by Tim Parks
Merchants of the Staple, 114
metaphysics:
as basis of moral law, 15
money and, 124
Michelangelo Buonarroti, 5, 13
Michelozzo di Bartolomeo, 56, 58–59, 99, 104, 124, 172
Milan, 87, 145, 155, 214
in Italy’s internal wars, 67–68, 71–73, 76–79, 84, 88, 90, 99–100, 106, 116–18, 141, 146, 150, 218, 221
Medici bank branch in, 150, 172–73, 175, 181, 190, 220, 232
in “Most Holy League,” 147
as republic, 141
Sforza’s taking of, 146
Milanese silver imperial, 43
Mirandola, Pico della, 209, 240
Monastic Institutes, 62
money:
amorality of, 238
art patronage and morality and, 186–88
dangers of transportation of, 21, 22, 110, 114
fourteenth-century poem about, 17–18
intrinsic value and, 12–13
magic and, 34
moral law and exchange of, 11–15
political power tied to art and, 2, 9, 10, 15, 17–19, 87–89, 93, 100, 108, 117–18, 124, 145, 158–59, 161, 164–65, 212
religious patronage and, 124
ritual and, 30
Roman Church and international flow of, 20–22
social order and, 15, 18, 158
speed of profit or loss of deals in, 51
see also banking; currency; usury
monopolies:
on alum, 190, 193
viewed as sin, 193–94
Montesecco, Count, 215–16
moral law:
banking and, 11–15
metaphysical basis of, 15
mortal sins, 24
“Most Holy League,” 147
Muhammad, 14
Murate, 64
myth, 209
name saints, 169
of Medici family, 125, 126
Naples, 48, 196, 212–13
claimant to papacy in, 51
in Italy’s internal wars, 67–68, 76, 146, 218, 221, 225, 244
Lorenzo de’ Medici’s diplomatic trip to, 222–23
Medici bank branch in, 48, 50, 201, 219, 232
in “Most Holy League,” 147
ruling families of, 68, 116, 141, 218
siege of, 9
Nasi, Bartolomea de’, 239
nature:
monopolies viewed as violation of, 193–94
usury viewed as violation of, 13–15
nephews, given hereditary precedent over daughters, 205–6
Neroni, Dietisalvi, 154, 157, 167
Niccoli, Niccolò, 55, 121
nobility, 6, 16–17, 77, 162
see also aristocracy
Nori, Francesco, 173, 182, 217
North Africa, as source of slaves, 10, 63
Officers of the Night, 36, 103, 178
On Oratory (Cicero), 62
“On Republican Education” (Patrizi), 238
“On the Kingdom and Education of Kings” (Patrizi), 238
“On the Prince” or “On the Citizen” (Bartolomeo), 238
Orsini, Rinaldo, 204
Orsini family, 163, 178, 202
otto di guardia, 139, 156, 165, 167
Ottoman Turks, 67, 134–35, 147, 176, 194–95, 197, 223, 244
Padua, 10, 98
Palazzo della Signoria, 88, 94, 95, 97, 118, 138, 145, 192, 216, 217, 218, 226, 241
Palazzo Medici, 102, 104, 105, 114–15, 122, 145, 151, 154, 157, 159, 164, 168, 174, 208, 215, 245
Papal Chamber, Depositary of, 47
Papal States, 16, 116, 145, 203, 213
in Italy’s internal wars, 67, 99–100, 218
see also Rome
Parenti, Marco, 107, 227
Paris, 112
parliament, of Florence, 94–96, 155
balia and, 95–96
Council of 100 formed by, 148–49, 158
function of, 95, 138
Piero de’ Medici’s power and, 165–67
Patrizi, Francesco, 238
Paul II, Pope, 180, 194–98, 201
pawnbrokers, 30–31, 103
Pazzi, Beatrice Borromei, 205
Pazzi, Bianca de’ Medici, 163, 205
Pazzi, Francesco, 212–17
Pazzi, Giovanni, 205
Pazzi, Guglielmo, 205, 213, 217
Pazzi, Iacopo, 213, 217
Pazzi, Renato, 213, 220
Pazzi bank, 204, 212, 214, 227
Pazzi family, 218
and assassination plot against Lorenzo de’ Medici, 211–17, 219
Lorenzo de’ Medici’s dispute with, 204–6
Perugino, Il, 225
Peruzzi bank, 6, 48, 118
Petrarch, 57
Petrucci, Cesare, 216
Piccinino, Iacopo, 223
Piccinino, Niccolò, 78–79, 90, 100, 116, 118, 223
piccioli, 79–80, 226
exchange between florins and, 31–35
silver content of, 33
workers’ salaries paid in, 32, 34
Piccolomini, Enea Silvio, see Pius II, Pope
pirates, 178
Pisa, 19, 67, 71, 90, 118, 154, 204–5, 222
Medici bank branch in, 118, 119, 120, 232
Pitti, Luca, 155, 157, 163, 165, 167, 168, 192
Pius II, Pope, 15, 176, 189, 195
plague, 7–8, 9, 13, 37, 63, 134, 147, 220
Plato, Platonism, 151, 185–88, 207, 210, 236
podestà, 139–40, 143
function of, 137
Poggio Imperiale, 221
political parties:
illegality of, 84, 137
two-party system of, 149
political policy, utile vs. riputazione and, 74–76
political power:
of Cosimo de’ Medici, 3, 86–87
Lorenzo de’ Medici on, 87
of Medici bank, 83–84
money and art tied to, 2, 9, 10, 15, 17–19, 87–89, 93, 100, 108, 117–18, 124, 145, 158–59, 161, 164–65, 212
unofficial, 91
see also democracy
Poliziano, Angelo, 219, 220–21, 225
Pollaiuolo, Antonio, 225
poor, poverty:
Church teachings and, 18–19
cost of warfare and, 77
Good Men of San Martino and, 108–9
picciolo as currency of, 32
sumptuary laws and, 35–36
taxes and, 33, 77, 79–80, 226, 246
Third World, 15
usury and, 11
popes (Curia), 87, 109
Church wealth and, 25–26
cost of bureaucracy of, 169
discretionary deposits and, 23–24
dispute over authority of, 113, 134–35
failure to pay debts owed to, 33
three simultaneous claimants as, 51–52
tributes paid to, 20–21
see also specific popes
Portinari, Accerito, 112, 171–73, 182, 217
Portinari, Beatrice, 83
Portinari, Bernardo, 112–14, 174
Portinari, Folco, 112, 171
Portinari, Giovanni d’Adovardo, 83, 112
Portinari, Maria di Francesco di Bandini Baroncelli, 178, 214
Portinari, Pigello, 112, 171–73
Portinari, Tommaso, 112, 125, 171, 173–79, 182, 196, 197, 211, 213–14, 220, 228, 230, 231–32
Portinari family, 83, 112, 171
Pound, Ezra, 1–2, 10
printing press, 219
priors, 99, 138–40, 143, 160, 192, 216
Cosimo de’ Medici invited back to Florence by, 100
election of, 87–88
function of, 94, 137
length of term served by, 87, 145
number of, 19, 87, 137, 144
political favors and, 143–44
prostitutes, 31, 115–16, 121
purgatory, 12, 20, 54, 123
quattrino bianco, 226, 246
reggimento, 142, 154
relics, 131, 132, 152
religious confraternities, 62, 84, 108–9, 116, 121
Renaissance:
forward vs. backward-looking views of, 5
as product of money and political power, 2
Republic, The (Plato), 207
Riario, Girolamo, 204, 212–13, 215, 217
Riario, Pietro, 211
Riario, Raffaele, 215
ribellione dei ciompi, 6–7
Ridolfi, Antonio, 164
Rinuccini, Alamanno, 227
riputazione, 74–76
Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank, The (Roover), 107
Roman Church, 6, 64, 211
alum and, 195–98, 204, 205
discretionary deposits and, 23–24
excommunication from, see excommunication
fundamentalists vs. compromisers in, 23
international cash flow and trade and, 20–22, 109–10
Medici bank and, 47–48, 51–52, 91, 92, 93, 97, 113, 169, 224, 242
monopolies viewed as unnatural by, 193–94
price of official positions in, 20
as religion of the establishment and the rich, 18–19
schism between Eastern Church and, 116, 134–35
transfers of wealth of, 25
usury viewed as sin by, 1–2, 10–11, 13–15, 23–24, 45–46
see also popes
Roman Empire, 16, 66
Roman florin, 43
Roman numerals, used in written banking transactions, 30
Rome, 6, 28, 87, 127, 149, 193, 201
alum deposit discovered near, 195
Cosimo de’ Medici in, 61, 63–64, 76
credit denied to merchants from, 49
Donation of Constantine and, 93
international trade and, 20–22, 109–11
in Italy’s internal wars, 67–71, 76, 84, 244
Medici bank branch in, 47–48, 52, 61, 64, 83, 91, 110–11, 167, 168, 169, 172, 175, 180, 190, 198, 219, 224, 232
in “Most Holy League,” 147
as “pit of iniquity,” 236
as political and economic center, 20–22
sacking of, 9
see also Papal States
Rome, ancient, 57, 121
Roover, Raymond de, 24, 73, 107
Roses, War of the, 181
Rossi, Lionetto di Benedetto d’Antonio de’, 175, 229, 231
Rossi, Maria de’ Medici de’, 162, 175
Rossi, Roberto de’, 55
Rossore, San, Donatello’s bust of, 132, 133
round ships, 40
Rubinstein, Nicolai, 107–8
Rucellai, Giovanni, 127, 131
Rushdie, Salman, 14
Saint Gemme, priory of, 233
Sallust, 211–12, 219
Salviati, Francesco, 204–5, 211, 212, 216, 217
San Giorgio Maggiore Monastery, 99
San Giovanni Battista, Church of, 8
San Lorenzo, Church of, 85, 127
Cosimo de’ Medici’s tomb in, 152
San Marco, Monastery of, 92, 123, 133–34, 169
Cosimo de’ Medici’s paying for restoration of, 11, 122, 124–28, 126
Cosimo de’ Medici’s private prayer cell in, 114, 128, 210, 241
Savonarola at, 240–41
San Miniato al Monte, Monastery of, 92
Santa Maria del Carmine, Church of, 74, 75
Santa Maria Novella, 127, 166, 168
Sant’Antonio, Convent of, 183
Santa Trinità, Church of, 170
Santissima Annunziata, 127
Santo Spirito, Church of, 201
Sassetti, Cosimo, 229, 233
Sassetti, Francesco, 125, 149–50, 165, 169–71, 180–81, 220, 228, 232, 240
Savonarola, Girolamo, 234–38, 240–43, 245
Apocalypse sermons of, 240
background of, 236
birth of, 136
execution of, 246
fundamentalist preaching of, 234–35
portrait of, 237
as prior of San Marco, 241
Scrovegni, Arrigo degli, 10
Scrovegni, Reginaldo degli, 10, 14
scrutinies, 137, 139, 142, 143, 148, 204
Second Coming, 18–19
“secret books,” 50
“secret things of our town,” 136–38, 142, 151, 209
seduto, 144
“semper,” as Cosimo de’ Medici’s motto, 63
Sforza, Francesco, 141–42, 148, 151, 154–55, 172
as condottiere, 90, 116, 120, 146
death of, 157, 173, 190
as duke of Milan, 65, 106, 146, 150
illegitimate background of, 65
Medici bank and, 106, 117–18, 146, 150
Sforza, Galeazzo, 151, 159, 184, 189, 201, 205, 211–12, 214, 219
Sforza, Ippolita, 190
Sforza, Lodovico, 214, 244
ships:
galleys, 118, 178–79, 198
round, 40
signoria, 88, 89, 97, 143, 147–48, 157, 165, 199, 216, 222, 224, 240
composition and function of, 94–95, 96, 137
power of Council of 100 over, 200
silver-based currencies, 43
of Florence, see piccioli
silver imperial, 43
Silvestrine order, 122–23
sin:
blasphemy viewed as, 14
clarity and, 54
Islamic view of, 14
monopolies viewed as, 193–94, 197
mortal, 24
sodomy viewed as, 13–14
usury viewed as, 1–2, 10–11, 13–15, 23–24, 45–46, 188
Sixteen Standard Bearers, 95, 137
Sixtus IV, Pope, 201, 203–5, 210–11, 212, 217–18, 223–24, 241
slaves, 10, 11, 34, 63–64, 86, 149, 152
Slavic countries, as source of slaves, 10, 63
social order:
currency and, 32–34
money as means of change in, 15, 18, 158
sumptuary laws and, 34–35
taxation and, 80
Soderini, Niccolò, 155, 156, 164, 167, 192, 202, 206
Soderini, Tommaso, 155, 202
sodomites, in Dante’s hell, 13–14
soldi a fiorino, 37
Soliloquia (Augustine), 207
“Song of the Bakers” (Medici), 209–10
“Song of the Peasants” (Medici), 210
sovrabbondanza, 81
Spain, 9, 68, 135
Spinelli, Lorenzo, 229, 239, 240
stare sugli avvisi, 47
“station in life,” 15, 25
Stendhal, 223
Storie fiorentine (Guicciardini), 222
Strozzi, Alessandro, 143
Strozzi, Palla, 96, 98, 100, 107, 111, 153, 158
Strozzi family, 164
sumptuary laws, 35–36
Supreme Good, The (Medici), 210
Switzerland, 9
Sylvester, Pope, 93
Symposium (Medici), 201
Tani, Agnolo, 175, 177, 179–82
taxes, 17, 19, 20, 87
catasto, 73, 81–83, 85
evasion of, 9, 73–74, 75, 82, 104, 109, 177
on the poor, 33, 77, 79–80, 226, 246
property, 147–48
proportional, 80–82, 84
quattrino bianco and, 226, 246
for waging war, 73, 77, 78
tax loans, 80–81
Ten of War committee, 86, 89, 90
Third World poverty, 15
Thomas Aquinas, Saint, 14, 15
Tolentino, Niccolò da, 97–98
Tolfa, 195–96, 197
Tornabuoni, Francesca Pitti, 165, 167
Tornabuoni, Giovanni, 125, 166, 167, 168–69, 175, 178, 179–80, 196, 198–99, 211, 224, 228, 229, 232, 240
Tornabuoni family, 162
Tornaquinci, Neri di Cipriano, 50–51
trade:
bankers
and, 22–23, 39–40, 46–47
bank failures and, 173, 240
currency exchange and, 40–46
florin as currency of, 32
galley ships rented for, 118
imbalance in, 109–11, 112–14, 135–36
risks involved in, 39–40
Rome and, 20–22, 109–11
triangular movements in, 22, 135–36, 174
Traini, 19
Traversari, Ambrogio, 55
triangular trade movements, 22, 135–36, 174
Tribute Money, The (Masaccio), 74, 75, 80
Trinity, 116, 134–35
Turks, Ottoman, 67, 134–35, 147, 176, 194–95, 197, 223, 244
Tuscan language, 225
Tuscans, as bankers, 28
Tuscany, 77, 79, 141, 219
Twelve Good Men, 94–95, 137, 143
usura, 1–2
usury, 9, 104
Dante’s hell and, 13–14
debt bonds viewed as, 80–81
discretionary deposits as means of avoiding, 23–24
exchange deals as, 45–46
legalized in Protestant England, 243
“manifest,” 31
“mental,” 24
modern definition of, 1
Pound on, 1–2
standard provision in wills made for, 9–10
viewed as sin, 1–2, 10–11, 13–15, 23–24, 45–46, 188
see also interest; money
utile, 74
Uzzano, Niccolò da, 81, 86–87, 90
Valla, Lorenzo, 93
Vasari, Giorgio, 218
veduto, 143–44
Venetian ducats, 43, 90, 92
Venetian-style bookkeeping, 33–34
Venice, 22
alum and, 196–98
Cosimo de’ Medici in, 98
doge of, 87
in Italy’s internal wars, 67–68, 71, 76, 79, 84, 99–100, 106, 117, 141, 146–47, 150, 218, 221, 225, 244
Lorenzo di Giovanni de’ Medici exiled to, 98
Medici bank branch in, 48, 50–51, 63, 83, 91, 96, 99, 112, 116, 135, 146, 172, 201, 231, 232
in “Most Holy League,” 147
Venturi, Giovanni, 135
Venturi & Davanzati, 135, 174
Vernacci, Leonardo, 168, 175, 182
Verrocchio, Andrea del, 191, 219, 225
Virgil, 14–15
Visconti, Bianca, 117, 141
Visconti, Filippo, 67–68, 71, 77, 79, 84, 90, 116, 141
Volterra, 85–86, 216
alum and, 199–203
sacking of, 201–3
wealth tax (catasto), 73, 81–83, 85
women:
Boccaccio’s writing on, 55–57
clothing regulations and, 36, 103, 178
dowries and, 9, 19–20, 154, 161–62
wool trade, 44, 179–80, 213–14, 228
anti-Italian sentiment of English in, 114
bookkeeping and, 34
decline in, 176, 240
English export restrictions on, 111, 114
triangular movements in, 22, 135–36
see also alum
woolworkers:
1378 revolt by, 7, 62
association of, 194
workers’ unions, 194
