Medici Bank



Medici Bank

Introduction

The Medici Bank was the most famous and largest bank of the Europe in the fifteenth century. There are many scholars who believe the family Medici was for a time the richest family in Europe. Political power were gain by the wealth, first in Florence and then in Italy, and Europe. Doctors gave a significant contribution to the development of accounting with the improvement of the general ledger system through the insertion of the double-entry book keeping that made it more obvious credits and debts. The Medici Family operated on the most influential commercial organizations of the Renaissance period (Rover, 1966). According to Helton (1995) the Medici Family started out as part of the patrician class, not nobility and was seen by most as friends to the common people. The Medici's would eventually become Dukes of Tuscany and are credited by historians as the first family to set up an empire with money, while previous empires were created with the use of military force (Kim, 2005). The Medici Family history and the enormous impact it had on Italian history is archived in the Archive Stator in Florence (Rover, 1966). The Medici Family combined banking and commerce to generate great wealth and acclaim (Helton, 1995).

Discussion

Foundation

Doctors concerned bank at a high level maintaining their status as a family member of the upper class and invested their money in equity interests in the lands of Magellan in the Apennines north of Florence; at that time, the Medici was the richest family in Europe and probably the world. The estimate of their wealth, in values of our times, it is difficult and imprecise, whereas their work of art of inestimable value, land, gold and much more appreciable. They were not only bankers but were innovators in the field of accounting. At some point in their history, they ran most of the finances of the world and their currency became one of the favorite in international trade.

The Medici Family was at the centre of the banking universe (“The Economist,” 1999). The Economist (1999) explains how this banking family provided services to four popes and two queens for over 400 years. The Medici Family Bank was considered the most powerful financial institute in all of the early 15th century Europe. The first Medici Bank was set up by Giovanni Bicci de Medici in 1392 (“The Economist, 1999). However, due to the depression and the aggression of the French, the Medici Bank eventually failed ('The Economist,” 1999).

The Medici women also contributed to the family's legacy. During the Medici reign it was well known that if you had political aspiration or wanted to be somebody, one had to marry into the Medici Family (Kim, 2005). French Kings even went as far as to take Medici women as their brides. One the French brides went on to build the des Champs Elysees, which is known as the widest street in the world. She would also go on to build the Pala is do Luxembourg (Kim, ...