- 577 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
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The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank, 1397-1494
About This Book
The roots of modern capitalism go back to the Italian banking system of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. In the fifteenth century, the Medici Bank succeeded in overshadowing its competitors, the Bardi and the Peruzzi, who were the giants of the fourteenth century, and grew into a vast establishment with branches in most of the large cities of Western Europe. A study of its operations is essential to an understanding of the economic conditions in Europe in the fifteenth century.From a careful study of pertinent documents, including a set of libri segreti (confidential ledgers) discovered in 1950, Professor de Roover has reconstructed the details of the bank's organization and operating methods; its loan policies, which reflected the Church's doctrine on usury; its trading and industrial investments; its roles within the Florentine gild system and tax structure; and its activities as financial agent of the Church. He covers every aspect of the bank's history, from its early years under the management of Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici to its collapse with the expulsion of the Medici from Florence."An invaluable contribution to the economic history of the periodā¦.A splendid book."āHarry A. Miskimin, The American Economic Review"The most important work in English on a medieval or Renaissance bank."āThe Economist"The best book ever written on the medieval banking system."āJohn T. Noonan, Jr., Harvard Law Review"The most authoritative treatment of its subject in any language."āRondo Cameron, The Accounting Review
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Table of contents
- Title page
- TABLE OF CONTENTS
- DEDICATION
- EDITORāS INTRODUCTION
- AUTHORāS PREFACE
- TABLES
- DIAGRAMS
- ILLUSTRATIONS
- I-INTRODUCTION
- II-THE MEDICI BANK AND ITSINSTITUTIONAL BACKGROUND
- III-THE ANTECEDENTS AND THE EARLY YEARS OF THE MEDICI BANK UNDER THE MANAGEMENT OF GIOVANNI DI BICCI, 1397-1429
- IV-THE HEYDAY OF THE MEDICI BANK:COSIMO AT THE HELM, 1429-1464
- V-THE LEGAL STATUS AND ECONOMIC STRUCTURE OF THE MEDICI BANK
- VI-BANKING AND THE MONEY MARKET AT THE TIME OF THE MEDICI
- VII-THE MEDICI AS MERCHANTS AND AS DEALERS IN ALUM AND IRON
- VIII-THE MEDICI AS INDUSTRIAL ENTREPRENEURS
- IX-THE MEDICI AND THE FINANCIAL BUSINESS OF THE PAPACY: THE ROME BRANCH OF THE MEDICI BANK
- X-MEDICI ESTABLISHMENTS IN ITALY: THE TAVOLA IN FLORENCE AND THE FONDACO IN VENICE
- XI-MEDICI ESTABLISHMENTS IN ITALY: THE BRANCHES IN NAPLES, MILAN, AND PISA
- XII-BRANCHES OF THE MEDICI BANK OUTSIDE ITALY: GENEVA, LYONS, AND AVIGNON
- XIII-MEDICI BRANCHES OUTSIDE ITALY: BRUGES AND LONDON
- XIV-THE DECLINE: 1464-1494
- APPENDIX
- GENEALOGICAL TABLES
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER