The Medici
Examining the relationship between politics and science in Renaissance Italy
Science is not a cheap endeavor. Today, the government, private companies, and individuals fund research by awarding scientists grants. During the Italian Renaissance, powerful families hired men of science, granting them inclusion in courts, monetary compensation, and esteem in exchange for advanced technologies and medicines or educational services. Patronage became a key player in the relationship between science and politics, as Italian families raced to assert their dominance through scientific, as well as artistic and social, avenues while men of science raced to secure a wealthy patron. Thus, the subject matter, resources, and timing of Renaissance science depended largely upon who was funding the efforts. By examining patronage, scientific motives become clearer.
In order to study the relationship between science and politics in Renaissance Italy, I am going to look at one prime example: the relationship between Galileo Galilei and the Medici family of Florence. Born near Pisa in 1564, Galileo grew up under the rule of the powerful banking family of Tuscany. The family would produce four popes, two regent queens of France, and the hereditary grand duchy of Florence. In 1569, Cosimo I de’Medici became the Grand Duke of Tuscany. A highly cultured promoter of the arts and science, he also renewed the University of Pisa, setting a precedent for the Medici to come. Cosimo’s son Ferdinand cultivated a great interest in scientific matters. He hired Santucci as his personal cosmographer; Santucci constructed a grand armillary sphere for him. A cosmographer in the Medici court provided not only educational and entertainment value, but also came in handy for navigation purposes, a key to expanding one’s political influence. In 1588, Ferdinand appointed Galileo as professor of mathematics at the University of Pisa.
In order to study the relationship between science and politics in Renaissance Italy, I am going to look at one prime example: the relationship between Galileo Galilei and the Medici family of Florence. Born near Pisa in 1564, Galileo grew up under the rule of the powerful banking family of Tuscany. The family would produce four popes, two regent queens of France, and the hereditary grand duchy of Florence. In 1569, Cosimo I de’Medici became the Grand Duke of Tuscany. A highly cultured promoter of the arts and science, he also renewed the University of Pisa, setting a precedent for the Medici to come. Cosimo’s son Ferdinand cultivated a great interest in scientific matters. He hired Santucci as his personal cosmographer; Santucci constructed a grand armillary sphere for him. A cosmographer in the Medici court provided not only educational and entertainment value, but also came in handy for navigation purposes, a key to expanding one’s political influence. In 1588, Ferdinand appointed Galileo as professor of mathematics at the University of Pisa.
Later, the connection between Galileo and Ferdinand de’Medici became more familial. According to Dauben, Galileo served as Ferdinand’s son, Cosimo II’s, math tutor. Galileo also dedicated his astronomical text Sidereus Nuncius to the Medici as well as naming the moons of Jupiter he discovered after the family. Patronage and security were clearly not far from Galileo’s mind, motivating him to butter up the most powerful family in Italy. Sure enough, Grand Duke Cosimo II appointed Galileo chief mathematician and philosopher in 1610.
Five years later, the scientist wrote Cosmo’s mother, Grand Duchess Christina, to try to convince her of the Copernican theory’s truth and compliance with scripture. He did so as part of his patronage plan. First, he knew Christina was interested in astronomy and would be open to his argument. Second, she was related to the Medici family, so to win over her favor would have resulted in patronage and support throughout Tuscany and even with connections in Rome. Third, the grand duchess's status attracted powerful, numerous, and diverse audiences. If Galileo's ideas became dinner party conversation, his exposure would proliferate. Galileo was aware of the politics behind science, and he was willing to appeal to powerful patrons in order to secure a place for himself and his ideas.
Although Galileo won favor in the Medici court, the family was unable to protect him from the Inquisition, as Ferdinand II was a weak ruler. Perhaps the family also wanted to weaken any ties with the questionable academic – to associate with a heretic was bad publicity, and in Renaissance Italy, family politics were make or break. Today, the Galileo Museum in Florence houses the Medici family history of science collection, including many of Galileo’s objects, his finger among them. Visiting the museum, it is clear that patronage played a key role in the progression of science. Patrons, like the Medici, supported the fields of science they were most interested in, or profited them the greatest. Just like a modern research lab could not succeed without grants, Italian Renaissance scientists could not thrive without patrons.
Sources and Further Reading:
- The Galileo Project. “The Medici Family.” Last updated 1995. http://galileo.rice.edu/gal/medici.html
- Khan Academy Smarthistory. "Galileo Galilei." Last updated 2011. http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/galileo-and-the-art-of-renaissance-science.html