Cosimo de' Medici
Cosimo de’ Medici (1389–1464), known as Cosimo the Elder, was a Florentine banker, statesman, and arts patron who became the de facto leader of Florence from 1434 until his death. Through control of the Medici Bank, strategic alliances, and extensive cultural patronage, he reshaped Florentine politics and helped catalyze Renaissance humanism, earning the posthumous honorific Pater Patriae (Father of the Fatherland).
