The Medici family bank was founded even before the Banco di San Giorgio, in 1397, and it collapsed in 1494. But the family's lasting creation may be the myth of itself. The Medici were not just brilliant, wealthy, ruthless and powerful; they were a seriously dysfunctional family. This may explain why they offer such rich material for historians and novelists. (See especially April Blood, an account by the historian Lauro Martines of the plot, led by the Pazzi family but involving many others, including the king of Naples and Pope Sixtus IV, to wipe out the Medici family in 1478.)
美第奇家族銀行始建于1397年，甚至比圣喬治銀行的創(chuàng)立還要早，1494年倒閉。但家族永恒的作品是它本身的神話。美第奇家族成員不只是聰明、有錢、冷酷、勢(shì)力強(qiáng)大，而且是個(gè)功能嚴(yán)重紊亂的家族。這就可以解釋，為什么他們?yōu)闅v史學(xué)家和小說家提供了如此豐富的材料。（尤其要看看歷史學(xué)家勞洛?馬丁內(nèi)斯(Lauro Martines)寫的《April Blood》(四月之血)一書。此書講述了一個(gè)在1478年策劃的一起消滅美第奇家族的陰謀，由帕齊(Pazzi)家族牽頭，但還涉及其他許多人，包括那不勒斯國王和西克斯圖斯四世教皇。）