Arte del Cambio ( Italian. Arte del Cambio - The Guild of Money Shifts) - shop, guild of arts and crafts of the city of Florence , one of the many guilds that opened before and during the Italian Renaissance . Guild members became bankers and money changers .
The patron saint of the guild was considered the apostle Matthew . His statue of authorship Lorenzo Ghiberti is located in one of the niches ( tabernacoli ) of the church of Orsanmichele .
History
The guild appeared around 1202 , separate from the rich trading guild of Arte di Calimala , and united traders with promissory notes and precious stones, as well as all those involved in deposits or local and foreign loans.
The guild consuls were located in the Mercato Vecchio and Mercato Nuovo areas and in the Oltrarno and Orsanmichele regions. In the latter placed most of the shops me. The work was distributed between the magistri , the true members of the guild, and discepoli , that is, students trained for 5 to 10 years, as well as sensali , who worked in the countryside.
In 1252, they began to impose their own currency, the gold florin , which subsequently spread throughout Europe.
In 1352 , Arte del Cambio located its “headquarters” on Signoria Square under the roof of the Pisani Loggia (destroyed in the 19th century ), adjacent to the guild of Calimala. In 1404 young Cosimo Medici joined the guild.
After several centuries of authority and wealth, in 1530, during the siege of Florence, the guild suffered enormous damage: the Republic confiscated its property to meet the needs of war. The little that remained went to finance the construction of the Uffizi Gallery on the orders of the Duke of Tuscany Cosimo I.
Like all the other guilds of the city, Arte del Cambio was abolished in 1770 by order of the Duke of Tuscan Leopold II .
Exchangers and bankers
The activities of the exchangers unfolded near the market. Their task was to sit on a bench with a bag around their neck (scarsella) and write deals in a special magazine. Currency exchange was not the only occupation of guild members. In reality, the main profit was loans at interest and money transfers from Florence, through a system of so-called exchange letters. Despite the fact that this invention already existed before and was already used in other parts of the country, Florentine exchangers were able to extend and legalize this practice, which merchants loved to use. It was like a check or a bill that allowed you to withdraw the required amount in the city in which it was represented, avoiding traveling or sending cash abroad and, thus, transferring large amounts with greater security and speed. Florentines became incomparable in their reliability and professionalism and enjoyed great prestige throughout Europe. [one]
Scarsella - special wallets that were worn by members of the guild, intended for the income from the exchange of goods with merchants.
Notes
Literature
- M. Giuliani Le Arti Fiorentine - Florence, 2006.
- L. Artusi Le arti ei mestieri di Firenze - Florence, 2005.