History of banking in Italy

The Etruscans and the early Romans did not have true minted coinage for many centuries. Debt and debt bondage, however, were probably rife. Wealthy landowners would make an "advance loan" of seed, foodstuffs or other essentials to tenants, clients and smallholders, in return for a promise of labour services or a substantial share of the crop. The terms of such "loans" compelled defaulters to sell themselves, or their dependants, to their creditor; or, if smallholders, to surrender their farm. Wealthy aristocratic Etruscan and Roman landholders thus acquired additional farms and service for very little outlay.[4] It has been argued that this loan system can be considered an embryonic version of banking as practiced in antiquity.

With the eventual expansion of Roman monetization, a variety of officials came to be associated with banking in ancient Rome. These were the argentarii, mensarii, coactores, and nummulari; many of these roles were derived from Etruscan practices. The argentarii were money changers. The role of the mensarii was to help people through economic hardships, the coactores were hired to collect money and give it to their employer, and the nummulari minted and tested currency. They offered credit systems and loans. Between 260 and the fourth century CE Roman bankers disappear from the historical record, likely because of economic difficulties caused by the debasement of the currency.

The origins of modern banking can be traced to the medieval and early Italian Renaissance, to the rich cities in the north like Florence, Lucca, Siena, Venice, and Genoa. The Bardi and Peruzzi families dominated banking in 14th-century Florence, establishing branches in many other parts of Europe.[5]

One of the most famous Italian banks was the Medici Bank, set up by Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici in 1397.[6] The earliest known state deposit bank, Banco di San Giorgio (Bank of St. George), was founded in 1407 in Genoa, Italy,[7] while Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, founded in 1472, is the oldest surviving bank in the world.

In 1893, following the Banca Romana scandal, the Italian government formed the Bank of Italy, the nation's first central bank, as part of massive reforms to the banking sector.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ Fischer, Julia C. (26 July 2019). Art in Rome: From Antiquity to the Present. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 98–100. ISBN 978-1-5275-3752-1. Archived from the original on 2022-09-12. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  2. ^ Aicher, Peter J. (2004). Rome Alive: A Source-Guide to the Ancient City Volume II (in Latin). Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-86516-507-6. Archived from the original on 2022-09-12. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  3. ^ Elsner, Jaś (2005). "Sacrifice and narrative on the Arch of the Argentarii at Rome". Journal of Roman Archaeology. 18: 83–98. doi:10.1017/S1047759400007224. S2CID 188993120.
  4. ^ See discussion in Cornell, pp. 281–283
  5. ^ Hoggson, N. F. (1926) Banking Through the Ages, New York, Dodd, Mead & Company.
  6. ^ Goldthwaite, R. A. (1995) Banks, Places and Entrepreneurs in Renaissance Florence, Aldershot, Hampshire, Great Britain, Variorum
  7. ^ Macesich, George (30 June 2000). "Central Banking: The Early Years: Other Early Banks". Issues in Money and Banking. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers (Greenwood Publishing Group). p. 42. ISBN 978-0-275-96777-2. Retrieved 2009-03-12. The first state deposit bank was the Bank of St. George in Genoa, which was established in 1407.
  8. ^ Gigliobianco, Alfredo; Giordano, Claire. "No. 5 - Economic Theory and Banking Regulation: The Italian Case (1861-1930s)". Retrieved 5 August 2021.
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