Private Wealth in Renaissance Florence 9781400878628

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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)