House of Medici
Giovanni Bicep de' Medici, (1360-1429), was the first important member of the family. He invested his money very wisely and became rich. He and his son, Cosmo de' Medici, (1389-1464), began the Medici Banking Company, which did so well that they soon had branches of the bank in large cities all over Europe, including London and Paris.  Giovanni Bicep and Cosmo were the richest men in Europe, and their family was politically the most powerful in Florence.