The public spirit displayed by Cavaliere Salvestro gained for him not
only personal distinction and reward, but obtained for his family
recognition as the first in Florence. He married Donna Bartolommea, the
daughter of Messer Oddo degli Altoviti, by whom he had many children.
None of his sons seem to have added laurels to the family fame, but to
have lived peacefully in the glamour of their father's renown. The
Cavaliere retired into private life in 1380, and his death, which
occurred in 1388, marked the establishment of Medicean domination in the
affairs of Florence.

The second of the "Grand" Medici was Giovanni, the son of Averardo
III.--called "Bicci"--and his first wife, Donna Giovanna de' Cavallini,
born in 1360. He was just twenty-eight years of age when his popular
relative, Cavaliere Salvestro de' Medici, died. His young manhood found
him in the very forefront of party strife, and from the first he held
unswervingly with the Guelphs.

Married, in 1384, to Donna Piccarda, daughter of Messer Odoardo de'
Bueri, he was the father of four sons--Antonio, Damiano, Cosimo, and
Lorenzo--the two former died in childhood. The choice of names for two
of the boys is significant of the value Messer Giovanni placed upon his
family's origin--Saints Damiano and Cosimo, of course, were patrons of
doctors and apothecaries. Hence he was not ashamed of the golden
pillules of his armorial bearings!

Messer Giovanni developed extraordinary strength of character; he was a
born ruler of men, and a passionate patriot. He gained the goodwill of
his fellow-citizens by his unselfishness and generosity--truly not too
common in the bearing of men of his time. He served the office of Prior