Michelangelo

My name is Michelangelo de Inverno, I was born in 1464, under the rule of Cosimo from the Medici family, only bankers could wield that kind of power in Florence, here the money buys the power and the Medici held and still hold most of the power. I come from a small Catholic family in Italy, my father was a grain merchant and we had a modest fortune, considering the diversity of Florence, from its rich bankers such as the Medici and great merchants to the lowly beggars in the street, we were closer to the top than the bottom. Until the year 1485 I was educated adequately by my mother and father who taught me to write and read from the great stories of Rome and Greece which we acquired from the printing shop from a wonderful new device called the printing press. When I took over the business upon my father’s murder in 1485, due to a dispute with another merchant over the ownership of an ass, I set out to expand our relatively small shop into new territory. I am now a great merchant for the city of Florence, the greatest city for growing piles of gold in all of Italy, who deals primarily in arms, armor, wool cloth, and mercenaries, while still dealing in grain in memoriam to my father. In the year 1490 I married my beautiful wife Victoria Simona, We now live in villa with 3 servants, facing the Arno River that cost me an arm and a leg back 1495. I acquire my arms and armor from the blacksmiths who work in my 4 buildings, they mostly come from peasant farm stock but they work cheap and are fine craftsmen, in return for allowing them to work out of my property; I pay sixth tenths of the true value on all works, instead of receiving full price rent. My mercenaries come from German and Swiss contacts I have made trading the processed fine wool so prized from our city as well as grains to feed their armies, it is a small wonder that these cold northern cities are in need of our superiorly processed wool, and grain that their barren soils could never produce in quantity. Recently I have made a purchase of 500 falchion swords, 10 of which not unlike that owned by Cosimo Medici during his rule, in preparation for an impending war between the Medici and the Savonarola,  who now hold the city. It is a wonderful time to sell arms and armor, the Medici cannot get enough of the finely crafted steel helmets and cuirasses I supply, while the Savonarola cannot throw enough gold florins at the finely honed blades my blacksmiths produce, how I love these patron family squabbles they are great for business and so often in Florence. The finely crafted steel blades make short work of the standard Spanish armor the Medici army wears, which only increases the Medici’s hunger for the steel armor I am selling them. When my mercenary contacts in Switzerland and Germany reply to my requests, I will be able to sell both armies additional troops when their original numbers dwindle, soon I will be able to buy an army and have enough gold left from these sales to equip every soldier in golden armor wielding a sword made of the purest florins.