The House of Medici

Its Rise and Fall

De: Christopher Hibbert

Narrado por: Michael Page

At its height, Renaissance Florence was a center of enormous wealth, power, and influence. A republican city-state funded by trade and banking, its often bloody political scene was dominated by rich mercantile families, the most famous of which were the Medici. This enthralling book charts the family's huge influence on the political, economic, and cultural history of Florence. Beginning in the early 1430s with the rise of the dynasty under the near-legendary Cosimo de Medici, it moves through their golden era as patrons of some of the most remarkable artists and architects of the Renaissance, to the era of the Medici Popes and Grand Dukes, Florence's slide into decay and bankruptcy, and the end, in 1737, of the Medici line.

©1974 Christopher Hibbert (P)2016 Tantor

Reseñas de la Crítica

"A superb introduction to the history and arts created by one man's greed." (Books for Breakfast)

Very boring story

This was my summer reading book and I️ had to listen to this entire book the day before school started. The story was alright, I️ think it could’ve been written better so that it wasn’t basically like reading a textbook

A book for history buffs.

I would have loved to learn more about Catherine de Medici, the French regent. Fun stories to listen to.

No need for Hollywood here

A true picture of the Medici very much worth the time and an excellent performance


The Medici simple the truth... does not need Hollywood's lies to be entertaining

Good History

I listened without knowing that the book was written over 40 years ago, and I could not tell - a good history book is a good history book, no matter when it was written. In lesser books, you may detect a period perspective (positive or negative innuendoes toward each issue), but I did not detect any period perspectives here.

The book trailed-off in interest near the end, and I realized that it was no fault of the author - it was the nature of the family itself as the later generations lost interest and finally died out (it was a good run - around 200 years of being significant).

What was really fascinating was how people thought back in the 1300's - and that the focus of human endeavor was largely no different than today (accumulating material things, trying to impress one another), and the social institutions (for example banking) were quite developed, which made me wonder how far back in history such sophistication really went. I was also struck by the general maturity of the people covered (though misguided and misplaced, lacking any truly enlightened overall life-guiding philosophy, which, in all fairness, still does not exist) (except for the Philosophy of Broader Survival, so find it and read it), I was thinking, "This is a world of adults" (contrast that with today's youth-centric environment, at least from America's marketing, media, and entertainment standpoint, and this book will be refreshingly mature).

I had heard of the family name many times in my travels through history, so I finally 'dug-in' and read some hard, specific history, which is always a daunting task, but usually rewarding, and this book was both. Good that it was audio, so I could multitask. The very least of the things I learned was how to properly pronounce their name - ME-di-chi (short e),rather than going by its misdirecting English appearance, Me-DEE-CEE. Aren't I sophisticated now.

Thoughtfully Researched

This was very well put together. Very thoughtfully researched and spot on. I would highly recommend this book to anyone whether for scholarly or pleasure in learning about this prominent family.