Cosimo de’ Medici summary

Cosimo de’ Medici, known as Cosimo the Elder, (born Sept. 27, 1389, Florence—died Aug. 1, 1464, Careggi, near Florence), Founder of one of the main lines of the Medici family. The son of the Florentine banker Giovanni di Bicci de’Medici (1360–1429), Cosimo represented the Medici bank and handled papal finances, becoming the wealthiest man of his time. Another leading family, the Albizzi, had him imprisoned (1433) and tried to assassinate him, but a year later the Medici regained power in Florence, and Cosimo triumphantly returned. He was the architect of the Peace of Lodi (1454). An alliance with the Sforzas of Milan provided him with troops to crush a coup d’état in 1458, after which he created a Senate composed of 100 loyal supporters (the Cento). He was a patron of scholarship and the arts, including such figures as Donatello and Filippo Brunelleschi.