Because the Medici family played a major role in Florentine Renaissance, it is difficult to fully understand the family’s relevance without having basic knowledge on Florence and the Renaissance. After the chaos in Europe that consisted of several factors including the Great Schism and the Bubonic Plague, European life was given a light and resurrection of culture and spirit in a period we now know was the Renaissance; to the Italians la Rinascita, Rebirth. Will Durant wrote in The Renaissance: The Story of Civilization V, “The sunshine of the Italian spirit would break through the northern mists; men and women would escape from the prison of medieval fear; they would worship beauty in all its forms, and fill the air with the joy of resurrection. …show more content…
The greatness of the Medici family that once was continued to deteriorate, especially when Cosimo II and Cosimo III came to power. The Medici family at one point was the wealthiest family in Europe and most powerful family in Florence, but Cosimo II demolished the family prosperity his ancestors worked to accomplish. His first major act was ending of the Medici bank and Medici involvement in commercial activity. In his opinion, involvement in business was below him as a grand duke, which was the complete opposite because this had been the primary source of the family’s great wealth and power. Cosimo II was a …show more content…
The Medici family produced some excellent rulers and some terrible rulers. Cosimo III was undoubtedly a disastrous ruler. “He always acted on the basis of petty and bigoted motives…As a result of his behaviour, the Grand Duchy lived through a regime of terror that often induced the citizens to malicious gossip, lies, and subterfuge,” said Winspeare in The Medici: The Golden Age of Collecting. He was entirely to blame for the decline of Florence’s brilliance, power, and wealth. He even neglected attention to the artists and scientists, who eventually fled Florence. In the mean time, he was spending long hours in prayer, visiting monasteries and sanctuaries, which was why no attention was paid to the matters of