The Florentine florin : the politics and culture of money in the Middle Ages / Stefano Locatelli.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Locatelli, Stefano (Economic and social historian), author.

Series:

Artes liberales (Manchester, England).

Artes liberales (Manchester, England)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Florin--Political aspects.

Florin.

Coins, Medieval--Political aspects.

Coins, Medieval.

Civilization, Medieval.

Economic history--Medieval, 500-1500.

Economic history.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 253 pages) : illustrations, maps, digital file(s).

Place of Publication:

Manchester, UK : Manchester University Press, 2025.

Language Note:

In English.

System Details:

data file

Biography/History:

Stefano Locatelli is Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellow between Fordham University and the University of Milan.

Summary:

This book offers an innovative study of the Florentine gold florin, presenting it as a product of human activity and a dynamic medium with significant political, social, and cultural dimensions. Departing from the traditional view of the florin as a neutral economic means of exchange, the book explores its role in the acquisition of power and as an instigator of social and political change. By providing a holistic appraisal of the interplay of human agents and political institutions and combining data from archaeological material and archival evidence, it demonstrates that the florin's early success was not driven only by long-distance trade, as often assumed in existing scholarship. Instead, the florin's influence should be understood through its integration into networks of power within political, diplomatic, military, and ecclesiastical spheres. It follows that the early history of the florin needs to be inscribed within the interactions between Florence and its merchants (Chapter 2), the Angevin Crown in the Kingdom of Sicily (Chapter 3), and the papacy (Chapter 4). Through a detailed account of the florin's diffusion and use in both commercial and non-commercial contexts, this book will challenge and refine interpretations of the 'Commercial Revolution', emphasise the crucial role of human agents in the study of medieval coins, and demonstrate how monetary history is a lively and organic part of medieval studies, rather than an exoteric and self-contained branch of economic historiography. In so doing, this book reconceptualises the relationship between material culture and economic practice, providing a framework for future studies.

Contents:

Introduction

1. The pre-history of the florin

2. The florin and the merchants

3. The florin and the Crown

4. The florin and the papacy

Conclusion

Appendix

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND) license.

Description based on publisher-supplied metadata and e-publication, viewed May 12, 2025.

ISBN:

1-5261-5814-0

1-5261-5812-4

Access Restriction:

Open Access Unrestricted online access