Here only, at Florence, do we meet with colossal
loans like that which the King of England contracted from the
Florentine houses of Bardi and Peruzzi, who lost to his Majesty the sum
of 1,365,000 gold florins (1338) their own money and that of their
partners and nevertheless recovered from the shock. Most important
facts are here recorded as to the condition of Florence at this time:
the public income (over 300,000 gold florins) and expenditure the
population of the city, here only roughly estimated, according to the
consumption of bread, in 'bocche,' i.e. mouths, put at 50,000 and the
population of the whole territory; the excess of 300 to 500 male
children among the 5,800 to 8,000 annually baptized 18 the
schoolchildren, of whom 8,000 to 10,000 learned reading, 1,000 to 1,200
in six schools arithmetic; and besides these, 600 scholars who were
taught Latin grammar and logic in four schools. Then follow the
statistics of the churches and monasteries; of the hospitals, which
held more than a thousand beds; of the wool trade, with most valuable
details; of the mint, the provisioning of the city, the public
officials, and so on. Incidentally we learn many curious facts; how,
for instance, when the public funds ('monte') were first established,
in the year 1353, the Franciscans spoke from the pulpit in favour of
the measure, the Dominicans and Augustinians against it.
Pages:
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107