Humanities & Social Sciences

The Florentine florin

The politics and culture of money in the Middle Ages

by Stefano Locatelli

Description

Minted in Florence around November 1252, the florin became one of the leading gold currencies of the Middle Ages. Historians agree that its success was mainly due to the need for a stable means of payment in the networks of international trade. The Florentine Florin investigates the florin as a medium with hitherto neglected political, social, and cultural dimensions. By bringing human agents and political institutions more prominently into the history of the coin, this book enhances our understanding of money and its nature from a historical perspective, and provides an original framework for the integrated study of material culture and economic practices.

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Reviews

Money is everywhere in our lives, and so it was in the medieval past. The Florentine Florin re-writes the history of the most popular currency of medieval Europe, the gold florin of Florence, first struck in 1252. The history is one in which human agents, precious metals and political institutions each play their role. It traces the entry of the florin into networks of commerce and power in which Florentine merchants, the Angevin Crown, and the Papacy were enmeshed. The florin succeeded as an economic vehicle for 'big business', was used for tax collection by the Papacy and the Angevin Crown, and projected authority and know-how across Europe. Stefano Locatelli applies methods from several disciplines to archaeological evidence and written sources and so unveils a world of finance, statecraft, and enterprise. His book revises our understanding of the florin, and so of late medieval and Renaissance Europe. It also provides a compelling new framework for the integrated study of material culture and economic practices.

Author Biography

Stefano Locatelli is Assistant Professor of Economic History at the University of Parma

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Manchester University Press

Manchester University Press

Manchester University Press is a leading UK publisher known for excellent research in the humanities and social sciences.

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Bibliographic Information

  • Publisher Manchester University Press
  • Publication Date March 2025
  • Orginal LanguageEnglish
  • ISBN/Identifier 9781526158130 / 1526158132
  • Publication Country or regionUnited Kingdom
  • FormatPrint PDF
  • Pages280
  • ReadershipGeneral/trade; College/higher education; Professional and scholarly
  • Publish StatusPublished
  • Dimensions216 X 138 mm
  • Biblio NotesDerived from Proprietary 5385
  • SeriesArtes Liberales
  • Reference Code14088

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