In the fifteenth century, Florence is among the largest cities in Europe, considered rich and economically successful.

Life is not idyllic for all residents though, among whom there are great disparities in wealth.

Cosimo de' Medici is the first Medici family member to essentially control the city from behind the scenes.

Although the city is technically a democracy of sorts, his power comes from a vast patronage network along with his alliance to the new immigrants, the gente nuova (new people).

The fact that the Medici are bankers to the pope also contributes to their ascendancy.

Cosimo is succeeded by his son Piero, who is, soon after, succeeded by Cosimo's grandson, Lorenzo in 1469.

Lorenzo is a great patron of the arts, commissioning works by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli.

Lorenzo is an accomplished musician and brings composers and singers to Florence, including Alexander Agricola, Johannes Ghiselin, and Heinrich Isaac.

By contemporary Florentines (and since), he is known as "Lorenzo the Magnificent" (Lorenzo il Magnifico).

Following the death of Lorenzo de' Medici in 1492, he is succeeded by his son Piero II.

When the French king Charles VIII invades northern Italy, Piero II chooses to resist his army, but when he realizes the size of the French army at the gates of Pisa, he has to accept the humiliating conditions of the French king.

These make the Florentines rebel and they expel Piero II.

With his exile in 1494, the first period of Medici rule ends with the restoration of a republican government.