Cosimo de' Medici is remembered in public life for work that changed what came after it.
The record lists Cosimo de' Medici as First ruler of the Medici political dynasty (1389–1464).
Cosimo de' Medici was born at Florence in 1389. His recorded nationality is Florence.
Learning then moved through courts, monasteries and madrasas, and reach depended on which libraries and translations lay within travelling distance.
He worked as politician, diplomat and banker.
Political reputations are settled slowly, and rarely by the people who made them.
Working from Florence shaped what was possible - the audiences within reach, the institutions that would have him, the language the work first appeared in.
Cosimo de' Medici died in 1464, aged 75. What survives is the work, which is the only durable form of a reputation.
Achievements
- Worked as politician, diplomat and banker
