Medici Dominance in Florence

Timeline

1. 1450–1455Florence · TuscanyThough holding no title of office, Cosimo de' Medici manipulated elections, cultivated allies, and suppressed opponents, making the Medici family Florence's undisputed de facto rulers, while generously funding humanism and the arts.
2. 1454Florence · TuscanyUnder Medici leadership, Florence dispatched envoys to the Peace of Lodi negotiations, allying with Venice against the threat from Naples, and establishing Florence's position among the five great powers of Italy.
3. 1455–1459Florence · TuscanyCosimo gradually handed over affairs of state to his eldest son Piero de' Medici, while the Medici Bank and the network of artistic patronage continued to expand, laying the foundation for Medici hegemony in the later era of Lorenzo.