Italian Banking

Timeline

1. 1255–1260Florence and Genoa · LiguriaIn the mid-13th century, specialized money-changers (bankers/banco) appeared in Italian commercial cities, exchanging coins for international merchants at fairs and ports, and gradually developed settlement methods using written bills of exchange in place of transporting physical gold and silver, reducing the risk and cost of long-distance trade.
2. 1300–1330Florence · TuscanyFlorentine great family banks such as the Peruzzi and Bardi took on the transfer of papal tax revenues across Europe, establishing branches in Bruges, London, and Avignon, and provided large-scale financing to monarchs and merchants through their bill-of-exchange networks, becoming the most powerful financial intermediaries of medieval Europe.
3. 1400–1500Venice and Genoa · GenoaPublic debt institutions such as Venice's "Monte Vecchio" and Genoese banks developed more systematic double-entry bookkeeping and government bond trading; Italian urban financial institutions matured progressively, providing mechanisms for capital mobilization and credit creation for Europe's commercial expansion during the Renaissance.