Heroes and Villains of Finance. Baldwin Adam

      With their great wealth, the Medici family became the single biggest sponsor of art and architecture in history, mainly early and High Renaissance. Michelangelo, Donatello, Fra Angelico, Leonardo Da Vinci and Raphael were all funded by the Medici family during their careers.

      However, as the bank expanded throughout Europe, the Medici Bank found many of its high net-worth clients to often prove unreliable. Their London bank, for example, was forced to shut in 1478 following its loans to Edward IV who became unable to repay his loans following the Wars of the Roses.

      After a series of mismanagements by successive Medici heirs, the eventual fall of the Medici Bank came in the late 15^th century, when the Medici family's fiscal problems became so severe that they began raiding Florence's state treasuries, at one point defrauding the ‘Monte delle Dote', a national charitable fund.