The day money buys real power

The first bank with enough power to change the flow of history is founded in 1397, making its founders the most powerful dynasty in Italy. The Medici family establishes the first Europe- wide banking system, reigning over Florence for centuries and turning the Tuscan city-state into an art capital and the birthplace of the Renaissance. Even at the time the public was unsure if the Medicis were the “creators of a cultural heyday” or the “assassins of the democratic spirit.” The Mafia-like clan creates branches in Italy and across Europe, granting loans and financing popes and kings— or their rivals. The Medicis receive fees and a say in who fills key positions. In 1513 a Medici reaches the pinnacle of power by becoming the pope.