This volume brings together a series of studies by Professor Blomquist on the evolution of banking in Lucca from the 12th and 13th centuries. They describe how the leading bankers operated, how they invested, and how they pursued their family interests. In particular, they trace the transformation of money changers, or campsores, into deposit and transfer bankers, who deployed their capital in trading ventures as well as in banking. Moreover, the author shows how Lucchese merchant-bankers expanded their operations from Italy, first to the fairs of Champagne and ultimately to all of Europe's major commercial centres. Special attention is given to the use of the exchange contract, or cambium, as an instrument of credit and of transfer. Problems of coinage and foreign exchange are also treated extensively, including the origins of the Tuscan grossi and the Lucchese gold groat. The collection concludes with a study of the cloth trade and another concerning the first consuls in Lucca.

First published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Originally published in 1985. Frederic C. Lane and Reinhold C. Mueller, in the first volume of Money and Banking in Medieval and Renaissance Venice, discuss Venice's economic achievement in terms of the complex system the city's inhabitants developed to manage moneys of account and coins. Money merchants of Venice developed a system whereby a premium attached to moneys of account acted as a stabilizing force and allowed merchants to engage in long-term trade. This system, according to the authors, helped establish Venice as a dominant city-state in international trade and exchange. This book outlines the development and success of this system through 1508. At the time it was first published, this book made a significant contribution to the history of money and economics by underscoring the large role that Venice played in the economic history of the West and the ascendance of capitalism as a structuring force of society.

First published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

MONEY, BANKING AND CREDIT IN MEDIAEVAL BRUGES Italian Merchant-Bankers Lombards and Money-C hangers A Study in the Origins of Banking by RAYMOND DE ROOVER, Ph. D. Associate Professor of Economics Wells College THE MEDIAEVAL ACADEMY OF AMERICA CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 1948 was dc possible by grants of funds to the from the Carnegie Corporation of New Yor and the Business History Foundation f Inc. COPYRIGHT BY THE MEDIAEVAL ACADEMY OF AMERICA 1948 PRINTED IN U. S. A. A MONSIEUR REMI A. PARMENTIER CONSERVATEUR DES ARCHIVES COMMUNALES DE BRUGES qui, pendant pres de vmgt ans, na cesse dc suwrc ct dencourager cc travail sur Vhistoire de la banque a Bruges Preface THIS book is the outcome of my finding a casual reference to the existence of several account books of mediaeval merchants in the Bruges Municipal Archives. For some time I had been interested in the history of accounting and I had delved in the archives of Antwerp, my native city. Antwerp is rich in business records of the sixteenth and later centuries but I had seen no earlier ac count books. Upon learning of their existence in Bruges I immediately wrote a letter of inquiry to the Curator of the Bruges Archives. The reply was courteous but not encouraging. Yes, there were some mediaeval account books in the Bruges Archives, but the script was nearly illegible and the interpretation of those documents, I was tactfully given to understand, would require the combined talents of a palaeographer, a bookkeeper, and a financier. At that time I knew some bookkeeping and I had worked in a bank, but I could qualify neither as a financier nor as a palaeographer. Nevertheless, undaunted by the difficulties, I made arrangements with theArchivist, Monsieur Remi A. Parmentier, to visit the Bruges Archives and to examine those mysterious and alluring account books. The first visit took place in May 1929. It was followed by many others because Monsieur Parmentier had not exaggerated the difficulties. Several of my short vacations I was then working in a business office were spent bending over the huge ledgers of Collard de Marke and Guillaume Ruyelle in the salle du public, where only the carillon interrupted from time to time the archival silence. As the years passed my acquaintance with Monsieur Parmentier grew into a warm and enduring friendship. Not only did he grant me unusual privileges and facilities for research but he introduced me to Professor Egide Strubbe and thus enabled me to publish the preliminary results of my investigation in the Annales de la Societe dEmulation de Bruges. My last visit to the Bruges Archives was in 1938. By that time I had completed my research and had conceived the general scheme of this book. Its completion was prevented for a long time by other duties and when it was finally completed publication was delayed by the War. During all these years Monsieur Parmentier never lost hope. It is only fitting that this book for which he has waited so long be dedicated to him. Before leaving Bruges, I must also thank Monsieur Albert Schouteet, the Assistant Archivist. He has helped me in many ways by answering repeated queries and by sending me transcripts of various documents. He was also generous enough to communicate to me the text of a hitherto unknown document, which he had discovered, and which established beyond doubt that Guillaume Ruyelle, one of the two money-changers whose accountbooks are preserved in Bruges, VII viii Preface actually failed in 1370. This bit of evidence, which confirmed my suspicions, was particularly welcome to me, and due credit should, therefore, be given to the finder. This work would have been impossible without the financial aid of the Belgian Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique which enabled me to spend a sum mer in Italy and to photograph a great many mediaeval business papers in the Datini Archives, Prato Tuscany...

This work provides a new narrative for Orsanmichele in the era before the Renaissance. It examines Orsanmichele from the mid-thirteenth century, as the piazza transformed into the city’s grain market. It considers the market’s tandem confraternity, with its stunning Madonnas over three successive loggias. It examines the grain market and confraternity from a social, economic, political, and artistic perspective. It provides extensive data on the Florentine grain trade, sales at the market, and the nexus between traders, political leaders, and the confraternity. The work suggests that developments at Orsanmichele during the medieval period formed the basis for the Renaissance structure.

Drawing on a detailed examination of Venetian commerce in the Middle Ages, this book explores the business practices and structures that enabled merchants to compete in a challenging international market. Contributing to the literature on the early history of capitalism, this book demonstrates how Venetian merchants combined innovation with traditional methods to maintain their edge in a competitive world, providing valuable lessons on resilience and strategic planning in commerce. Small- and mid-sized commercial companies operating across borders and geographies in the early Renaissance period faced numerous challenges, including identifying profitable sectors and businesses, developing effective business strategies, dealing with peers and subordinates, managing the flow of information, and assessing risks and potential rewards. The chapters explore a range of topics in this context, including the roles of family-based firms, the strategic deployment of agents, and the impact of state policies on private enterprise. Readers are introduced to the ways Venetian merchants managed capital, adapted to market demands, and overcame obstacles like wars and resource shortages. This book will be of significant interest to historians and social scientists researching economic history, the history of trade, the history of capitalism, medieval and Renaissance history, and historical network analysis.