Florence From The Medieval Period To The Renaissance

Florence, where the Italian Renaissance began, was an independent republic. It was also a banking and commercial capital and, after London and Constantinople, the third-largest city in Europe. Wealthy Florentines flaunted their money and power by becoming patrons, or supporters, of artists and intellectuals.

This book examines the Florentine perception of banking from a wide range of historical perspectives in order to trace the forces and agents that were responsible for its dramatic shift, from inexorable disapproval to dignified civic and cultural preeminence.