Chronology of the Florentine businessmen’s arrival to Hungary

The dynamics of the vacillating presence of Florentine businessmen in Hungary were connected both to general shifts in the available regional possibilities and changes in the Florentine economy and conditions as well. Not much has been uncovered so far concerning their presence in the kingdom in the early fourteenth century. In any case, the coinage of the Hungarian golden florin with a design similar to that of the Florentine golden currency was issued as part of the monetary reforms introduced in 1326 by King Charles I (1308-1342), the first king of the Hungarian branch of the Angevin dynasty. In addition to issuing the florin, the Neapolitan Angevins’ traditional close ties to Florentine entrepreneurs, their privileged legal and financial standing in Naples and the role Florentine banking houses also played in the successful claim of the Angevins to the Hungarian throne suggest the increasing presence of Italians in general and Florentines in particular in Hungary, although the written evidence from this period is too incomplete to entirely support this thesis. Particularly Identification of the more precise geographical provenience of foreign persons called “gallicus” or “italicus” in the few records that do exist is difficult or even impossible in most cases. There is also very little archaeological evidence at hand on the burgeoning trade relations of Florence with Hungary. As opposed to Venetian ducats, the Florentine golden florin found among Hungarian archaeological finds was first dated to as early as the second half of the thirteenth century but did not reappear among later finds,.¹⁰²

In any case, the acquisition of the Dalmatian coast with its ports along the main trade route between Italy and Central Europe must have favored the growing presence of Florentines from 1358. Most of this information is connected to members of the royal financial administration with a focus on the minting chambers.¹⁰³

102 Bálint Hóman, Monetary history of Hungary, 1000-1325 (Budapest, 1916) quoted in Tibor Kardos, “Coluccio Salutati levelezése a magyar Anjoukkal,” [Correspondence of Coluccio Salutati with the Hungarian Angevins], Századok (1936): 407-432, here 412; According to Márton Gyöngyössy, late medieval Hungarian coin finds do not include Florentine florins, although a few (at least 29) Venetian ducats were identified among the coins. See Gyöngyössy, Florenus Hungaricalis. Aranypénzverés a középkori Magyarországon [Florenus Hungaricalis. Coinage of golden florins in medieval Hungary] (Budapest: Martin Opitz, 2008), 107 (hereafter: Gyöngyössy, Florenus Hungaricalis); On the absence of Florentine florins in the archaeological finds see Ibid., “Appendix I, Aranyforintleletek a középkori Magyarország területéről (1325-1526)” [Archaeological findings of golden coins in the territory of medieval Hungary, 1325-1526], 119-124. See also the recently published cathalogue by András Lengyel, Aranykönyv 1325-1540. Középkori magyar pénzverés. [Golden Book 1325-1540. Medieval Hungarian coinage], (Budapest: Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum-Pannonia Terra Numizmatika, 2013)

103 Codex Diplomaticus Regni Croatiae, Dalmatiae et Slavoniae. Academia Scientiarum et Artium Slavorum Meridionalium. (hereafter: CDC), Vol. 17. ed., coll., suppl. Smiciklas, Tadija – Gunjaca, Stjepan – Stipisic, Jakov.

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The period between 1370-1450 is more suitable for such analysis as source conditions are better.

Two time intervals can be identified in which “new names” appear in the greater number of records including the first references to Florentine businessmen in Hungary. After a constant increase in numbers starting from the 1370s, the first peak in the presence of new Florentines can be dated to the late 1380s and early 1390s, also due to the simultaneous presence of more Florentine partnerships taking various organizational forms in the country.¹⁰⁴ The political insecurities were mainly caused by a shift in the ruling Hungarian royal dynasty, the extinction of the Hungarian Angevins, and the subsequent arrival of Sigismund of Luxemburg as successor to the throne.

Sigismund’s loss of Dalmatia influenced the strategies employed by Italian newcomers as well as a tendency for the decreasing presence of Florentines, earlier mainly interested in the administration of royal salt chambers in Dalmatia. Some records reveal the trend for these Florentines to gradually migrate from Split and Zadar to other inland trade hubs of the kingdom, prevailingly Buda.¹⁰⁵ In 1397, after the consolidation of King Sigismund’s power in the kingdom, a financial reform was introduced that had considerable impact on the ambitions of Florentine businessmen in relation to holding offices in the royal financial administration. These reforms referred particularly to royal monopolies, mainly incomes from the salt and thirtieth chambers. The reforms definitely aimed at improvement in the efficiency of tax collection and required that businessmen have a more solid presence on the spot. As has been claimed before, the reforms were at least in part shaped by influential Florentine businessmen at the royal court.¹⁰⁶ Not by chance was Filippo Scolari appointed count of the Hungarian salt chambers in 1401 by the king.

At the turn of the fifteenth century, however, representatives of South German origin also gradually appeared in the kingdom’s relevant financial offices.¹⁰⁷ Moreover, the first signs of technical

(Zagreb, 1981). Letter by John of Palisna, Ban of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia, prior of Vrana and ally of King Charles III. of Naples, pretender to the Hungarian crown, written about his noble retainer (familiaris) and officialis Chiono Marini [known as Macigni] de Florentia, to whom the revenues from Dalmatian salt and customs chambers had been leased for years, that he was managing the office well. Datum Jan. 28, 1387.

104 See the recommendations on behalf of Florentine merchants working in Hungary in the diplomatic correspondence of the Florentine Government with the Hungarian King. ASF, Signori-Carteggi Missive, I Cancelleria, 21. fol. 12r-13r.

105 See the case of Antonio di Piero Fronte who around 1412 joined his brother, Fronte di Piero Fronte, merchant in Buda as early as 1404. CDC. Vol. 18. Diplomata Annorum 1395—1399 Continens. ed., coll., suppl. Smiciklas, Tadija – Gunjaca, Stjepan – Stipisic, Jakov (Zagreb, 1990), no. 49, Oct. 11. 1395. Zadar. “Actum Iadre ante cancellariam interiorem presentibus ser Marino de Soppe, nobile ciue Iadre, et Antonio Petri Frontis de Florentia, habitatore Iadre, testibus et aliis ad hec habitis et vocatis”, MNL OL DF 270132. Sept. 7, 1412. Letter by King Sigismund to the town of Košice.

106István Draskóczy, “A sóigazgatás”, 286-288.

107 Márton Gyöngyössy, “Zsigmond király aranypénz-verésének első korszaka 1387-1401[First period of coinage of King Sigismund 1387-1401],” in: “Es tu scholaris” Ünnepi tanulmányok Kubinyi András 75. születésnapjára [“Es tu scholaris” – Essays in honor of the seventy-five years old András Kubinyi], ed- Beatrix F. Romhányi – András Grynaeus – Magyar Károly – Végh András, Monumenta Historica Budapestinensia 13 (Budapest: Budapesti Történeti Múzeum, 2004.), 103.

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problems related to mining operations emerged makingexploitation a more difficult enterprise.¹⁰⁸ Finally, King Sigismund’s tense relations with Florence between 1396 and 1403 also rendered the situation unfavorable for the newly arriving Florentines. As a result, the number of references to Florentine newcomers drops in the first decade of the fifteenth century.

In the early 1410s, however, a changing tendency can again be observed in this respect, partly due to the efforts of the ruler struggling with constant money shortages and aiming at the centralization of the financial administration of the land. By that period Filippo Scolari was already one of Sigismund’s councilors. His prominent position in the central financial administration attracted several fellow countrymen to the kingdom, among them members of his extended kin, particularly after 1415.¹⁰⁹ As the revenues from royal monopolies did not cover the financial requirements of the ruler, wealthy Florentine businessmen, such as Giovanni di Bartolomeo Panciatichi, provided loans to the king.¹¹⁰ Buda’s evolution to royal seat and residence hosting the permanent royal court and consequent increasing demand for luxury goods for both members of the royal court and wealthy Buda burgers encouraged Florentine merchants to bring their manifold wares to town.¹¹¹ The period between 1412 and 1427 is marked by the extremely intense presence of Florentines, to an extent which, has not been documented for earlier periods.

The subsequent decline in their number and activity dates to the years 1427-28 based on information from the prosopographic database, a decline due to a number of factors. The death of Scolari in 1426 must have affected seriously his fellow countrymen concerning both the possibilities and the safety of business ventures in the kingdom. Also, the aggravated relations of King Sigismund with Florence made the loss of Scolari’s protection even more problematic for the other Florentines staying in Hungary. Finally, King Sigismund’s financial needs must have influenced the persecutions of Florentines in Hungary, as the diplomatic records of the Florentine Signoria testify, although the king himself denied this in a letter sent to the Florentine

108 István Draskóczy, “Kamarai jövedelem és urbura a 15. század első felében” [Chamber revenues and urbura in the first half of the fifteenth century], in Gazdaságtörténet-Könyvtártörténet. Emlékkönyv Berlász Jenő 90. születésnapjára [Economic history – Library history. Essays in honor of the ninety years old Jenő Berlász] ed. János Búza (Budapest, BKÁE Gazdaság- és társadalomtörténeti kutatócsoport 2001),154; Peter Spufford, Money and its Use in Medieval Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 356

109 Engel, The Realm, 205, 223.

110 Zsuzsa Teke, “A firenzeiek vagyoni helyzete”, 58. On the Panciatichi see Arany, “Generations”.

111 Erik Fügedi, “Koldulórendek és városfejlődés Magyarországon” [Mendicant orders and urban development in Hungary], Századok 106 (1972): 69-95; András Kubinyi, “Buda, Magyarország középkori fővárosa” [Buda, the medieval capital of Hungary], in Tanulmányok Budapest Múltjából. 29 (Budapesti Történeti Múzeum 2001), 11-23. See also Márta Kondor, “Hof, Residenz und Verwaltung: Ofen und Blindenburg in der Regierungszeit König Sigismunds – unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Jahre 1410-1419,” in “Kaiser Sigismund (1368-1437) – Urkunden und Herrschaftspraxis eines europäischen Monarchen (Forschungen zur Kaiser- und Papstgeschichte des Mittelalters.

Beihefte zu J. F. Böhmer, Regesta Imperii 31), ed. Karel Hruza– Alexandra Kaar (Vienna – Cologne – Weimar, 2012), 215–233.

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Government.¹¹² The Florentine Catasto preserves references to the imprisonment of the Buda burgher and royal noble retainer (familiaris) Domenico di Giovanni Arrighi, a clear hint that serious business problems were generated by the unstable situation in the kingdom.¹¹³ In records preserved from this period “new” Florentine names are hardly encountered. The businessmen appearing in the documents were at most employed in the financial administration and were already living in the kingdom. Some of them had already settled in Buda or elsewhere pursuing their trading activities as well. A few of them even managed to be raised to the nobility, consequently adopting lifestyles typical of the Hungarian local nobility they integrated into.

112 See the copy of the report by the Florentine legate to King Sigismund, Piero di Luigi Guicciardini, on the reprisals against Florentines in Buda MNL OL DF 289088. April 21, 1428, and on Guicciardini’s efforts in mediating peace negotiations between Venice and King Sigismund see RI XI,2 n. 7148, in Regesta Imperii Online,

URI: http://www.regesta-imperii.de/id/1428-12-08_1_0_11_2_0_1187_7148 (Last downloaded: May 27, 2013). See also ASF, Signori-Carteggi, Missive, I. Cancelleria 33. fol. 116-117. See the letter by King Sigismund to the Florentine Government on the detention of Florentines staying in Buda, denying that financial reasons lay behind the arrests and confiscation of goods. ZsO III/no. 3131. April 19. 1404. See the answer of the Florentine Comune to the king Ibid. no.

3304. July 11, 1404; Also see Bruno Dini, Saggi su una economia-mondo: Firenze and l’Italia fra Mediterraneo ed Europa, Secc. XIII-XVI, (Pisa: Pacini, 1995), Zsuzsa Teke,”Firenze külpolitikája és Zsigmond (1409-1437)” [Foreign policy of Florence and King Sigismund (1409-1437)], in “Magyaroknak eleiről”.Ünnepi tanulmányok a hatvan esztendős Makk Ferenc tiszteletére [“About the Hungarians’ forfathers”. Essays in honor of the sixty-year-old Ferenc Makk], ed. Ferenc Piti (Szeged, 2000), 559-568.

113 See in the tax record of Niccoló and Giovanni di Iacopo di messer Niccoló Baldovini and their mother, ASF, Catasto 1427, 62. fol. 336r-342v., here fol. 342v, in the list of the debtors of Giovanni di Iacopo Baldovini and partners:

“Domenico di Giovanni Arrighi in Hungary put in prison fl 238”

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