The Medici

This purports to be a history of a single family, but it’s really a history of the entire Italian renaissance. The Medici just happened to dominate that time period.

It’s interesting to see how the Medici crossed paths with so many other legendary people of that period. Da Vinci and Michelangelo and Machiavelli all make appearances.

I was also surprised at the bloodshed. I had notions of the beauty of thought and reason in that era, but the Italians of that period were absolutely horrific to one another. There’s a lot of … murdering. And some of the ways in which they killed each other were incredibly barbaric. There’s an extended passage where a man is tortured to death, then finally – mercifully – killed and buried, only to be dug up, dragged around town, and his corpse hung from a tree until it slow fell to pieces as it rotted.

The church dominated the period. Everyone seemed to be angling to become Pope or a bishop or something. For a while, the church seemed to simply be an extension of family power.

In the end, the book gets tedious. There’s a lot of people to keep track of, and it’s easy to get lost. There are times when it almost descends into just a parade of Italian names, and I was having trouble figuring out who was who.

I’m glad I read it. But prepare yourself. Maybe take notes.