The Tragedies of the Medici | Page 2

also of "Old Honesty" and his nostrums:
"There's not a herb nor a root Nor any remedy to boot Which can stave death off by a foot!"
Of that good couple's family only one name has been preserved--Gianbuono, "Good John." Passerini says he was a priest--probably he means a hermit. Anyhow, he acquired more property in the Valle della Sieve and founded a church--Santa Maria dell' Assunta--possibly the enlargement of his cell--upon Monte Senario, between the valley of the Arno and that of the Sieve.
Ser Gianbuono--ecclesiastic or not--had two sons--Bonagiunto, "Lucky Lad," and Chiarissimo II. In those primitive times nobody troubled about surnames--idiosyncrasy of any kind was a sufficient indication of individuality. The brothers were enterprising fellows, and both made tracks for Florence, which--risen Phoenix-like from barbarian ashes--was thriving marvellously as a mart for art and craft.
Ser Bonagiunto, in the first decade of the thirteenth century, was living in the Sestiere di Porta del Duomo, and working busily in wood and stone, the stalwart parent of a vigorous progeny. It was his great-grandson, Ardingo--a famous athlete in the giostre and a soldier of renown--who first of his family attained the rank of Signore.
Ser Chiarissimo, between 1201-1210, owned a tower near San Tommaso, at the north-east angle of the Mercato Vecchio--later, the family church of the Medici--and under it a _bottega_, or _canova_, for the sale of his grandmother's recipes. Over the door he put up his sign--seven golden _Pillole di Speziale_--pills or balls, which were emblazoned upon the proud escutcheon of his descendants. He was called "_il Medico_"--"the doctor"--hence the family name "Medici."
These were the days when the foundations of the fortunes of many great Florentine families were laid. The loaning of money was the royal road to affluence, and everybody who, by chance, had a spare gold florin or two, became ipso facto a "_Presto_" or bank. Next, after lending to one another with a moderate profit--a dono di tempo or a _merito_--"quick returns," came the ambitious system of State loans, with the regulated interesso and the speculative dealings in _Cambio_--on 'Change--with _boroccolo_--"unexpected gain," and _ritravgola_--"sly advantage," or, as we say, "sharp practice."
Ser Filippo, or "Lippo"--the twin son, as the name implies, of Ser Chiarissimo II.--what happened to the other twin we do not know--was probably the first of his family of doctor-apothecaries to deliberately abandon his less lucrative profession and establish himself as a banker in the Mercato Nuovo. Anyhow, his two sons were born and baptised under the happy auspices of plenty of money!
The elder, the prosperous doctor-banker, was jubilantly called Averardo--"Blessed with good means," and the younger was christened Chiarissimo III., to mark quite sententiously that, whilst his bank-balance was considerable, it had been accumulated by honest dealing!
True to the variable law of vicissitude, this Averardo I. failed to make any very great name for himself, as might have been expected in a lad of so much promise. He was shadowed doubtless by his more strenuous parent. Still, he added to the family possessions by acquiring the lay-patronage of the churches of San Pietro a Sieve and San Bartolommeo di Petrone. Near the latter he built a _castello_, or fortress, which was then considered a title to nobility. He made also a prosperous marriage with Donna Benricevuta de' Sizi.
Messer Averardo's son, Averardo II., was, in the crisscross nature of things, a man of stronger grit than his father. He came to great honour as well as to great riches. Elected Prior in 1304, he was chosen as Gonfaloniere di Giustizia in 1314, and, between these dates, in 1311, Ser Teghia de' Sizi, his mother's brother, made him his heir, and gave him, besides full money-bags, much valuable property and ecclesiastical patronage. To his surname of Medici he added that of Sizi: he was the wealthiest citizen of his day in Florence. His wife, Donna Mandina di Filippo de' Arrigucci of Fiesole, gave him six sons--Giacopo, Giovenco, Francesco, Salvestro, Talento, and Conte. All of them rose to eminence in the State, but of one only can the story be told here--Salvestro.
Messer Salvestro de' Medici--who must not be confounded with his celebrated namesake and kinsman, the "Grand" Salvestro--married Donna Lisa de' Donati, of which union three sons were the issue--Talento, Giovenco, and Averardo III. Salvestro di Averardo II. bore another Christian name--Chiarissimo--the old-world cognomen of his family. Possibly his father thought it wise to stand well with the world and parade his honesty; for whatever ill-gotten gains other bankers acquired, he, at least, was an upright man, and his profits were just!
Anyhow, Messer Salvestro became popular for rectitude in his private life, and for his unselfish discharge of public duties. He was chosen to fill many responsible offices of State, and reached the goal of personal ambition as ambassador to Venice, in 1336. His youngest son, Averardo III., acquired the