Lorenzo de' Medici took 53,643 florins from his cousins' inheritance, and two years after his death Florence seized the insolvent Medici bank

The Medici bank was most profitable under Cosimo de' Medici, who died on 1 August 1464. Under his successors the branches failed. Loans to Edward IV and to Lancastrian rebels went unpaid, and the London branch closed in 1478 with losses of 51,533 gold florins. The Bruges branch lent to Charles the Bold and was liquidated in 1478 with total losses over 70,000 florins. Lorenzo de' Medici took about 53,643 gold florins from the estate of Pierfrancesco de' Medici, whose sons were his cousins, and is alleged to have defrauded the Monte delle doti, Florence's public dowry fund. Lorenzo died on 8 April 1492. His son Piero, about 20, took over. In 1494 Charles VIII of France invaded Italy. Piero met him without consulting the Florentine government and handed over fortresses and the cities of Pisa and Livorno. Florentines forced him and his family to flee, and the republic was restored. The bank was already insolvent; its assets and records were seized for creditors and its branches dissolved. Piero tried several times to return. In 1503 he drowned in the Garigliano river after a battle and was buried at Monte Cassino.