The Medici: Bankers, Gangsters, Popes - Mike Walker

Category: Full Cast, Historical Fiction, Radio Productions
Language: English
Keywords: BBC Drama Full Cast Radio 4

Written by Mike Walker
Read by full cast, Patrick Baladi, Sirine Saba, Tom Cullen, Saran Morgan, Catrin Aaron
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 128 Kbps
Unabridged

The Medici: Bankers, Gangsters, Popes
A BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Drama
By: Mike Walker
Narrated by: full cast, Patrick Baladi, Sirine Saba, Tom Cullen, Saran Morgan, Catrin Aaron
Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
Radio/TV Program
Release date: 07-03-2024
Language: English
Publisher: BBC Audio

Mike Walker’s gripping BBC Radio drama about money, art, religion, politics and power

Florence, 1415. Banker Cosimo Medici is looked down upon as a jumped up money-changer. Then he marries the noble Contessina de Bardi and becomes the richest man in Europe. But his wealth and power threaten the Florentine elite, who are determined to bring him down…

However, the House of Medici cannot be crushed that easily. Sixty years and many violent deaths later, the family are the unquestioned, ruthless rulers of Florence. They control the government, have transformed the city through their patronage of the arts, and one of them has even been crowned Pope. But trouble is coming in the form of the fanatical poet monk Savonarola, and the bank is in decline. Can Lorenzo the Magnificent save anything for his dim-witted successors – and will they even care?

With a cast of extraordinary characters including Piero the Gouty, master negotiator Lucrezia Tornabuoni and Pope Leo X, as well as Michelangelo, Da Vinci and Artemisia Gentileschi, this fast-paced ‘Renaissance Sopranos’ tells the thrilling story of one of the most infamous dynasties of all time. Among the cast are Patrick Baladi, Sirine Saba, Tom Cullen, Saran Morgan and Catrin Aaron.