Lessons in History

If we can't learn from History, then we're set to repeat the same mistakes
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This is a list of important families and people

 

What we're looking for are families with long histories with interests in shipping and banking that are still around today. Here's the list I have so far - the Doria, Fieschi, Spinola, and perhaps the most important - the Grimaldi family. All these families are from Genoa. Guelfs and Ghibellines. Neufchatel. Habsburg-Lothringen (Order of the Golden Fleece) from Austria. Lombards. Angevin (ended 1481), Anjou. Beaufort. Medici - They led the birth of the Italian Renaissance along with the other great signore families of Italy like the Visconti and Sforza families of Milan, the Este of Ferrara, the Gonzaga of Mantua, and others.

The Medici Bank was one of the most prosperous and most respected in Europe. There are some estimates that the Medici family was, for a period of time, the wealthiest family in Europe. From this base, the family acquired political power initially in Florence, and later in wider Italy and Europe. A notable contribution to the profession of accounting was the improvement of the general ledger system through the development of the double-entry bookkeeping system for tracking credits and debits. This system was first used by accountants working for the Medici family in Florence.


Lombards

 

 

 

In 568-569 the Lombards, invaded Italy under their king Alboin (c. 560-572). They came from Pannonia (modern day Hungary), and formed the Italian city states and the modern day region named after them, Lombardy. They were prominent bankers and merchants.

 

Two Lombards, Albizzo and Musciatto Guidi, were receivers of taxes and royal treasurers for the French crown in the 1290s. In 1294 they secured loans of 600,000 livres tournois (~$600 million) from Italian families living in France and in 1297 they added a further 200,000 livres tournois (~$200 million) of their own money. By 1303 they were used less and less for royal service and in 1311 all of their goods and debts were appropriated and they were arrested.