1290s Disestablishments - Gran Tavola, (Paperback)

Chapters: Gran Tavola, . Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 12. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: During the Middle Ages, the Gran Tavola (Italian for "Great Table") was the largest Sienese bank, and one of the most powerful banks in Europe from 1255 to 1298. The Gran Tavola has been called "the greatest bank of the thirteenth century" as well as "one of the largest commercial and banking enterprises in Europe." The main branches of the Gran Tavola during the mid-thirteenth century were in Pisa, Bologna, Genoa, Marseille, and Paris. The Gran Tavola has its roots in the societas of the Bonsignori, which began activity in the 1240s with the participation of the Malavolti. The Gran Tavola was founded by Orlando Bonsignori in 1255 and in the 1260s became the exclusive depository-general of the incomes of the Papal States \\. Pope Innocent IV's (1243-1254) conflicts with Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor had demonstrated plainly to the Roman Curia the importance of reliable and robust financial services relationships. The first so-designated papal depository was the Piccolomini firm headed by Angeliero Solafico circa 1233 under Pope Gregory IX; the Gran Tavola filled this role between 1250 and 1270. The slightly larger Ricciardi bank of Lucca was also intimately involved in church finances. During the reign of Pope Clement IV, the bank became responsbile for the collection of all the ecclesiastical tithes for the Holy Land. Under Pope Urban IV (1265-68), all pontifical taxes were collected by the Gran Tavola. After the 1260s, popes Nicholas III, Honorius IV, and Nicholas IV continued to use Sienese banks for a small amount of transactions. The bank also supported Charles of Anjou in his conquest of the Kingdom of Sicily; through a network of "virtual banking syndicates" the bank secured a ...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=188832