The Family Medici

The Hidden History of the Medici Dynasty

By: Mary Hollingsworth

Narrated by: Anne Flosnik

Having founded the bank that became the most powerful in Europe in the 15th century, the Medici gained massive political power in Florence, raising the city to a peak of cultural achievement and becoming its hereditary dukes. Among their number were no fewer than three popes and a powerful and influential queen of France. Their influence brought about an explosion of Florentine art and architecture. Michelangelo, Donatello, Fra Angelico, and Leonardo were among the artists with whom they were socialized and patronized.

Thus runs the "accepted view" of the Medici. However, Mary Hollingsworth argues that the idea that the Medici were enlightened rulers of the Renaissance is a fiction that has now acquired the status of historical fact. In truth, the Medici were as devious and immoral as the Borgias - tyrants loathed in the city they illegally made their own. In this dynamic new history, Hollingsworth argues that past narratives have focused on a sanitized and fictitious view of the Medici - wise rulers, enlightened patrons of the arts, and fathers of the Renaissance - but that in fact their past was reinvented in the 16th century, mythologized by later generations of Medici who used this as a central prop for their legacy.

©2018 Mary Hollingsworth (P)2018 Tantor

Decent, Detailed History

Engaging. While it gets some details wrong (eg, Galileo Affair), it is a serviceable history.

Good story, bad narrator.

Good piece of history with some info not generally found on history books. I wish it had been read by someone else. Dreadful narrator, bad pronunciation of Italian names, bland voice that is irritating at times, and at others puts you to sleep. I couldn’t finish it. I purchased the printed copy, I think I will enjoy it much more.

Disappointed

This is a strict historic report, and I’ve become addicted to histories like those by Chernow and Kearns-Goodwin. This was a slog.

Simply narration of information

Nothing more than reading facts / details. No characters ... just dry material. Although very nasal sounding, changing the narrator won't improve the material.