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IN R E N A I S S A N C E A STUDY
OF
FOUR
FLORENCE FAMILIES
IN R E N A I S S A N C E A
STUDY
OF
FOUR
FLORENCE F A M I L I E S
BY RICHARD A. GOLDTHWAITE
PRINCETON,NEW PRINCETON
JERSEY
UNIVERSITY
1968
PRESS
Copyright © 1968 by Princeton University Press L. C. Card 68-29385 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Printed in the United States of America by Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey
This book has been composed in linotype Times Roman
To my parents
SK ckno&ieodmeni$ project was originally a dissertation begun under the direction of the late Prof. Garrett Mattingly, who, however, died before it was completed. It was his lively and stimulating interest in the original idea which more than anything else set me on my way, although the result is hardly worthy of the great tradition he represented. To his successor at Columbia University, Prof. Eugene F. Rice, Jr., I am deeply grateful for the kind and generous attention given me in the final stage of the dissertation and for the continuing interest he has shown in my work. For material support, my thanks go to the trustees of Oberlin College for a Haskell Traveling Fellowship, which enabled me to spend a year in Florence to work on the dissertation. Subsequently, a fellowship from the Folger Shakespeare Library and especially generous support with releasetime from teaching duties as well as funds from Kent State University made it possible to do post-doctoral research and to put the material in its present form. I owe much to the staff of the Florentine archives for the courteous patience and assistance with which they introduced a foreign novice to the wonders of their treasury; and along with many who have worked there, I am particularly indebted to Dr. Gino Corti, who selflessly put his enormous fund of information and remarkable archival skills at my disposal. I must also thank the Guicciardini family for permission to use their impressive (and comfortable!) archives. Having worked on this project for several years, I am indebted to a host of friends and colleagues who have all along the way offered invaluable assistance of various kinds, often unbeknown to themselves. Three, however, call for special mention: Mrs. Florence Edler de Roover, for her generous THIS
{ vii }
^Acknowledgments help in clarifying Florentine business practice; Professors David Hicks and Marvin B. Becker, whose friendship and conversation has been a constant stimulation from the beginning to the end. March 1968
R. A. G.
e
onienf$
Acknowledgments
vii
List of Tables and Charts
xi
Abbreviations
2
INTRODUCTION
3
I. T H E
ADMINISTRATION
PRIVATE II. T H E
OF
WEALTH
STROZZI
IN
15 THE
FIFTEENTH
CENTURY III.
THE
31
STROZZI
SIXTEENTH IV.
THE
V. T H E VI. VII.
THE
IN
THE
EARLY
CENTURY
74
GUICCIARDINI
109
GONDI
157
CAPPONI
187
PRIVATE
WEALTH
AND
THE
FAMILY
234
APPENDICES
277
I. Account Books of the Descendants of Simone di Filippo Strozzi II. Account Books of the Guicciardini
279 283
III. Account Books of the Gondi
286
IV. Account Books of the Capponi
287
V. Fluctuations of Prices and Monetary Values in the Renaissance
289
List of Works Cited
291
Index
305 Ox}
v i a b l Lcs e PAGE
1. The estate of Simone di Filippo Strozzi in 1425 ... 2. Investments in wool manufactories by Simone Strozzi and his son Matteo, 1398 to 1427
40 41
3. The estate of Matteo di Simone Strozzi, 1425 to 1433
45
4. The estate of Filippo Strozzi in 1471, 1483, and 1491
60
5. Income of Filippo Strozzi, 1471 to 1483
61
6. Personal loans made by Filippo Strozzi
66
7. Income and selected expenditures of Selvaggia Strozzi, 1492 to 1502
78
8. The patrimony of Filippo and Lorenzo Strozzi in 1491 and 1501
79
9. Investment of Filippo and Lorenzo Strozzi in cloth manufactories, 1493 to ca. 1530
87
10. Investments of Filippo and Lorenzo Strozzi with Matteo di Lorenzo Strozzi and Piero di Girolamo Corboli and Company in Venice, 1495 to 1513
88
11. Capital investment in The Heirs of Filippo di Matteo Strozzi and Company in Rome, 1515 to 1519
92
12. Capital investment in the Strozzi company of Lyons, 1517 to 1532
95
13. The estate of Piero di Messer Luigi Guicciardini in 1427 and 1433
115
14. Major administrative offices held by Piero di Messer Luigi Guicciardini
116
{ Xl }
£ist of Tables 15. Offices held by Luigi di Piero Guicciardini
120
16. Offices held by Jacopo di Piero Guicciardini
120
17. The estate of Jacopo di Piero Guicciardini and his son Piero, 1451 to 1498
125
18. Investments of Jacopo Guicciardini in silk manufactories, 1504 to 1529
126
19. Capital and profits of silk manufactories belonging to Piero Guicciardini and his sons, 1502 to 1523
127
20. Income of Jacopo Guicciardini, 1505 to 1530 .. . 142 21. Assets and liabilities of Jacopo Guicciardini, 1505 to 1532 22. Partial expenditures of the family of Antonio Gondi, 1486 to 1506
166
23. Capital investment and profits of the company of Alessandro, Bernardo, and Antonio Gondi, 1496 to 1516
172
144
24. Capital and profits of the Gondi company in Lyons, 1510 to 1521
173
25. Income of Alessandro Gondi, 1488 to 1519
176
26. The estate of Alessandro Gondi in 1517
177
27. Summary of catasto returns of Neri Capponi in 1427 and his son Gino in 1457 28. Capital investments of Piero Capponi and Company in 1485
192 200
29. Real estate holdings of Neri Capponi and his son Gino, 1427 to 1480 205 30. Capital and profits of Piero Capponi and Company, 1494 to 1521 { xii }
209
£ist of Tables 31. Investments of Piero Capponi and Company (called after Piero's death, Heirs of Piero Capponi and Company), 1494 to 1521
215
32. The estate of Niccolo and Giuliano Capponi in 1511
217
33. Income and expenditures of Niccolo and Giuliano Capponi, 1496 to 1530 218 34. Personal income and expenditures of Giuliano Capponi
221
35. Wealth of Giuliano Capponi (excluding business investments), 1532 to 1568 222 36. Giuliano Capponi's share of capital and profits in silk companies, 1530 to 1565
225
37. Giuliano Capponi's share of capital and profits in wool companies, 1548 to 1566
227
38. Giuliano Capponi's share of capital and profits in the banco, 1534 to 1567
228
39. Giuliano Capponi's share of capital and profits in the company of Naples, 1538 to 1567
230
40. Profits from investments belonging to Giuliano Capponi, ca. 1548 to ca. 1565
231
SELECTIVE
GENEALOGIES
1. The Strozzi
30
2. The Guicciardini
108
3. The Gondi
156
4. The Capponi
188 { xiii }
10l'ivate
~eaft§
IN RENAISSANCE FLORENCE A STUDY OF
FOUR FAMILIES
ABBREVIATIONS AC:
Archivio Capponi
AG:
Archivio Guicciardini
A Gondi: Archivio Gondi ASI:
Archivio storico italiano
ASF:
Archivio di Stato, Florence
BNF:
Biblioteca Nazionale, Florence
CS:
Carte strozziane (with Roman numeral indicating series)