Changes

The series begins with the poisoning of Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (Dustin Hoffman) and Cosimo de' Medici (Richard Madden) taking over the by then well known and established Medici bank. By this time, the business was flourishing and among the largest in Europe with branches in many cities. The family also had close connections with the papacy, as they were responsible for the finances of the Pope. Throughout the series, flashbacks show Giovanni training his children, Cosimo and Lorenzo, in the family banking business. Giovanni was also obsessed with controlling his childrenschildren's' lives, including who they could marry. Cosimo was influenced to marry Contessina de' Bardi(Annabel Scholey), which ended up being a sometimes strained marriage, although Contessina was loyal to Cosimo. Giovanni and his other son, Lorenzo (Stuart Martin), also had great tension with his father, also involving his a terrible relationship. Giovanni constantly meddled in Lorenzo's love life.

Two key plots play throughout the The first seasonfocuses on two separate, but related stories. First, Cosimo was elected to an important seat in the Signoria of Florence, which was effectively its government. His election to the Signoria caused great jealousy among his rivals, namely Rinaldo degli Albizzi(Lex Shrapnel), who headed the Albizzi family. Second, Cosimo's father was murdered and it was investigated by Marco Bella(Guido Caprino), a close family associate. The rising power of Cosimo creates created a power struggle among in the Signoria, with Rinaldo eventually successfully accusing Cosimo of usury. While Cosimo avoids being sentenced to death - he was exiled to Venice, but his exile was temporary.

Meanwhile, Albizzi is murdered just as began his exile. People immediately assumed that Cosimo was responsible for his death because Albizzi was seen as his main rival. However, Cosimo was not involved but another member of the Signoria and the head of a Florentine prominent family, Jacopo de' Pazzi(Daniel Caltagirone), rubbed out Albizzi. He had Albizzi killed and sought to try to frame Cosimo so he could take the banking account of the Papacy. Essentially, he wanted to kill two birds with one stone.

Unfortunately for Pazzi, this plot failed when a letter was uncovered that implicated him in Albizzi's death. Lorenzo, Cosimo's brother, however, was killed after he and Marco captured a Pazzi assassin. Nevertheless, the Medici family gains prominence again gained some of their previous prominences as they regain regained the Pope's (David Bamber) favor and ultimately Florence's. The murder of Giovanni is finally uncovered when the Medici's a close banking associate, Ugo, confessed to murdering Giovanni. Ugo Bencini (Ken Bones) was ordered to kill a lover of Lorenzo's that was pregnant with Lorenzo's child. Unfortunately, he had to kill Giovanni as part of the plot and regretted the murder.