Per filo e per segno

The wool manufacture, along with the International trade and finance, was one of Florence’s leading sectors in the Late Middle Ages. The sixteenth century has been only touched by the historical-economical studies, perhaps because it was traditionally considered a period of decadence. More recent research has instead highlighted the need to rethink these conclusions, demonstrating how the textile sector represents a good point of observation for deepening the critical points and evaluating the prospects of the economy of the city of the Lily in the 16th century. Alongside the analysis of a case study and the critical re-elaborations of what literature offers on more general topics, the book presents a long-term view of the process of the rise and decline of the Arte della Lana in Florence, reinterpreting it in the light of new archival investigations

«Se non piace loro l’arte, mutinla in una altra». I «lavoranti» dell’Arte della lana fiorentina tra XIV e XVI secolo

Questo studio è dedicato alla manifattura laniera fiorentina e intende focalizzarsi sulle fasi preliminari del processo produttivo, svolte direttamente sulla massa di lana grezza che accedeva alla bottega in vista della filatura. Chi erano i lavoratori che svolgevano queste operazioni? Che tipo di rapporto intrattenevano col resto delle maestranze e la proprietà del lanificio? Si può parlare di un’evoluzione di questo rapporto tra basso medioevo e età moderna? Lo studio dei registri contabili di alcuni opifici lanieri toscani attivi tra XIV e XVI secolo ha permesso di individuare un sostanziale cambiamento nella gestione del personale: è emersa con frequenza sempre maggiore la tendenza delle botteghe a entrare in contatto esclusivamente con «fattori» che si occupavano della distribuzione del lavoro e dei relativi compensi ai singoli «lavoranti». Il fatto che i questi fossero del tutto ignoti alle compagnie, in combinazione con la scarsa specializzazione richiesta dalle mansioni, spiega l’erosione della loro capacità contrattuale che permetteva ai lanifici di comprimere o ampliare il numero degli occupati a seconda della congiuntura economica

Chapter La disuguaglianza economica in area marchigiana: uno studio di lungo periodo (1400-1800)

The research aimed at bringing new data to the study of inequality in the distribution of wealth in the long run using the fiscal documentation available to many communities of the Marches region over a period covering the late Middle Ages and the full modern age. The political-administrative history of this territory, progressively incorporated into the Papal State, was reflected in an evolution of the methodologies for assessing wealth for tax purposes. Their characteristics have been carefully taken into account and criticized in order to ensure compatibility in time and space. Land registers, “estimi”, "libre", as well as books of “collette”, will be used to describe the fiscal capacity of taxpayers enrolled in these registers and to estimate the dynamics of economic inequality

La disuguaglianza economica in area marchigiana: uno studio di lungo periodo (1400-1800)

The research aimed at bringing new data to the study of inequality in the distribution of wealth in the long run using the fiscal documentation available to many communities of the Marches region over a period covering the late Middle Ages and the full modern age. The political-administrative history of this territory, progressively incorporated into the Papal State, was reflected in an evolution of the methodologies for assessing wealth for tax purposes. Their characteristics have been carefully taken into account and criticized in order to ensure compatibility in time and space. Land registers, “estimi”, "libre", as well as books of “collette”, will be used to describe the fiscal capacity of taxpayers enrolled in these registers and to estimate the dynamics of economic inequality

8. Book Reviews

Reviews of Outka, Viral Modernism. The Influenza Pandemic and Interwar Literature, Columbia UP 2020; Ascheri, Rimedi contro le epidemie. I consigli di diritto europeo dei giuristi (secoli XIV-XVI), Aracne 2020; Henderson, Florence Under Siege: Surviving Plague in an Early Modern City, Yale UP 2019

Per filo e per segno : L’arte della lana a Firenze nel Cinquecento

The wool manufacture, along with the International trade and finance, was one of Florence’s leading sectors in the Late Middle Ages. The sixteenth century has been only touched by the historical-economical studies, perhaps because it was traditionally considered a period of decadence. More recent research has instead highlighted the need to rethink these conclusions, demonstrating how the textile sector represents a good point of observation for deepening the critical points and evaluating the prospects of the economy of the city of the Lily in the 16th century. Alongside the analysis of a case study and the critical re-elaborations of what literature offers on more general topics, the book presents a long-term view of the process of the rise and decline of the Arte della Lana in Florence, reinterpreting it in the light of new archival investigations.La manifattura della lana, insieme al grande commercio e alla finanza internazionale, fu uno dei settori trainanti della Firenze bassomedievale. Il Cinquecento \ue8 stato solo sfiorato dagli studi storico-economici, specialmente riguardo l’organizzazione della produzione o del lavoro, forse perch\ue9 considerato tradizio-nalmente il secolo della decadenza. Ricerche pi\uf9 recenti hanno invece evidenziato la necessit\ue0 di ripensare queste conclusioni, dimostrando come il comparto tessile rappresenti un buon punto di osservazione per approfondire le criticit\ue0 e valutare le prospettive dell’economia della citt\ue0 del Giglio nel Sedicesimo seco-lo. Affiancando all’analisi di un case study le rielaborazioni critiche di quanto la letteratura offre sui temi di ordine pi\uf9 generale, il libro presenta una visione di lungo periodo del processo di ascesa e declino dell’Arte della Lana di Firenze, reinterpretandola alla luce di nuovi scavi archivistici

Book prices and monetary issues in Renaissance Europe

The difficulties associated with the creation of a large database of book prices include giving effective answers to questions such as how prices were formed during the various steps of the production process (sedimentation of production costs, costs related to the sale) or what the nature of the assigned value is (estimated in the case of used books, or of stock inventories, or the result of special conditions offered to specific customers, etc.). But first it is necessary to reflect on the interpretation given to the figures provided by the heterogeneous documentation which supports the creation of such a database. The many reference currencies in which these prices are expressed, depending on the monetary area of action of the economic operators (printers, booksellers, customers) are likely to confuse and mislead if their exact meaning is not clearly understood. This problem becomes even more urgent when, for example, the primary sources are the private notes of a collector who recorded how much he had paid for a book, or when two different currencies in place or in time have the same name. This aspect is also crucial in comparing different places and markets. Was the price expressed in money of account or in coined money? In domestic or foreign currency? Is it possible to relate two prices expressed in different currencies? The purpose of this paper is therefore to explore in greater depth some of the economic-monetary aspects of Renaissance Europe in order to help clarify any doubts or misreadings by building a reliable picture of the various types of currency used in Europe between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This is an essential step to subsequently address the possibility of comparing prices expressed in different currencies as they emerged on different markets