The Medici Family Connection to Medieval Lithuania

Being interested in both Lithuania and the Medici family from different perspectives, I never thought the two would be connected! I always knew that the Medici banking influence ran from Italy to London to Bruges; however, I had no idea that the Medici family itself was also connected to medieval Lithuania. I’m fascinated by the country of Lithuania, its history, language, and people (my peeps!) and I’ve also been fascinated by the history of money and banking for some time now. Here’s where these two interests collide.

I became interested in the Medici family through my search to understand the roots of what MONEY is along with the history of finance and usury. In college I even took 300-level economics courses just to further this understanding. However, as an armchair economist and self-proclaimed ‘money’ historian I’ve read books ranging from Niall Ferguson’s “The Ascent of Money” to Homer Sylla’s “A History of Interest Rates” to Kenneth Galbraith’s “Money” to Thomas Piketty’s “Capital” to Edward Griffin’s “The Creature from Jekyll Island” and even the “Financial Crisis Inquiry Report” from 2011. I’ve also read a considerable amount more on the subject.

Here’s how all that connects to the famous Italian Medici family.

I first ran across the connection between the Medici family and medieval Lithuania in a passage describing one of the kings of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Henry III. He was described as “the son of Henry II and Catherine de Medici, and brother of French king Charles IX” (Sužiedėlis 2011:125). His title was given as Henry III of Valois (1551-1589) which was another layer of curiosity for me.

My first though was: “this guy’s French!” Not only is he French he carries a very uneasy name for any Plantagenet historian: de Valois. My immediate recollection was that Catherine de Valois was responsible for handing over the Plantagenet line to the Welsh Tudors. My reaction was visceral, to be honest. It was Catherine’s bastard son Edmund Tudor who later claimed the English crown – ugh! Edmund Tudor is the grandfather of the dreaded Henry VIII.

It turns out that this Catherine de Valois (1401-1437) descends from the House of Valois, a cadet branch of the Capet line of French kings founded by Hugh Capet in 987 (also known as the Capetian Dynasty). Henry III of Valois also descends from this same House of Valois, although he lived much later.

My slant on English history is decidedly English and as the Plantagenets are my favourite dynasty, I have a hard time getting past the events that happened which rounded out the Wars of the Roses. Read Dan Jones’ book on the subject if you are interested in a great perspective. That was a digression…back to the story.

This rapacious tart Catherine also had Visconti blood on her mother’s mother’s side. The Visconti family in Italy were from Milan and a constant source of aggression towards the Medici in Florence. Filippo Maria Visconti, however, was ultimately defeated in business and politics by Cosimo de Medici and his direct line was brought to an end by Francesco Sforza, friend to the Medici and another Lithuanian connection that is mentioned further on.

What is relevant is not Henry III himself but rather his parents, more specifically his mother: Catherine de Medici. Catherine de Medici is the 3rd great-granddaughter of the great Cosimo de Medici (1389-1464), founder of the Medici Bank. Although Cosimo’s father, Giovanni di Bicci and his predecessors were also bankers and Florentine businessmen, the historians I’ve read all except Cosimo de Medici as the progenitor of the modern Medici family bank.

Not only does Catherine de Medici intersect with the thrones of England and France, but also the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. While the origins of this Commonwealth is very complicated, sufficed to say that it was a combination of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (more appropriately referred to simply as the Kingdom of Lithuania by modern scholars).

The kingdoms of Poland and Lithuania basically banded together to keep out the Swedish, Russian, Ottomans and others who were ravaging this part of Europe from the 15th century until the 18th century. Many other nations got conquered during this period, but not the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

This Commonwealth was unique in that it had elected monarchs. After the fall of the Jagiellonian Dynasty in 1569, Henry III of Valois was elected as its king in 1574 only to abandon the throne 3 months later because his brother (Charles IX, King of France) unexpectedly died from tuberculosis and the throne was left vacant. His mother, Catherine de Medici, called him back to France! “Au revoir!”

With all the Poles and Lithuanians that ruled the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, how the heck did a Frenchman end up as its elected monarch? I suspect our Italian de Medici had something to do with that! I do know that although the Poles supported Henry III, the Lithuanians were adamantly opposed to his election – Lithuanians always know best!

Catherine de Medici is not the only connection linking the Medici family to Lithuania, as it turns out.

Enter Bona Sforza, whose surname literally means ‘strength.’ This daughter of Milanese (Milan, Italy) royalty married Sigismund I “The Old,” King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1506-1548. So powerful was this family that their daughter Anna was later to be ruler of the Commonwealth from 1575-1586, ironically as the successor to Henry III who abandoned the throne.

The Sforza family had very close ties to the Medici back in Italy. It may seem strange that they were both traipsing about in the politics of foreign countries up north; however, we know that this is how political alliances were made and the Medicis relied on political connections to bolster their banking ambitions. The Medici and Sforza had become ennobled in Italy by the 16th century.

In the early 1400s “Bruges [Belgium] was very much the linchpin in northern-European finance; as a centre of the wool trade, it had links reaching right across Europe from England to Italy. It also had connections to the east with the Hanseatic League, whose city ports monopolised trade in the Baltic and north Germany” (Strathern 2017: 47, emphasis added).

Although there were extensive banking opportunities to be had by the Medici in northern Europe, the Italians in general did not trust the Germans “whose business methods were considered backward and devious by the Italians” (ibid: 29). For an Italian to say you’re devious, that’s pretty devious!

Bona Sforza was the great-granddaughter of Francesco Sforza (1401-1466) who was befriended by Cosimo de Medici in 1436 at a time when the Visconti family was threatening to invade Florence and destroy the entire Medici family. Francesco Sforza was an elite military commander who cemented his family’s place in history by aiding Cosimo Medici in his time of need; it was a prescient relationship for both families.

What Bona Sforza brought to the table in her marriage to Sigismund I “The Old,” King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was financial power! Through her vaunted connections, the Commonwealth grew economically. She is said to have been a tough, implacable force behind the throne at a time when women’s opinions were not necessarily desired. She bore her name well.

In all, I’ve uncovered 3 Medici family connections to medieval Lithuania: The Visconti, the Sforza, and of course the Medici themselves. It must be mentioned that these connections are not necessarily direct to Lithuania herself, but by way of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569-1795) which was a conglomerate of Poland, Lithuania, Livonia (Latvia), Prussia, and others.

Although Lithuania contributed much to this commonwealth – some say even founded it – it was never quite comfortable in this ‘pact with the devil,’ so to speak, as Lithuanians have always prided themselves on their independent mindedness. This is a fascinating piece of history that underscores the importance of social networks even in the middle ages and just how progressive and forward-thinking Europe has always been.

SOURCES CITED:

• Sužiedėlis, Saulius. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Lithuania. Lanham: Scarecrow Press.
• Strathern, Paul. 2017. The Medici: Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance. New York: Pegasus Books.

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