Notes 5-6- reviewing the video that we watched yesterday and on

• The Medici- ruled in Florence throughout the renaissance. (there is a link to the wikipedia page on the notes before this). Florence is considerably smaller than Rome, but they were extremely powerful in the late 14 century. This was because they were wealthy, because they had a bank in their city that was backed by the pope. This made them very very wealthy and powerful. The Medici's plan was to build a bank and get one guy to be pope, and that guy will make the Medici bank the bank of the Vatican.
• Giovanni de Medici was the old guy who started the bank.
• Cosimo was his son. He is the one who gets the dome of Florence cathedral built. This was the greatest architectural achievement in the world of to that time. It gives great prominence to the Medici.

Now we are watching another video

• Lorenzo Magnifico was the next ruler of Florence.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_de'_Medici
• August 1466- the Medici were in danger.
• The Medici family was vulnerable. they needed new allies that were beyond the walls of Florence. They are very uneasy of their future.
• So for the first time in the Medici history, they go outside of the city for a spouse.
• The girl Lorenzo married brought a lot of connections into the Medici family.
• Alliances with the right families was crucial.
• Lorenzo's father finally died.
  
• Lorenzo was now the leader of the Medici's and was the most powerful man in Florence.
• Lorenzo had been brought up a scholar.
• there was a conspiracy against the Medici.
• Giuliano the Medici was stabbed 19 times and died immediately, but Lorenzo was unaccounted for.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuliano_de'_Medici_(1453–1478)
• But the Medici were still alive and still in business.
• Giuliano's murder sent shock waves through Tuscany. Medici power now hung by a thread.
• The pope had ordered troops to wipe out the Medici once and for all. Lorenzo would gamble with his life for the sake of the city. the people of Florence were worried about his survival, and so was he.
• Lorenzo traveled for nearly a month, and his ship docked above Naples just before Christmas, 1479. He brings a lot of gifts and such, a peace is work out, although the pope is unhappy.
• The enemy troops were called off. he had saved Florence from destruction.
• He was hailed "the magnificent" by his grateful city.
• His experiences, however, had changed him. Lorenzo worked to protect the future of the Medici family.
• Leonardo da Vinci- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_vinci. He had a great talent even from a young age.
• Leonardo was determined to reflect the detail of the natural world. He was an artist that would take the world apart searching for how it works.
• Leonardo's arrival was raising the stakes in the battle for Medici patronage.
• Botticelli painted "The Birth of Venus"- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botticelli
• On July 29, 1487 tragedy struck the Medici family. Lorenzo's wife died suddenly from Tuberculosis. He lamented the loss of those near to him.
• In 1488 Lorenzo established the firs art school in history. He spotted a young talent who was working with marble for the first time. He was only 13. His name is Michaelangelo.
• Lorenzo likes him and takes him under his wing, and then later decides to bring him into his family.
• Michaelangelo's talent increased.
• Florence was split down the middle between the people who felt that Savonarola was making a good point and people that loved art and intellectual advancement like Lorenzo.
• Savonarola completely hated Lorenzo and believed him to be the cause of everything he thought was evil.- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savonarola
• Lorenzo fell seriously ill in 1492.
• Lorenzo feared for the future of the dynasty. Medicine could not cure him.
• He turned to the church.
• Lorenzo knew he was dying, and called Savonarola to his death bed seeking absolution.
• What if God really disapproved of his life's work?
• Lorenzo died at the age of 43, fearing hell to his last breath.
• Savonarola seized his chance after Lorenzo had gone.
• He beat and killed prostitutes and homosexuals, and forbid the show of jewelry. Artwork, cosmetics, jewels, and books were burned.
• Now even Botticelli, for fear of damnation, joined the destruction. He threw his own paintings into the flames.
• This became known of as "The Bonfire of the Vanities"