In 1421 Messer Giovanni de' Medici was elected _Gonfaloniere di Giustizia_, as the representative of the middle classes, and in opposition to Messeri Rinaldo degli Albizzi and Niccolo da Uzzano, the Ghibelline nominees. The Republic sighed for peace, the crafts for quietness; but the immense liabilities incurred by many costly military enterprises had to be met. Messer Giovanni proposed, in 1427, a tax which should not weigh too heavily upon anybody. Each citizen who was possessed of a capital of one hundred gold florins, or more, was mulcted in a payment to the State of half a gold florin (ten shillings _circa_). This tax, which was called "_Il Catasto_" was unanimously accepted--"it pleased the common people greatly." Messer Giovanni was taxed as heavily as anyone, namely, three hundred gold florins--indicative, incidentally, of his wealth and honesty. Giovanni associated with himself another prominent man, Messer Agnolo de' Pandolfini, the leader of the "Peace-at-any-Price" party, who is remembered in the annals of Florence as "The Peaceful Citizen." The main points of their policy were:--(1) Peace abroad; (2) Prosperity at home; (3) Low taxation. No combination of his opponents--and they were many and unscrupulous--was able to damage Messer Giovanni's reputation and power. He could, had he wished it, have proclaimed himself sole ruler of Florence and her territory; but self-control and prudence--which were so characteristic of the men of his family--never forsook him. He died universally regretted in 1429, and was buried in the church of San Lorenzo, which he, along with the Martelli, had restored and endowed. Giovanni di Averardo de' Medici was looked upon as the first banker in Italy, the controller of the credit of Florence and the prince of financiers. Cavalcanti, Macchiavelli, Ammirato, and almost all other historians, describe him as "Large-hearted, liberal-minded, courteous and charitable, dispensing munificent alms with delicate consideration of the feelings and wants of those whom he assisted. Never suing for honours, he gained them all. Hostile to public peculations he strove disinterestedly for the public good. He died rich in this world's goods, but richer still in the goodwill of his fellow citizens." Many have sought, nevertheless, to belittle Messer Giovanni's reputation--attributing to him a motive for all his urbanity--that of the permanent domination of his house in the government of the Republic--not surely a fault. His old rival in the arena of politics, Niccolo da Uzzano, ever spoke of him after his death with unstinted praise and admiration. Messer Giovanni shares with Cavaliere Salvestro the undying fame of having raised, upon the excellent foundation laid by their ancestors, the massive supporting walls of that superb edifice, of which his son, Cosimo, formed the cupola, and his great-grandson, Lorenzo--the lantern--"the Light of Italy."