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Florentine Banking System
The Florentine banking system was a network of commercial credit, exchange, and transnational finance formed in 14th-century Italian city communes;…
Timeline
- 1301–1304Florence · FlorenceFlorentine major banks established branches in London, Paris, Bruges, Avignon, and elsewhere, using bills of exchange (cambio) to transfer funds across borders and reduce the risks of transporting precious metals.
- 1305–1308Avignon and London · AvignonIn the 1300s, Florentine bankers collected tithes for the papacy and provided war loans to the English and French crowns, forming the highest level of financial intermediary role in Europe.
- 1308–1310Florence · FlorenceBy around 1310, Florentine banks widely adopted double-entry bookkeeping and limited-liability partnership (commenda) structures, institutionalizing capital accumulation, risk sharing, and transnational operations.
Sources
- De Roover, Raymond. The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank: 1397-1494 — Raymond de Roover (1963)
- Hunt, Edwin S.; Murray, James M. A History of Business in Medieval Europe, 1200-1550 — Edwin S. Hunt; James M. Murray (1999)