High Finance Networks in Renaissance Florence

This chapter focuses on the financial networks of the moneychangers in Renaissance Florence, specifically focusing on the Santa Croce gonfalone in 1427. By analyzing tax declarations and records from the Catasto and Arte del Cambio, this chapter reconstructs the financial transactions and networks of 61 moneychangers residing in the area. Our study retraces how these professionals, initially currency exchangers, diversified into broader financial activities such as lending, banking, and trading in bills of exchange. The chapter also highlights the embeddedness of finance, politics, and commerce. We show how influential groups within the city used these financial networks to consolidate power, using the Medici network as an illustrative case. Via analysis of their professional and political ties, this chapter underlines the role of moneychangers in the rise of high finance in Florence.