Peruzzi Italian dynasty of Florentine bankers Country: Italy

1. Biography of the Peruzzi Family
2. The Peruzzi's Rise in the Textile Business
3. Transition to Wholesale Trade and Banking
4. Legacy and Later Years

Biography of the Peruzzi Family

The Peruzzi family was an Italian dynasty of Florentine bankers who held a prominent position in Florence until the rise of the Medici family. After restructuring their family company and attracting foreign capital in the 1300s, the Peruzzi family enjoyed a period of prosperity that almost monopolized the ranks of family consortia in the business world of Florence. Their status as patrons in Florence, both on a private and state level, was confirmed by the testament of Donato di Arnaldo Peruzzi, who left money for a memorial chapel in the Basilica of Santa Croce in 1299. Giovanni di Rinieri Peruzzi, most likely a grandson of Donato, became a patron of the architect Giotto di Bondone, starting in 1313 when Giotto began decorating the walls with frescoes in honor of St. John the Evangelist and St. John the Baptist.

The surviving accounting books of the Peruzzi family from 1335-1343 became a primary source for economic historians to learn about the economic history of Florence on the eve of the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. The company bearing the honorable name Peruzzi was managed by six members of the dynasty, many of whom had no involvement in the business or succeeded in other ventures, even managing to accumulate independent capital. In the 1330s, the Peruzzi Bank was the second largest in Europe, with fifteen branches from the Middle East to London, with a total capital of over 100,000 gold florins.

The Peruzzi's Rise in the Textile Business

The Peruzzi family amassed a fortune in the textile business, which was the main source of income in Florence. They purchased British wool, which was used to produce high-quality fabrics in Bruges. The fabrics were then distributed to the luxurious courts of Paris, Avignon, and Naples, or returned to London. By joining forces with the Knights Hospitallers, the Peruzzi family gained the opportunity to play significant roles in Rhodes, the economic capital of the Aegean Islands and a transshipment port for silk, medicinal preparations, spices, and luxury goods from the East.

Transition to Wholesale Trade and Banking

As the 14th century approached, the main activity of the Peruzzi family became wholesale trading on a grand scale, particularly in grain exported from the Angevin Kingdom of Naples to central Italian cities. Additionally, the Peruzzi dynasty continued to be active in the banking sector, where they were more renowned than in any other field. Popes, nobles, bourgeoisie, cities, and monasteries sought loans from the Peruzzi family. However, their extensive client base suffered significant losses. In 1343, the Peruzzi consortium collapsed, and in 1345, the family declared bankruptcy, along with their partner, the Bardi family. The commonly accepted explanation for their downfall, which attributes it to unsecured loans given to King Edward III of England, is now considered simplified. In reality, the destabilization of the trade network was influenced by several factors. The war with Castruccio Castracane forced the Florentine florin to be spent on mercenaries, while France and England engaged in a war over Aquitaine, and peasants in Flanders staged a rebellion, which the mercenaries suppressed and were paid in Peruzzi florins.

Legacy and Later Years

Not all of the family fortune was lost due to bankruptcy, and the Peruzzi family continued to be among the prominent Florentine families. In 1849, after the disorders of 1848, Ubaldo Peruzzi became the Gonfaloniere of Florence. In the late 19th century, members of the Peruzzi family emigrated to America and settled in Pennsylvania, where they established a network of car dealerships and the "Planters Nut & Chocolate Company."