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====How did a more peaceful Italy benefit the De Medici and the Peace of Italy==family? ==In the fifteenth century conditions in , Italy became more peaceful. In previous centuries war was endemic in the Peninsula. There were conflicts between the city-states and often civil conflicts within them. These indeed led to the rise of many tyrants all over Italy especially, in the 14th century. The De Medici did not like to engage in war and did not want to expand Florentine territory.<ref>Hibbert, p. 156</ref> They favored peace and believed that war was bad for trade. In this, they had a decidedly modern outlook. Cosimo the Elder worked tirelessly for peace in the North of Italy. He sought to establish a balance of power in the region between the main powers and the exclusion of foreign powers such as the French and the Holy Roman Emperor. Cosimo helped to negotiate an end to a series of wars in Lombardy and helped the main players in Italy, Milan, Naples, Venice, and Florence to reach an agreement to respect each other’s territorial integrity.

Lorenzo, the Magnificent, followed his grandfather’s policies about maintaining a balance of power in Italy. This led Lorenzo and other Northern Italian leaders to negotiate the Treaty of Lodi that brought peace and stability to the North and Central Italy.<ref>Hibbert, p. 118</ref> The de Medici through their policies did much to bring peace and security too much of Italy, and this was crucial for the Renaissance <ref>Miles J. Unger, <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/074325435X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=074325435X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=ae832840e01fbaf68a8af9739f4806f4 Magnifico: The Brilliant Life and Violent Times of Lorenzo de Medici]</i>, (London, Simon and Schuster 2008), p. 134</ref> It is not a coincidence that the cultural zenith of the Italian Renaissance occurred when Florence was stable. Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael produced their most celebrated works when Northern Italy was experiencing an unprecedented peaceful period in the fifteen fifteenth century. In this way, the de Medici family helped to create an ideal environment for the great artists of the era to grow and create peerless works of art.