Empires: The Medici, Godfathers of the Renaissance

"The Medici family was among the most powerful and influential in all of Europe. Rising to prominence in Florence, Italy, in the 15th century, the Medici used their intelligence, talent, and ruthlessness to amass an incredible fortune, and used their wealth and power to not only win political control of the continent, but to finance the work of the great artists, craftsmen, and thinkers of the Renaissance. In time, the power that made them great would prove to be their undoing, but the work they helped to support pointed the way to a new and enlightened world. Empires: The Medici -- Godfathers of the Renaissance is a documentary which charts the rise and fall of the Medici, as well as their legacy."