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He was named the priore of the Republic of Florence, giving him even more power as one of nine Signoria who governed the city-state. Although the term length was short, the role helped him consolidate his power, and he later held a political post again as an ambassador. Prior to the Medici family's domination of the banking world, the Bardi clan had run one of the richest banks in Europe.
The couple had two children: Piero, who would be the next Medici patriarch and was later known as Piero the Gouty, and Giovanni. Cosimo also had an illegitimate son, Carlo, by an enslaved Circassian named Maddalena; Contessina agreed to care for the child. Giovanni died in , leaving his sons with immense wealth. Florence was, officially, a representative form of government, governed by municipal councils and the Signoria. Although Cosimo claimed to have no political ambitions and only served when his name was drawn at random to serve a short term on the Signoria, he actually controlled much of the government through the Medici wealth.
The man he chooses holds office He it is who decides peace and war He is king in all but name. Cosimo used his influence and wealth to improve Florence as a whole. He was a noted sponsor of poets, philosophers, orators, and artists, spending vast sums of money as a patron of art and thought. One of his lasting legacies was the Palazzo Medici, which included work by major artists of the era.
In , Cosimo founded the first public library in Florence: the library at San Marco. By the s, Cosimo de' Medici and his family were the most powerful in Florence, which posed a threat to other influential families such as the Strozzi and Albizzi.
Cosimo was imprisoned in after a failed bid to conquer the nearby Republic of Lucca, but he was able to negotiate down from imprisonment to a sentence of exile from the city. Despite some factions calling for his continued imprisonment or even execution, Cosimo was able to achieve his desired sentence.
Cosimo promptly moved, first to Padua and then to Venice. His brother Lorenzo came with him. Cosimo brought his banking business with him and gained the support of many along the way, garnering praise for accepting exile instead of continuing the tradition of bloody intra-city power struggles. Cosimo also adopted the policy, already traditional in his family, of supporting the lesser guilds and the poor against the wealthy aristocracy which ruled the city.
These oligarchs became jealous of Cosimo's popularity and fearful of his democratic tendencies. Consequently they sought to destroy him and his family. In , spurred on by Rinaldo degli Albizzi, the most influential of their number, they had Cosimo arrested with the intention of putting him to death. One year later, in October , the sentence of exile was overturned by a new government favorable to Cosimo, and he returned to the city in triumph.
From that time until his death, he controlled both the foreign and domestic affairs of Florence, using his prestige and his money to keep his adherents in the government.
Cosimo himself took public office only briefly. He believed it prudent to keep the institutions of government intact and to rule quietly, so as not to injure the republican sensibilities of the people. His despotism established, Cosimo promptly reformed the system of taxation, changing from a fixed income tax to a graduated one. This placed a heavier burden on the wealthy, who grumbled that the Medici tyrant was using the tax as a weapon against them. The middle class and the poorer citizens, who were Cosimo's strength, were delighted and became even more ardent in their support, particularly when they saw that the funds gained through taxation, amplified by substantial contributions from Cosimo's own pocket, were put to use in public projects.
Cosimo employed the architectural skills of Michelozzo to build his palace and, in , the Dominican convent of San Marco. He commissioned Filippo Brunelleschi to restore the Basilica di San Lorenzo, which was in dire need of repair. The cloisters of Fiesole owe their erection to Cosimo, who added to these monuments of his munificence country villas of contemporary style at both Fiesole and Careggi.
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