The House of Medici Committee Background Guide General Crisis Committee Empire Model United Nations Conference VII New York University - November 20 2 Table of Contents Welcome Letter 1 Map 2 History 3 Renaissance Era 3 The Road to Exile 5 Politics 8 Foreign Affairs: France & The Holy League 9 Military 11 Economics 13 Hello Delegates! Welcome to the greatest committee of EMPIREMUNC 2021, the Medici crisis committee! Your Chair, Ricardo DeLeon, and Crisis Director, Vedant Misra, are elated to have you on board. Over the next few days, you will be diving into the rich world of Renaissance-era Florence, we hope you enjoy the crisis simulation we’ve spent so long crafting for you. Your Chair is Ricardo DeLeon, a freshman at NYU studying Global Liberal Studies and Spanish with a minor in Business Studies. This will be his very first year running this committee as Chair, but, rest assured, he has had plenty of rich experiences as a MUN delegate and committee director for multiple MUN conferences, this conference will be the best one yet for him. Besides MUN, Ricardo enjoys reading books centered around politics and philosophy, jogs for fun near NYC’s piers on the westside of Manhattan, and loves conversing with his friends and teachers about current world affairs. Your Crisis Director for this conference is Vedant Misra, a junior at the Stern School of Business studying Finance & Management with a minor in Mathematics. He’s a part time student this semester studying remotely from Boston. In his free time, Vedant spends much of his time listening to hip hop music, playing video games like Pokemon, and watching critically acclaimed films. This will be his sixth year participating in Model UN and third year organizing a crisis committee, and hopes to make this as enriching an experience as possible for all of you. Whether this is your first conference ever as a novice delegate or a fourth year delegate ready to pull another ‘you have infringed my national sovereignty’ card, be prepared to have a great time. By no means will this conference be a walk in the park; on the contrary, this committee session will hone your schools as a delegate by testing your knowledge on the notorious Medici family—as well as your character. As the conference approaches, remember that these unfortunate conditions will not serve as an impediment to your conference experience, you will still have the same intellectually stimulating discussions and resolution making. EmpireMUNC’s staff spent long hours with infinite dedication to make sure your experience this year is as fluid as last year’s. Nevertheless, please feel free to contact Ricardo or Vedant should you have any questions or concerns about this conference or committee. Warm Regards, Ricardo DeLeon ([email protected]) Vedant Misra ([email protected]) Chair, Medici Crisis Committee CD, Medici Crisis Committee EmpireMUNC VII EmpireMUNC VII 1 1 1 Image retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Italy_(1494)-en.svg 2 History Fifteenth-century Italy was unlike any other place in Europe. It was divided into independent city-states, each with a different form of government. Florence, where the Italian Renaissance began, was an independent republic. The Medici family emigrated to Florence around the 12th century, and arose from humble origins to become one of the most important houses in Florence. The Renaissance Era The Medici family was notoriously known in Florence for its huge role in developing Florence’s arts and culture during the Renaissance Era. The Medici family line begins with Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, a future banker with humble beginnings. By no means was Giovanni born into wealth; he had to work hard to get the family to where it was before he passed away. The Italian banker Vieri di Cambio de' Medici2 taught Giovanni everything he knew, and after Vieri retired in 1392, Giovanni founded the Medici Bank in 1397 where he began taking on clients. By 1408, there were four other Medici banks established all over eastern Europe: Florence, Venice, Rome, Naples, and Gaeta. Not only did Giovanni have a stake in the realm of banking, but he also had planted a foothold in Italy’s politics by serving as Prior for the Florence government and performing duties as Gonfaloniere of Justice. By the time Giovanni died in 1429, the Medici Bank earned a grand fortune of 180,000 gold florins for the family, which is approximately USD $25M in today’s currency. As a result of manipulation and 2 Tessa Cole. "Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici: The Man Who Began the Italian Renaissance." The Medici Dynasty Show, 20 Nov. 2016, http://medicidynasty.com/giovanni-di-bicci-de-medici-the-man-who-began-the-italian-renaissance/. Accessed 10 Oct. 2020. 3 patronage, the Medici family would conquer the rest of Italy in the social, political, and economic spheres. In 1429, Giovanni de' Medici died, and management of the bank passed into the hands of his eldest son, Cosimo. Cosimo increased his father’s trading and banking business and became one of the wealthiest men of his time. In 1433, the dominant Albizzi family ostracized Cosimo within elite circles due to his perceived support of the lower-class citizens of Florence. In 1434, he was repatriated from exile and became the de facto ruler of Florence until his death. During this time, wealthy Florentines flaunted their money and power by becoming patrons, or supporters, of artists and intellectuals. Cosimo became the greatest private patron of his time; only he fully appreciated the propaganda value of architecture and sculpture. In fact, he was known to have commissioned various paintings during the Renaissance to showcase arts and cultures in antiquity. From Brunelleschi, Donatello to Fra Angelico, many famous paintings and artists widely known today were produced at this time3. Lorenzo de' Medici, known as "Lorenzo the Magnificent," who ruled Florence during 1469–1492, was as able an administrator as his grandfather Cosimo. Lorenzo married into an important and well-established noble family, the Orsini’s, which gave the wealth and political clout of the Medici the support of aristocratic blood. His success as a diplomat and politician enabled Lorenzo to gain influence with the papacy, which had relied on the Medici Bank for many years. Lorenzo was more capable of leading and ruling a city, but he neglected the family banking business, which led to its ultimate ruin. To ensure the continuance of his family's success, Lorenzo planned his children's future careers for them. He placed his son Giovanni within the Vatican, where, at the ripe age of 13, he was made a cardinal. 3 N.a. "Art and Patronage | Western Civilization." Courses.lumenlearning.com, https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc- worldhistory/chapter/art-and-patronage/. Accessed 10 Oct. 2020. 4 Despite Lorenzo’s political success and popularity among the Florentines, he made a significant error in diplomacy in the 1470s when he attempted to prevent the Pope at the time, Pope Sixtus IV from establishing power in a region called Romagna. This led to the Medici Bank’s loss of the account of the church and the formation of a conspiracy between members of the pope’s family and the Florentine Pazzi family to overthrow Medici rule. In April 1478, the Pazzi assassinated Lorenzo’s brother Giuliano but failed to kill Lorenzo, and the insurgents, denied support by the citizens, were captured and executed. This resulted in the Pazzi family’s expatriation from Florence. In the aftermath of the conspiracy, Pope Sixtus IV interdicted Florence from engaging in mass and communion and encouraged King Ferdinand to wage a two year long war against Florence. In this case, Bologna and Milan, two of Florence’s traditional allies, failed to come to Florence’s rescue. Therefore, Lorenzo paid King Ferdinand a conciliatory visit in Naples in hopes of lessening the tension caused by the Medici’s. He was arrested and spent a few months in prison, but due to his self-righteousness and relentless perseverance, Lorenzo was able to convince Ferdinand to pardon Florence, despite the pope’s wishes of maintaining war between Florence and the Papacy.4 The Road to Exile Upon the death of Lorenzo, his elder son Piero II (also known as Piero the unfortunate) came to power in 1492. Piero was not talented in the political sense, and he owes the name “the Unfortunate” mainly to his own errors of judgment. During his time in power, Ferdinand the prince of Naples was standing up to the invading French power in Italy. Piero decided to support the prince of Naples, thus abandoning the old alliance with France. Soon the French advanced 4 N.a. "HISTORY OF THE MEDICI." Historyworld Encyclopedia, http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=aa24#719. Accessed 10 Oct. 2020. 5 under Charles VIII, crossing the Alps in 1494. Under the pressure of the French invasion Piero sued for peace with Charles. The disastrous peace agreement he struck with Charles, which was viewed unfavorably by the Signoria, aroused a wave of indignation in Florence. A revolt broke out and the Medici palace was ransacked by mobs; the Medici Bank went bankrupt. Piero was forced to flee the city while the populace sacked the Medici Palace.5 In 1494, the republic of Florence was guided by Girolamo Savonarola and his right hand man, Nicolo Machiavelli. Since his years as a student, Savonarola has always been aware of the alarming corruption of church leaders in Italy where papal authority was diminishing. His role as a Dominican friar led him to create the San Giorgio revelations, which entails the seven reasons for judgement on the church, Europe, and Florence.