Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici was born in
Florence, Italy. He was the son of
Averardo de' Medici and Jacopa Spini. In 1402, he served as one of the judges on the panel that selected
Lorenzo Ghiberti's design for the bronzes on the doors to the
Florence Baptistery. Giovanni also funded the construction of the sacristy in the
Church of San Lorenzo in the year 1418. Subsequent popes also made use of the services of the Medici banks, and in addition, Giovanni was able to secure tax-farming contracts and the rights to many
alum mines from the papacy. He set his family on the path to becoming one of the richest dynasties in Europe, thereby making an essential stride towards its later cultural and political prominence. One way in which he laid the groundwork for this was by marrying
Piccarda Bueri, whose old and respectable family brought him a large dowry. In 1418, Giovanni Medici collaborated with one of Florence's chief nobles,
Niccolò da Uzzano, to secure the release of the deposed
Antipope John XXIII, who was imprisoned in Germany. De Medici paid the stiff ransom of 38,000 ducats himself, and when the former pope died the following year in Florence, de Medici sponsored the construction of his magnificent
tomb in the Baptistery. Despite his growing wealth, Giovanni was diligent in his efforts not to separate the Medici family from the other citizens in Florence. He did so by continuously ensuring that he and his sons dressed and behaved like the average working-class citizens of Florence. This was in part due to his desire not to draw undue attention to himself and his family, and to ensure that, unlike other wealthy families, the Medici remained in the favour of the population. His hopes were to build a positive reputation of his family by avoiding conflicts with the law and keeping the people of Florence happy. His disposition can be understood in his writings, "Strive to keep the people at peace, and the strong places well cared for. Engage in no legal complications, for he who impedes the law shall perish by the law. Do not draw public attention on yourselves yet keep free from blemish as I leave you." He served as a
Priore in the Signoria in 1402, 1408, and 1411 and as a
Gonfaloniere for the statutory two-month period in 1421. In 1407, he also served as the governor of the city of
Pistoia. The following year he once again wielded his personal authority and influence in the Signoria to block the passage of oligarchic reforms proposed by the nobility, which would have repealed the ban on nobles serving in the Signoria, and removed some of the lesser guilds from being represented there. ==Issue==