and something about their patronage of the arts at the time of the Italian renaissance. Concentrating on the running of the bank, the book has fascinating insights, such the significance of natural cash imbalances in different parts of the banking empire and what thet meant for the business when it was highly risky to physically transport gold coin from one location to another in Europe.
Medici Money was well-written, easy to read and most enjoyable. Naturally, it was writen by an author, not a professional historian. Don't expect a dry, academic book with every statement footnoted to sources. Do expect the author to sometimes interject his opinions and to make statements without backing them up (we just have to trust that he has done his research thoroughly). That's a trade-off, of course, but one I would like to see occur more frequently. The non-specialist reader may well learn more about history in this way and, most importantly, be encouraged to explore history further.
Bravo, Tim Parks! It's made me want to explore your novels.
20 of 22 found the following review helpful:
An Engaging Read May 06, 2005
By Ladyness
"Booklover"
I've only read two of Tim Parks books: "Italian Neighbors" and "Italian Education". I loved both of them. I like his nonchalant style which takes the reader right to the point.
"Medici Money" was a good surprise. I had never read anything about the most famous family in Florence, so this book was a good introduction to the fortunes and misfortunes of the power and money hungry Medicis. Because I don't have a background in economics, some parts were a little more difficult to grasp for me, but otherwise it was a witty account of the Medici's bank rise and fall. I only wished it had more on the metaphysics aspect of Renaissance life and how it related to banking. I also think the book would benefit if it had more illustrations and a better genealogy table (some dates were different from the text). Overall it was a pleasant and informative read. I specially liked his suggestions in the bibliography. In sum, I enjoyed the book very much and if you're interested in learning a bit more about Renaissance and the Medici, it's a good start.
15 of 17 found the following review helpful:
 Disappointing & Cynical Jan 14, 2006
By David Mullet
I enjoy reading about the Italian Renaissance, especially about Florence and its history. While I have read a number of good books, I would not count "Medici Money" among the best of them.
Tim Parks relates the rise and fall of the Medici family's banking business through the fifteenth century in a cynical, sarcastic tone. While he is to be given his due for not producing a fairy-tale profile of one of the most important families in Italian history, I get the impression that Parks finds very little to like about the Medici and would very much like us to share his low opinion of Lorenzo and Company.
His writing style, perhaps intended to be conversational, is littered with rhetorical questions and incomplete sentences that I found distracting ("For me or against me. Your fate. What could a banker do?"). Parks provides neither footnotes nor endnotes, and routinely quotes unnamed sources. As a result, I sometimes found it difficult to separate historical fact from author's conjecture.
Perhaps "Medici Money" is intended as a realistic counterbalance to less-critical accounts of the Medici, but I would rank it below other works on the period, such as "April Blood" and "Brunelleschi's Dome".
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
Fascinating Medieval Financial Machinations Feb 06, 2006
By Rolf Dobelli
"getAbstract"
If your knowledge of the Medici family begins and ends with their patronage of Renaissance artists, sharp-penned writer Tim Parks has some revelations to share. True, the Medicis used the wealth they amassed from their bank to turn Florence, Italy, into the Mecca of fifteenth-century culture. Yet, the Medici clan also perfected the arts of vanquishing foes and allying with the rich and powerful to gain a stranglehold on political power - all in bold-faced defiance of Catholic Church doctrine. The Vatican held that paying or collecting so much as a penny of interest was a mortal sin. Parks' book shows you what the Medici made of that, and his arch, witty style is a joy to read. Perhaps the only caution is that this history is more a study of the spiritual and social history of Florence than a guide to the Medicis' business successes and failures. We recommend this history to anyone interested in the intersection of money, politics and religion.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Informative book that also makes for a good read Jul 25, 2006
By Lifelong Reader
Parks' book encompasses the lives of the five heads of the Medici family, and simultaneously through the history of the city of Florence. Through the eyes of the city of Florence, we see Italy, and through slightly foggier lenses, all of Europe.
Parks clearly has a deep love and respect for the more medieval (as opposed to Renaissance) parts of his tale. If you are expecting a hagiographical account of Lorenzo the Magnificent and his great contributions to art, architecture and learning, this isn't the right book.
I picked this book up because I had an interest in the economic side of the Renaissance. For me, one of the more fun sides of history is following the dollars and cents to find an alternative rationale behind the traditional story. And in the first half of this book, Parks provides the goods.
Without talking down to the reader, he makes VERY complicated financial transactions seem simple enough that with a little extra care and attention, they are not only able to be followed, but able to be understood. The multiple types of profitable banking transations are complicated enough for a non-finance major, but when added to the necessity of covering their tracks to avoid falling afoul of Florentine law, Church law, the laws of England, Germany (and even Poland!), personal ethics and morals, and even the taxman, it is amazing that I finished the book, nonetheless enjoyed it and remember it.
The book is more or less chronological. He concentrates on five Medicis, and the chapters covering the first two, Giovanni and Cosimo, are by far the best. And if you are going to study the Medicis as bankers and politicians, rather than as art patrons, poets, and humanists, this makes sense; but it does mean that the book ends weakly. It does read a bit like "The Rise and Fall of the Medici Family", and he spares little when describing the fall. Much of the blame is placed on Lorenzo's unwillingness to learn the family trade (banking), considering it almost beneath him.
A surprise bonus in this book is the detailed account of Florentine politics during these 100 years. Parks is almost as gifted describing the complicated nature of a republic illegally ruled by an autocratic family as he is a bank illegally profiting from interest bearing loans. He falters slightly when inserting his personal opinions and when unable to refrain from making occasional comparisons to modern politics, but all-in-all, his description of the political situation is just as fascinating (and complicated) as the economic portions.
See all 30 customer reviews on Amazon.com
| |
| |
| |  | |  |
|
Recently Viewed | You may also like ...
|
