Common Themes Theory

Throughout the history of humanity, there is a theory that contemplates the developments throughout the history of humanity. This theory is the Common Themes Theory, and this theory states that everything revolves around having a problem, solution, and an effect. An example of how this theory works is the creation of the Medici Bank during the Early Renaissance. The Medici Bank was created because of a problem that occurred, so the Medici Bank was the solution, and in the end there were many positive and negative effects that the bank left. Since the beginning of humanity, people have always traded goods or services for another good or service, and this evolved into the creation of having a medium to exchange, which is known as money now.
In the theses “Medici Power and Patronage under Cosimo the Elder and Lorenzo the Magificant”, Kelly Gilbert states, “While he controlled the city indirectly, he was still the acting head of the government even if he did not hold such a title. The wealth that was available to him through the Medici bank allowed him to expand upon his power and control in the city of Florence” (Gilbert 4). When Cosimo took over the bank, he gain power over the city by being in control of the money that was in the bank. The Medici family had a voice in government because they either paid people or had friends in government positions to get Florence to run the way they wanted. This effect could be seen as a negative effect for the population of Florence. The population had to be careful when dealing with the Medici family because they could lose everything or “lose face” if they did the Medici family wrong. Now not all the effects were negative. The Medici family supported the arts and gave patronage to many artists that have created art that is still enjoyed today. The most famous artists that the Medici family gave patronage to were Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello, and Leonardo da Vinci. It was stated by Lawrence Cunningham in the book Culture & Values: A survey of the Western Humanities that Michelangelo worked on the Medici Chapel in the Florentine Church of San Lorenzo under patronage from the Medici family (Cunningham et al. 402). This shows that since the Medici family enjoyed the arts, they gave many artists opportunities to produce beautiful artwork, and since they did this, these pieces can still be observed today. The control that the Medici family had over Florence and the creation of many art pieces were effects from the Medici bank being