The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici

The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici by Christopher Hibbert chronicles the dramatic trajectory of the powerful Medici family, who dominated Florence from the early 15th century through their ascent under Cosimo de’ Medici in the 1430s. The book vividly details their golden age as bankers, political manipulators, and unparalleled patrons of Renaissance luminaries like Brunelleschi, Donatello, and Michelangelo, fostering an explosion of art, architecture, and humanism that defined the era. It then traces their production of two popes—Leo X and Clement VII—and Grand Dukes, alongside scandals, conspiracies like the Pazzi plot, wars, and financial ruin, culminating in the dynasty’s extinction in 1737 amid Florence’s decay.