HIS109Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Guelphs And Ghibellines, Medici Bank, Petrarch
Document Summary
1138: element of self government in the city. Most prestigious still had connections with feudal traditions. There had always been cities and town for trade (passing through italy) The relationship between the country side and city of italy was meek. Trade never ended; hq of catholic church was in italy: need for people to service the bureaucracy. Literacy, legal knowledge, writing effectively existed in italy in unbroken succession from the roman empire. A: the result of skill and good fortune (high quality wool) The skill the florentines had when handling and dying the wool. Florentine wool became the item everyone had to had; wool industry in florence attracted thousands of workers from rural areas. 13th century: profits were so large that florentines could take surplus capital and put it in banks. Lent out money to other merchants (and feudal lords) to generate interest; became first international bankers. Cons of florentines: certain needs that those who controlled the government didn"t understand.
