Vieri di Cambio de' Medici (1323 – 13 or 14 September 1395) was a Florentine banker, a distant relative of the Medici banking dynasty. He was the son of Cambio di Filippo de' Medici of the ''Lippo di Chiarissimo'' branch of Medicis. His first cousin was Salvestro di Alamanno de' Medici, a Florentine patrician known for causing the Ciompi Revolt in Florence.

Career

Vieri de' Medici was enrolled in the Arte del Cambio, a major banking guild in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, where he presumably mastered the banking trade. He pursued different ventures over the course of his lifetime. His first prominent company, ''Vieri di Cambio de' Medici & Co.'', was responsible for shipping Florentine goods through the

Republic of Pisa The Republic of Pisa () was an independent state existing from the 11th to the 15th century centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian t ...

in 1369. De' Medici later partnered with other prominent bankers at the time, notably Niccolò di Riccardo Fagni, Giovanni di Arrigo Rinaldeschi da Prato and Jacopo di Francesco Venturi. Vieri de' Medici's distant relative, Francesco di Bicci de' Medici joined as a junior partner in 1382. By 1385, Vieri de' Medici ran a successful joint venture with Venturi called ''Vieri de' Medici and Jacopo di Francesco Venturi''. This joint venture maintained a branch in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

which "dealt in foreign bills" and had correspondents along the Dalmatian coast, most notably in Zara. Francesco de' Medici later became senior partner, as evidenced in a letter dated 4 July 1390, which also indicated a branch in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. Vieri de' Medici also maintained a branch in Rome, under a separate partnership with Francesco's younger brother,

Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici ( – February 1429) was an Italian banker and founder of the Medici Bank. While other members of the Medici family, such as Chiarissimo di Giambuono de' Medici, who served in the Signoria of Florence in 1401, and ...

. This venture was known as ''Vieri e Giovanni de' Medici in Roma'' and was established in 1386. Records suggest Vieri de' Medici retired from banking in 1393. His bank was dissolved prior, in either 1391 or 1392. The remnants were sold off to relatives, who established three independent banks. The first bank was established by Vieri's nephew, Antonio di Giovanni de' Medici. Joining Antonio de' Medici was banker Giovanni di Salvestro and Vieri de' Medici's old business partner, Jacopo di Francesco Venturi. This bank is thought to have been dissolved by 1395. The second bank was established by Francesco di Bicci de' Medici, in the name of his son Averardo di Francesco de' Medici. This bank eventually was dissolved by 1443. The third, and most successful, bank was established by Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici and junior partner Benedetto di Lippaccio de' Bardi in Rome. Later known as the Medici Bank, it rose the Medici family to prominence. Its precursor was the earlier joint venture established in Rome in 1386. Records dated from 1397 suggest that Giovanni de' Medici was "forced to take over all the assets and liabilities" of Vieri de' Medici, which included "a number of bad debts". Giovanni lost over 860 florins as a result of the deal, but managed to create a successful bank that lasted for decades afterward.

Political stance

Following his retirement from banking, Vieri de' Medici became politically active. He was an ally to Maso degli Albizzi, and was selected Gonfaloniere of Justice, serving the role May–June 1392. Many Florentine citizens expected Vieri de' Medici to lead a renewed revolt against the

Albizzi The Albizzi family () was a patrician noble family and were the de facto leaders of an oligarchy of wealthy families that ruled Florence in the second half of the 14th century. They were at the center of the oligarchy from 1382, in the reaction th ...

regime, following in the footsteps of his cousin Salvestro in the earlier Ciompi Revolt.

Personal life

Vieri de' Medici married twice. He married his first wife, Valenza, sometime before 1364. She died childless in September 1378. He later married Bice di Pazzino Strozzi, the daughter of a political ally, late in his life. Bice Strozzi gave birth to two sons, Niccola in 1384 or 1385 and Cambio on 1390 or 22 February 1391, and two daughters, Valenza and Bice. Upon the death of Vieri de' Medici, as stipulated by his will signed on 12 August 1395, each daughter was to receive 1,200 florins for their dowries, and whatever remained of Vieri's fortune was to be inherited by his surviving sons. Niccola and Cambio eventually established a bank of their own in Florence, with a branch in Rome. Unlike their father, the two proved incompetent in running their business, and by 1433, they had "sold most of their real estate in order to extinguish the liabilities of their bank". Vieri de' Medici died on either 13 or 14 September 1395, and was buried in the

Florence Cathedral Florence Cathedral (), formally the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower ( ), is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Florence in Florence, Italy. Commenced in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed b ...

Notes

References

* * *{{cite book , title=The Family Medici: The Hidden History of the Medici Dynasty , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WqAvDwAAQBAJ , first=Mary , last=Hollingsworth , publisher=Pegasus Books , location=New York , year=2018 , ISBN=978-1-68177-648-4 Medieval bankers 1395 deaths Italian bankers Italian Roman Catholics 1323 births 14th-century people from the Republic of Florence House of Medici Italian nobility 14th-century Italian businesspeople