Bindo Altoviti (26 November 1491 – 22 January 1557) of the Altoviti family was an Italian banker and one of the most influential papal bankers of his generation. A patron of the arts, he cultivated close friendships with artists such as Benvenuto Cellini, Raphael, Michelangelo and Giorgio Vasari.
His father was Antonio Altoviti, the papal Master of the Mint, and his mother was La Papessa Dianora Altoviti, niece of Pope Innocent VIII. One of his direct descendants was Pope Clement XII.
Life and career
Bindo Altoviti was born in Rome in 1491 to Antonio, a Florentine nobleman, and to Dianora di Clarenza Cibo, Pope Innocent VIII's niece. Little is known about his youth or early education. As the Altoviti had blood ties with the houses of Cybo and Medici, and alliances with the della Rovere, Pope Julius II (Giuliano della Rovere) became a mentor to Bindo, as he was to his later papal successors Leo X (Giovanni de' Medici) and Clemente VII (Giulio de' Medici). Bindo was included among the young noblemen educated at the papal court, where he was in attendance on the hostage Federico Gonzaga, the son of Isabella d’Este and future duke of Mantua. During those years, he was also introduced to Bramante, Raphael, and Michelangelo.
At this time, the Altoviti family had strong Republican leanings. Bindo became known not for just being a dashing young aristocrat, who had more to his credit than good looks, but was possibly prepared to risk wealth and power for his ideals. He married Fiammetta Soderini, niece of Piero Soderini, head of the Florentine government who had, together with his second chancellor Niccolò Machiavelli, unsuccessfully raised an army of national militia to defend Florence against the return of the Medici. However, remaining loyal to family, Bindo's career flourished under Leo X and Clemente VII. From the documents in the Vatican archives, it is possible to trace Bindo's rise to prominence as a banker. Respected at the papal court, he contributed to the festivities of Leo X. He established partnerships with the Spinelli, Ricci, Pucci and Ruspoli, promoting the career of Bartolomeo Ruspoli, who was related to cardinal Niccolò Ardinghelli, an influential member of the Farnese faction and an intimate associate of Alessandro Farnese, future Pope Paul III.
After the death of his banking rival Agostino Chigi and the sack of Rome in 1527, only a few very solid banks had the capital to prevent economic chaos. Competing with fierce Genoese bankers and the Germans Fugger and Welser, the Strozzi, Salviati and Altoviti became the leading Florentine and Papal curia bankers, given the opportunity to participate in massive credit transactions, controlling an enlarging sphere of papal finance.
Bindo was appointed as Depository-General, the leading banker of the Papal States and chief commissioner for collecting taxes, mainly allocated for the reconstruction of St. Peter's Basilica. He gradually expanded and diversified his financial activities, established branches of the Altoviti Bank in foreign money markets such as France, the Netherlands and England. Among his clients were Duke Charles III of Savoy and King Henry II of France and by shrewd political and financial acumen he amassed one of the largest private fortunes in Italy. His later life and wealth were centered on the Eternal City rather than Florence, but he still followed, and often intervened directly in, the political affairs of his Florentine home. The link was strong between the Altoviti and Strozzi families, dictated not only by kinship but also by political affiliation. He and wealthy businessman Filippo Strozzi the Younger financed the troops of Emperor Charles V and the siege of Florence in order to restore Medici rule.
Victorious in the Battle of Gavinana, Alessandro de' Medici, the illegitimate son of duke Lorenzo II de' Medici—though others believe he was in fact the son of Clement VII) and brother of Caterine de' Medici—became Duke of Florence and named Bindo as ducal counsel to public office.
After the death of his cousin and rival Ippolito de' Medici, Duke Alessandro had a falling-out with Filippo Strozzi, who had been, together with his wife Clarice de' Medici, the guardians of Catherine de' Medici after her father's death. Filippo Strozzi had conspired with Ippolito de' Medici to remove Alessandro from power.