in 1402, 1408, 1411; he was ambassador to Naples in 1406, and to Pope
Alessandro V. in 1409; and, in 1407, he held the lucrative post of
Podesta of Pistoja.

In 1421 Messer Giovanni de' Medici was elected _Gonfaloniere di
Giustizia_, as the representative of the middle classes, and in
opposition to Messeri Rinaldo degli Albizzi and Niccolo da Uzzano, the
Ghibelline nominees. The Republic sighed for peace, the crafts for
quietness; but the immense liabilities incurred by many costly military
enterprises had to be met. Messer Giovanni proposed, in 1427, a tax
which should not weigh too heavily upon anybody. Each citizen who was
possessed of a capital of one hundred gold florins, or more, was mulcted
in a payment to the State of half a gold florin (ten shillings _circa_).
This tax, which was called "_Il Catasto_" was unanimously accepted--"it
pleased the common people greatly." Messer Giovanni was taxed as heavily
as anyone, namely, three hundred gold florins--indicative, incidentally,
of his wealth and honesty.

Giovanni associated with himself another prominent man, Messer Agnolo
de' Pandolfini, the leader of the "Peace-at-any-Price" party, who is
remembered in the annals of Florence as "The Peaceful Citizen." The main
points of their policy were:--(1) Peace abroad; (2) Prosperity at home;
(3) Low taxation.

No combination of his opponents--and they were many and
unscrupulous--was able to damage Messer Giovanni's reputation and power.
He could, had he wished it, have proclaimed himself sole ruler of
Florence and her territory; but self-control and prudence--which were so
characteristic of the men of his family--never forsook him. He died
universally regretted in 1429, and was buried in the church of San