The Rise & Decline of The Medici Bank, 1397-1494

The Rise and Decline of The Medici Bank

by Raymond de Roover

The roots of modern capitalism go back to the Italian banking system of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. In the fifteenth century, the Medici Bank succeeded in overshadowing its competitors, the Bardi and the Peruzzi, who were the giants of the fourteenth century, and grew into a vast establishment with branches in most of the large cities of Western Europe. A study of its operations is essential to an understanding of the economic conditions in Europe in the fifteenth century. From a careful study of pertinent documents, including a set of libri segreti (confidential ledgers) discovered in 1950, Professor de Roover has reconstructed the details of the bank's organization and operating methods; its loan policies, which reflected the Church's doctrine on usury; its trading and industrial investments; its roles within the Florentine gild system and tax structure; and its activities as financial agent of the Church. He covers every aspect of the bank's history, from its early years under the management of Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici to its collapse with the expulsion of the Medici from Florence.

Genres: History, Economics, Nonfiction, Finance, Renaissance, Society, Historical

500 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

Reviews

[Eressea · Rating 3 out of 5]

又消滅一本閱讀器藏書啦
有會計專才的歷史學家似乎很少
大概是當會計師好賺多了吧
像作者這種有會計師資格的歷史學者
應該是挺少見的特例

但該怎麼評價本書呢....
只能說，有些書真的是不能當閒書隨便讀的Orzz
本書可以看得出體例嚴謹立論精密
但對只修過管院大一必修經原的我來說
實在太天書了
開篇介紹金融會計原理還有中世貨幣制度我就已經不行了
接著講中世紀金融運作，各分行運作史
各種術語報表和數字我都有看沒懂
(中世紀人為什麼都不用十進位?光金額換算我就昏頭了)

經濟會計學小白如我看完全書
只學到對貴族放款是很危險低
老爺們傾向是借錢不還賴皮到底
最後壞帳連環爆，銀行就倒店了
另外就是任用專業經理人是很重要的
"國父"科西莫除了自己的才能外
也謹慎選用有才能的經理
到了孫子豪奢的羅倫佐
自己沒有金融知識就算了，還用了一堆只想偷雞摸狗的庸才
再加上大環境不景氣，梅迪奇銀行就垮到底了

倒是覺得這本書很適合讓管理學院各系所來看
書中提到的金融原理，對管院學生來說應該都是小菜一碟吧~
我就...給個中庸的三星評價吧

[Truls Ljungström · Rating 4 out of 5]

Väldigt spännande genomgång, och väldigt datarik.

[Zach Wadzinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to study business, take advice from Cosimo instead of Lorenzo.

[Jos Deroo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic work on the Medici Bank. Not an easy read but well researched...

[Solomon Mcharo · Rating 5 out of 5]

« The Medici name exerted goodwill from its customers » explains the rise of the bank from having a great reputation so much so that all princes and nobles wanted to do business with the bank. This would explain why despite being smaller than other notable banks such as the Bardi bank they had higher profits. But like Cosimo’s advice on his deathbed for the family to take modest dress in public, his advice of not lending to princes was under our suspicion to be also taken with a grain of salt, such as one would when reading French. As this ended up being the downfall of the bank where Lorenzo was not able to keep track of balance sheets to the point he could surreptitiously decipher when one of his branch managers was lending to a prince. Perhaps like the advice on modest dress the best way to approach this was by focusing on the princes accounts and having negotiators to keep track of their current tab. Extravagant spending nailed the final coffin on the bank with Lorenzo’s son who was pope.

[Mark Comstock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great description of the origins of commerce and banking as we know them. The Medici Bank was headquartered in Florence, Italy, and had branches all over Europe. It has interesting implications for banking centralization and decentralization and I used it as required reading when I used to take student groups to Italy. It is well-referenced and fairly readable for those of us interested in the topic.

[Eric Pecile · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive narrative and economic analysis of the Medici Bank. de Roover is second to none in his approach to economic history and presents a wealth of data to support his argument.