Papal Banking in Renaissance Rome

Aldershot. 2007

Author

Francesco Guidini Bruscoli

Benvenuto Olivieri was a Florentine banker active in Rome during the first half of the sixteenthcentury. A self made man without any great family patrimony, he rose to prominence during the pontificate of Pope Paul III, becoming involved with a variety of papal enterprises which allowed him to get to the heart of the mechanisms governing the papal finances. Amassing a considerable fortune along the way, Olivieri soon built himself a role as co-ordinator of the appalti (revenue farms) and became one of the most powerful players in the complex network that connected bankers and the papal revenue. This book explores the indissoluble link that had developed between the papacy and bankers, illuminating how the Apostolic Chamber, increasingly in need of money, could not meet its debts, without farming out the rights to future income.

Table of contents

• Florentines in Rome
  • Foreigners in Rome during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
  • The Florentine merchant-bankers and the papal court
• The Ascent of the Olivieri Family
  • The origins of the family
  • The sons of Paolo di Benvenuto and their companies
  • Benvenuto di Paolo (1496-1549)
  • Benvenuto Olivieri in Rome and his companies
  • Benevento’s sons and legal disputes over his business affaires
  • The Depositary and Loans of the Pontiff
  • The Depositary of the Apostolic Chamber
  • Benvenuto Olivieri, depositary
  • Loans to the Pontiff
  • The Papal Public Debt: Venal Offices and Monti
  • Venal offices
  • Papal Monti
• The customs of Rome
  • Rispa and Ripetta, Terra and Grascia
  • The contracts of 1530-1533 and of 1534-1537
  • The contracts of 1538-1542
  • The contracts of 1543-1549
  • The extension of 1550-1552
  • The contracts of 1553-1560
• The Provincial Treasuries
  • The Treasuries and papal finances
  • The Treasury of Perugia and Umbria
  • The Treasury of the Romagna
  • The Treasury of Parma and Piacenza
  • Other Treasuries
• Indirect and Direct Taxes
  • Salt Taxes
  • The gabella dello Studio
  • Other indirect taxes
  • Direct taxes
  • The Triennial Subsidy
  • Tithes
  • The overall picture
• Other Activities
  • The alum mines of Tolfa
  • The importation of grain
  • The Mint of Rome
• The Business Turnover

The balance sheet of 1543