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Italians and Eastern Europe in Late Middle Ages. New contributions for an underrated topic

The management of papal collections and long-distance trade in the thirteenth-century Czech lands

Roman Zaoral

Abstract

The paper is focused on cooperation between papal collectors and Italian merchants in thirteenth-century Central Europe. Money collected there were sent to Rome via Venice. The author therefore turns attention to the remarkable timing of King Ottokar´s reforms of weights, measures and coins with legal and administrative reforms in Venice in the 1260s and 1270s, which it is argued was as an important precondition for the development of contacts with Italy. He shows how the concentration of papal collections at the court of Bruno of Schauenburg, Bishop of Olomouc, in the early 1260s stimulated long-distance trade in this Moravian city, as is evident from archaeological finds of Venetian grossi and glass. He deals with the size of collectoria and with financial amounts appointed for collectors. His aim is likewise to bring into focus connections between the 1299 conflict among merchants in Florence and the arrival of some of them to Central Europe.

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  • 1 The series of the Vatican archives are, with aiming at the Czech lands, briefly but accurately des (...)

1In the thirteenth century the Apostolic Camera entered on a new phase of development. The collection of crusading taxes, regularly assessed after the time of Innocent III (1198-1216), imposed new duties on the papal treasury, to which were committed both the collection and distribution of these assessments. Moreover, during the course of this century the system of payment in kind was transformed into a monetary system, a process considerably influenced by the administration of the papal finances. In connection with these changes new agents known as collectores were established and the network of new church offices became spread throughout Europe. Yet the question of how the Papal Curia was financed in the pre-Avignon period has not been sufficiently researched. The Apostolic Camera register had been kept since the pontificate of Urban IV (1261-1264), incomes and expenses recorded in the series Introitus et Exitus of the Vatican archives since 1279, while the first Camera ledgers and records on payments of the servitia and annates originated during the pontificate of Boniface VIII (1294-1303).1

  • 2 This thesis was recently discussed at the conference Die römische Kurie und das Geld. Von der Mitt (...)

2The papal financial administration is considered to have given an important impulse for the development of a money economy and Italian banking.2 This stimulus was brought to Central Europe via Venice, which was the largest European market of precious and non-ferrous metals for more than two centuries (about 1280-1500). The city profited from the fact that it was situated closer to Central European mines than other Mediterranean ports. Penetration of the Venetian merchants into the Eastern Mediterranean called for a expansion in coin production which was fully dependent on silver supplies. A large amount of silver was needed for the payments made by Venetians for goods purchased in the Levant. Venice made important gains from its role as intermediary between German production regions in Central Europe and markets in the Eastern Mediterranean.

  • 3 Renouard 1941, p. 147; see also Esch 1966, p. 277-398.

3Venice also occupied a key position in the management of papal collections in Central Europe, which was closely connected with long-distance trade. Money collected in the south-eastern parts of the Holy Roman Empire, Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Poland and Hungary was sent to Rome via Venice, while Bruges played a decisive role for the Baltic region of Hanseatic towns, Scandinavia and northern parts of Poland. However, during the Avignon papacy (1309-1377), the payment flow via Venice weakened as more money was transferred via Bruges.3

  • 4 Denzel 1995, p. 308.
  • 5 One of the first Roman papal changers, known by name, Bobo Iohannis Bobonis, is documented as camp (...)

4Money transfer was not left to local churches, rather high-ranking churchmen were usually appointed. They were often papal legates, entrusted at the same time with other political tasks. Merchants played role as agents. Evidence for the first Italian bankers in papal service date back to the late 12th - early 13th century. During the 1210s, they took over management of papal finances from the chivalric orders.4 These campsores domini papae,5 came initially from Rome, Siena and Bologna and in the 1250s and 1260s they were replaced by merchants of Florence who opened their first branches in Venice.

  • 6 The fundamental work on the Curia and the church administration of the Czech lands in the pre-Huss (...)
  • 7 RBM I, p. 356, No. 759.
  • 8 The conditions, under which the first Bohemian bracteates began to be coined by consensus between (...)

5Clergy in Bohemia had paid a regular tithe to Rome since 1229.6 Master Simon, scribe of Pope Gregory IX (1227-1241), the first known papal collector for Bohemia, Moravia, Poland and Pomerania, appears in a papal letter of 29 May 1230.7 Collecting money was made possible thanks to the more favourable conditions which had recently been established in Bohemia. In 1222, Přemysl I Ottokar, King of Bohemia (1198-1230), concluded a concordat with the church and, at roughly the same time, began to coin bracteates as a new form of denier of higher quality.8

  • 9 Stromer 1978, p. 1-15, Stromer 1995, p. 135-158 and Stromer 1999, p. 1-9. See also Rösch 1982.
  • 10 Sources to history of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi have been published in Capitular 1874. See also Sim (...)

6The first papal collections in Central Europe were preceded by the conclusion of a peace treaty between Venice and the Holy Roman Empire under Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa (1155-1190), pursuant to which a new type of silver coin - the Venetian grosso - started to be struck. The first German silver suppliers appeared in Venice in the period between the third (1189-1192) and the fifth crusades (1213-1221). The richest foreigner was a Regensburg merchant Bernard Teutonicus, who brought silver from the East Alpine mines (Friesach, Villach), Hungary and Transylvania.9 He headed a private society that held a monopoly on the silver supply in Venice. In the years 1221-1225, the number of merchants coming from South German and Austrian towns increased considerably. German suppliers were invested with special rights that enabled them to establish their own store (Fondaco dei Tedeschi) near to the Rialto with about twenty brokers, who dealt in import of silver and copper ores.10

  • 11 Rösch 1982, p. 87.

7During the first half of the thirteenth century, trade contacts spread wide, as is evident from the customs regulations issued for Wiener Neustadt in 1244 by Frederick II, Duke of Austria (1230-1246). The road via the Pyhrn Pass seems to have been in operation at that time.11 The crucial turning point in long-distance trade came, however, only in the second half of the 13th century. The accurate specification of duties in the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, the Brenner road building, the opening of new trade routes via Nuremberg and West European passes leading to the Rhineland, Flanders and England beyond - it all laid the ground for boom of late medieval long-distance trade.

  • 12 CDB IV.1, p. 449-451, No. 264. Activities of papal collectors in Breslau have been recently examin (...)

8The collection of papal revenues in the 1250s was affected by the financial crisis, as is evident from the statement of the bishop of Breslau (Wrocław), authorized to collect church taxes, that payments in the Kingdom of Bohemia are made in worthless coin.12 These unfavourable conditions gradually changed during the reign of Přemysl II Ottokar, King of Bohemia (1253-1278).

  • 13 Pošvář 1964, p. 54-63.

9The relatively fast establishment of trade connections between Venice and Bohemia was not only a result of the expansion of silver production in the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands since the early 1240s, but also of the expanding power of King Ottokar to the Alpine lands and the neighbourhood of Venice in the 1260s and 1270s. On the other hand, the geographical location of Bohemia determined, to a substantial extent, the overall character of long-distance trade. The main trade routes from the South to the European core bypassed the Bohemian basin. The peripheral position of Bohemia is documented by the communications network itself which linked Prague with Regensburg, Nuremberg, Magdeburg, Breslau and Vienna, and thence to places that were part of the first class European communications network.13

  • 14 Blanchard 2005, p. 930 prefers figures of Kořán 1955, p. 89-90, 195, based on actual mine revenues (...)
  • 15 Majer 2000, p. 73, 76-78.
  • 16 Janáček 1972b, p. 897 note 100. See also Kudrnáč 1977, p. 2-15 and Morávek - Litochleb 2002.

10Significant quantities of precious metal were acquired from the mines of Bohemia-Moravia and Hungary. Silver production in Jihlava (Iglau) and Kutná Hora (Kuttenberg) considerably increased in the years 1260-1350. The exact output is, however, unknown. Ian Blanchard, with reference to Jan Kořán, estimates that average output rose to some 5 tonnes a year in ca 1270, before finally reaching a peak of 6.5 tonnes of silver a year in 1298-1306.14 Jiří Majer mentions output of 5 tonnes in the 1260s and 1270s as well. However, after the discovery of silver ore in Kutná Hora, the annual yield increased, according to Majer, to 10 tonnes at the end of the 13th century and to 20 tonnes in the first half of the 14th century.15 The production of gold is assumed to have increased as well, although its volume is, however, unknown.16

  • 17 Stromer 1995, p. 143-146.
  • 18 Novotný 1937, p. 370-372.

11Metal supplies to Venice came from all known ore districts of Central and South Eastern Europe at that time: Freiberg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Tyrol, Friesach, Jihlava (Iglau), Kutná Hora (after 1280), Gölnicbánya (Göllnitz, Gelnica) in Zips (Spiš), Rodna in Transylvania, and Brskovo in Serbia. They were mediated by experienced and wealthy merchants from Upper German and northern Italian towns who competed fiercely with each other. The penetration of the Venetians into Central Europe had strengthened since the 1270s and their positions became entrenched after they had secured free trading rights for their merchants in the Empire in 1303.17 The Italians, and likewise the Germans, were in charge of coiner´s and goldsmith´s work in the Kingdom of Bohemia, but they also asserted themselves as diplomats and notaries, reflecting the « imperial » size of Ottokar´s court. On example, among many, is the case of Master Henry of Isernia, who had enjoyed a comfortable post in the Ottokar´s chancery since 1273.18

  • 19 Cessi 1985, p. 257; Novotný 1937, p. 252.

12The power struggle between the Patriarchate of Aquileia and the local nobility in 1267 benefitted Venice as well as to the king of Bohemia. It enabled Venetian entrepreneurs to penetrate more systematically into Central European mining districts. Ottokar likewise used the patriarchate crisis for his own benefit: in 1270 he acquired Friuli and, in the spring of 1272, his commissioner in Carinthia Ulrich of Drnholec captured Cividale and absorbed into the king´s sphere of influence the Patriarchate of Aquileia with its centre in Udine, where the local canonry elected Ottokar its captain general.19 During that period (1270-1276), the king of Bohemia and his allies had control of most of the important cities situated on the way to Venice (Aquilea, Cividale, Pordenone, Treviso, Feltre, Verona). Essentially the entire road from Prague or Brno via Vienna or Linz to Venice passed through the demesne of the king of Bohemia at that time.

  • 20 Stahl 2000, passim. See also Travaini 1977, p. 39-60.
  • 21 Janáček 1972a, p. 245-261.
  • 22 Stahl 1987, p. 476-479.

13The doges of Venice and the Major Council (Maggior Consiglio) took a number of measures to bring this booming long-distance trade under control. Three, and later four, officers were entrusted with financial powers over trade transactions in precious metals (1260 and 1266/67), a public debt (1262) and a permanent deposit (1265) were established and a law passed concerning the coinage (1269). A tax on imported silver was imposed in 1270 and the purchase of silver alloys was authorized in 1273.20 The first mentions of silver taxation and regulation in Venice date from 1268 and 1270. They presumably referred to the regular supply of « German » silver, which had established its dominance since the late 1260s and which seems to originate predominantly from Jihlava (Iglau).21 Silver supplies directly influenced the productive efficiency of the Venice mint. Figures published by Alan Stahl explicitly support this connection: the first marked upsurge of mintage came in the 1260s and 1270s with a peak of production in 1278.22

  • 23 For more details see Zaoral 2004, p. 95-132 and Zaoral 2011, p. 235-261.

14Ottokar, as a ruler related to the Stauf dynasty, was probably inspired in his efforts by the economic reforms of Emperor Frederick II (1220-1250). The aim of Ottokar´s three reforms of 1253, 1260/61 and 1268/70 was to bring together two different monetary systems (bracteates and pfennigs) and to make trade contacts with Venice easier. In this sense his last reform connected with the adjustment of weights and measures was the most important. The coincidence of the timing of these changes with the above legal and administrative reforms in Venice is remarkable. Undoubtedly, they created the conditions for more intensive goods exchange and at the same time they made it possible to increase the papal revenues.23

  • 24 Supply of Venice by unminted metal has been analysed by Robbert 1995, p. 409-436. See also Blancha (...)
  • 25 Majer 1995, p. 264-266 and Majer 2004, p. 60.
  • 26 A non-punishable use of unminted metal by larger payments is, for example, documented in report of (...)
  • 27 Fischer 2003, p. 185. Silver and gold bullion was changed into Venetian grossi and ducats also lat (...)
  • 28 Der Schatzfund 2004.

15The reduced content of precious metal in coins was the reason for the widespread use of unminted metal as a means of payment on the market rather than coin itself.24 For merchants, it represented an advantageous counterweight to imported goods. It could often be carried without incurring large customs duties, its transport was less expensive and gave a guarantee of greater independence from climatic conditions. In agreement with these findings, Jiří Majer calculated that about 90 per cent of silver mined in the thirteenth-century Czech lands was sold in an unminted form.25 The unpunished use of unminted metal was established primarily by larger payments and taxes.26 The Venice mint allowed silver alloys to be purchased in 1273 and thus assisted in their spread. This practice was still common at the beginning of the 14th century. South German and Italian merchants took precious metals in various forms with them: silver ore, silver and gold jewellery, valid and devalued coins as well as silver alloys.27 Such a variety of metal objects can be found, for example, in the hoard of Fuchsenhof, Upper Austria, concealed in the years 1276/78, which could be interpreted as one of many silver supplies to the Fondaco dei Tedeschi.28

  • 29 Attention to this fact has been drawn in Lane - Mueller 1985, p. 134-142. See also Lane 1984, p. 2 (...)
  • 30 CDM III, p. 402-408, No. 402.

16Owing to a gradual reduction of the precious metal content of coins, the profit from unminted metal seems to have been bigger than it had been believed previously.29 The last will of Bruno of Schauenburg, Bishop of Olomouc (1245-1281), from 1267 is witness to widespread payments in unminted silver carried out in Moravia. According to this document, taxes were paid solely in unminted silver. The testament traces a specific medium of payment represented by unminted denier flans. These measures reflected Bruno´s efforts to avoid losses in clerical incomes as a result of the depreciation of the coinage. It is evident from a rule, according to which wages for two hundred priests in the amount of 12 deniers were to be paid not in common devalued coin but in unminted metal.30

  • 31 RBM II, p. 125-126, No. 328.
  • 32 RBM II, p. 140, No. 364.
  • 33 RBM II, p. 140-141, No. 365.
  • 34 It is evident from the following: on 19 June 1260 Petrus acknowledged the receipt of a certain sum (...)
  • 35 The lost procuration letter, in the version known from the formulary book of Marinus of Eboli, has (...)
  • 36 RBM II, p. 97, No. 257.
  • 37 RBM II, p. 140, No. 365 and p. 141, No. 367. Peter´s retinue is termed personae, not familiares. T (...)

17Bishop Bruno was charged by King Ottokar with supervising the reforms of the coinage in Moravia in the 1260s and at that time Olomouc seems to have played an important role in the management of papal collections too. On 26 September 1261, Pope Urban IV (1261-1264) appointed his nuncio Petrus de Pontecurvo (Peter of Pontecorvo), clericus capellae, Archdeacon of Hradisko Monastery, to deposit money collected from Poland, Hungary, Bohemia and Moravia, at Bruno´s court and to secure its transfer to the treasury of St Mark´s Basilica in Venice.31 On 3 May 1262, the pope addressed new letters on this matter to Bishop Bruno32 and to Petrus de Pontecurvo.33 Petrus´s mission in Central Europe, however, had begun earlier. Although the procuration letter has not survived in the papal registers, Pope Alexander IV (1254-1261) is supposed to have sent it to him either in October 1255 or at the end of 1259.34 The lost letter stated that Petrus was to travel with quatuor equitature et sex personae familiars suae and receive 40 solidi usualis monetae.35 In June 1260, Petrus stayed in Prague, as is evident from his letter, in which he confirms that the Vyšehrad chapter had paid the papal tax due for the last seven years (1253-1260).36 Two years later, Urban IV asked Petrus to come back to the Papal Curia and submit his accounts as soon as possible.37

18At the same time, the pope issued an order with the aim to provide security for the transfer of money from Olomouc to Venice.38 In the absence of traveller´s cheques in thirteenth-century Central Europe, papal collectors or special messengers were forced to transport cash and precious metals. Central Europe was, in general, regarded as an unsufficiently secure region. The danger of robbery was high for churchmen and for merchants. For this reason, the amounts sent from Central Europe were usually smaller than 1,000 florins.39 Such sums were not just transferred as coins but also in unminted metal. The accounts of Master Gerardus, collector in Hungary and Poland in 1281-1286, distinguished two types of silver: smelted silver (argenti fusi) and black silver (argenti nigri). The prescribed gold-black silver rate was 1:15 at that time.40

  • 41 This amount is equivalent to about 25 solidi turonensium. See Reinke 2012, p. 249 note 95.
  • 42 CDH VII.1, p. 325-328, No. 271.
  • 43 CDB V.1, p. 714, No. 482.

19The pope seems to have been informed about the size of particular collectoria. Petrus de Pontecurvo began his mission with six personae familiares suae and finished it with five personae. Master Rainaldus, canon of Chieti, Petrus´s successor in the position of collector ad partes Ungaricae, Boemiensis, Poloniensis, Moraviensis, Sclavoniensis et Saltzburgensis provinciae, was equipped with quatuor equitaturae et sex vel septem personae familiares suae and 2.5 fertones boni argenti41 for every day, as is evident from the procuration letter issued by Clement IV (1265-1268) in 1265.42 Subsequently, Rainaldus published his call for collection in Prague on 24 October 1266.43

20The figures mentioned in the procuration letters provide the following overview of monetary allowances and of the size of collector´s retinues in the period between 1255 and 1266. The figure shows a number of persons and baggage horses assigned by popes to particular collectors.

Tab. 1 - Number of persons and horses assigned to papal collectors (1255-1266)

Source: Reinke 2012, p. 249

Year procuratios. tur. procuratiod. st. personaefamiliares equitaturae Nuntius
1255
1259/60
(27) (81) 6 4 Petrus de Pontecurvo clericus capellae d.p.
1261 20 60 4 3 Albertus de Parmascriptor d. p.
1261 20 60 4 3 Felix prior S. Aegidii cap. d. p.
1262 30 90 7 5 Leonardus cantor Messanensis cap d.p.
1264 27 81 6/7 4 Sinitius clericus camerae d. p.
1265 25/27 75/81 6/7 4 Rainaldus de Theate
1266 27 81 6/7 4/5 Sinitius clericus camerae d. p.
1266 27 81 6/7 4 Albertus de Parma scriptor d. p.
  • 44 1 Florentine florin = 20 soldi of Rome is the rate documented at the Papal Curia in 1259-1281. See (...)
  • 45 See, for example, MPV I.1, p. 29, No. 34 (letter of 17 September 1301).
  • 46 See figures for the average wages of craftsmen from the building accounts of the Prague cathedral (...)
  • 47 Quirini-Poplawska 1995, p. 137.

21It is evident that the financial values assigned to particular procurationes take into consideration the number of accompanying persons and horses. They range from 20 to 30 solidi turonensium, which is equivalent to 1 - 1½ Florentine florins.44 In the early 14th century this amount increased to 3 florins and remained then unchanged for decades.45 At that time daily travel expenses usually did not exceed 3 grossi, which was equivalent to the daily wage of a late medieval craftsman.46 On the other hand, the late 14th-century pilgrims spent one ducat a day on their cruise from Venice to the Holy Land.47

  • 48 Reinke 2012, p. 250-252.

22It is evident that the number of accompanying persons was dependent neither on the legal status of envoys (all are stated as nuntii apostolicae sedis), nor on the task with which the respective collector was entrusted (Petrus de Pontecurvo, Albertus, Leonardus, Rainaldus and Sinitius, all had the same tasks as collectors), nor on their position at the Papal Curia, but on the papal constitution, formulated by Alexander IV in 1256.48

  • 49 A list of home and foreign textiles in the archaeological finds from Bohemia was published by Břez (...)
  • 50 The written evidence of the Venetian glass trade in Prague at the end of the 13th century is trace (...)
  • 51 They are grossi of Marino Morosino (1249–1253) and Ranieri Zeno (1253–1268). See Dohnal 1989, p. 3 (...)
  • 52 RBM II, p. 126, No. 330.
  • 53 Bláha 1998, p. 49-52.
  • 54 RBM II, p. 146, No. 374. See also Čechura 1999, p. 2-16. This report seems to relate to questionab (...)

23There is no doubt that concentration of the papal collections at Olomouc in the early 1260s stimulated long-distance trade. The high earnings of patricians, which had their origin in colonization, mining business and silver trade, enabled members of the upper class, settled in Bohemia and Moravia, to purchase foreign luxury goods on a large scale. Demand was considerable. They could purchase from foreign merchants « cheap » (in terms of silver) cottons and linens woven in Syria and Egypt, silk,49 painted or enamel glass manufactured in Italy and Syria50 as well as a whole range of spices from India and Arabia that passed through the Levant. It was possible to buy these articles in Prague and Brno so that they seem to have become available even to persons outside the royal and bishop´s court. The finds of Venetian grossi51 and Venetian glass from the space of the Olomouc cathedral hillock, dated back to the 1250s and 1260s, and the privilege of building the merchant´s house in Olomouc, issued in 1261 by King Ottokar,52 support this idea of interconnection between papal collectors and merchants. Another example of contacts between Olomouc and Italy is a St Nicholas pilgrim badge from Bari, found on St Michael´s Hill.53 At the same time, in 1262, Ottokar´s court was in contact with the papal banker Dulcis de Burgo, merchant of Florence, who settled the king´s debt to the Papal Curia, which originated from his divorce with his first wife Margaret of Austria and for the legalization of his three natural children. This money transfer was realized via the treasury of St Mark´s Basilica in Venice.54

  • 55 MPV I.1, p. 7-9, No. 14.

24In 1263, the place at which money collected from Poland by Petrus de Pontecurvo and by Master Stephan, Archdeacon of Opole (Oppeln), was to be deposited was moved from Bishop Bruno´s court in Olomouc to the Abbey of Our Lady of the Scots in Vienna, where it was taken over by brothers of the Teutonic Order and transferred to Venice.55 Vienna then became the most important place for papal collectors and traders in Central Europe for many decades.

  • 56 Novák 1903, p. 53-57, No. 59-62.

25Besides regular tithes, new types of papal fees were introduced during the second half of the 13th century: Peter´s pence, the servitia and annates, indulgences, procuration fees for the support of papal legates, fees granting papal protection for church institutions, charges for papal bulls, fees paid in the jubilee years and some others. Their enforcement by declaration of anathema and excommunication met with criticism from princes and towns, which offered resistance against collectors. It was, among others, the case of Thobias of Bechyně, Bishop of Prague (1278-1296), whose anathema, declared in 1287 by papal legate John, Bishop of Tusculum, for non-payment of procuration fees, caused public outcry.56

  • 57 Unminted « German » silver appears in the early (ca 1290) list for Florence, compiled some forty y (...)
  • 58 Štefánik 2002, p. 553-568.
  • 59 Astorri 1998, p. 116 and 128.

26The restrictive policy followed by Venice towards the German merchants in the 1280s and 1290s enabled the Florentine entrepreneurs, who controlled international financial operations, to take advantage of the opportunity. Moreover, Bohemian silver stopped being sent to Venice as a sole terminal destination in Italy but it may have been re-exported from there to Florence.57 The Venetians seem to be replaced by the Florentines around 1300 not only in Bohemia but also in Hungary where activities of the Venetians were of an older date.58 The insecurity caused by the 1299 Black v White coups in Florence as well as the profit vision from the mining and minting precious metals was probably the reason why some Florentine merchants started to take an interest in the Central European region.59

  • 60 Cited according to Reichert 1994, p. 337. For more details on activities of the Florentines in Boh (...)
  • 61 Weissen 2006, p. 372-373 and Jan 2006, p. 133-135.
  • 62 Jan 2006, p. 146.
  • 63 Veronesi 2008, p. 218-220.
  • 64 Davidsohn 1925, p. 31 and 567.

27Concerning Bohemia, the best known Florentine banking company was that formed by Cino, Ranieri and Apardo (Reinhardum scilicet Alphardum et Cynonem).60 The identification of these persons is difficult. Apardo probably came from the influential Florentine Donati family,61 the origin of Ranieri, the head of the company, is, however, unclear. The Czech historian Libor Jan identifies him with the Peruzzi family,62 while Marco Veronesi attributes his origin to the Macci family. He connects Verius with the same Macci family and considers him to be Ranieri´s successor in the office of mint master in Kutná Hora, which is questionable.63 At the same time, about 1300, Andrew III, King of Hungary (1290-1301), deposited 4,500 florins in the Mozzi banking house which seems to have been concerned with export of gold from Hungary.64 Also papal collectors in Hungary were involved with the banks in Florence and Siena. Their success rate in collecting money was, however, low. Moreover, payments in Central Europe were mostly realized in ingots or bars of precious metal or in precious objects at that time, which is a sign of a not yet fully developed market.

  • 65 In light of recent research, attesting Ranieri´s presence in Bohemia already by 1299, Josef Šusta´ (...)
  • 66 Pánek 1973, p. 65-74.
  • 67 CIB I, p. 265-435. The Mining Code has been recently analysed by Pfeifer 2002.

28Florentine financiers established in Bohemia a regular trading and financial private company, which acted as a bank receiving annuities from mines and the mint, with the aim of carrying out a complete monetary reform.65 They could prove their knowledge and experience thanks to the good quality of Bohemian and Moravian coins that had resulted from previous reforms.66 The 1300 currency reform was accompanied by the issue of the Mining Code of King Wenceslaus II, titled Ius Regale Montanorum, which was drawn up by Gozzius of Orvieto, Italian professor of law, on the basis of the older German Mining Code of Jihlava (Iglau). This code introduced Roman law to Bohemia, specifying administrative and technical terms and conditions necessary for the operation of mines, such as a king´s part in mining and coinage, rules of labour safety, legislation on wages or on labour time.67

  • 68 This description of Prague was used for the first time by Janáček 1961, p. 187.
  • 69 Spufford 2002, p. 134.

29Collecting money for the Papal Curia assisted the penetration of Italian financiers and merchants to Central Europe. Their expansion in the 1290s helped Prague to develop as « a city with extraordinary consumption conditions within the scope of a local market »,68 in which a relatively numerous Italian colony was settled, to part in the 13th-century trade revolution.69 Trade helped to connect different cultural regions of Europe and to reduce differences among them, which I take as one of the most important processes of late medieval history.

30Astorri 1998 = A. Astorri, La mercanzia a Firenze nella prima metà del Trecento: il potere dei grandi mercanti, Florence, 1998.

31Bastian 1935-1944 = F. Bastian, Das Runtingerbuch 1383-1407 und verwandtes Material zum Regensburger-südostdeutschen Handel und Münzwesen, Bd. I.-III., Regensburg, 1935-1944.

32Bláha 1985 = J. Bláha, Přehled důležitých záchranných akcí oddělení historicko-archeologického průzkumu při OSSPPOP v Olomouci za rok 1984, in Okresní archiv v Olomouci 1984, Olomouc, 1985, p. 157-158.

33Bláha 1998 = J. Bláha, Archeologický příspěvek k poznání poutnického života ve středověké Olomouci, in Acta Universitatis Palackianae Olomucensis, Facultas Philosophica, Philosophica - Aestetica 16, 1998, p. 47-64.

34Blanchard 2005 = I. Blanchard, Mining, Metallurgy and Minting in the Middle Ages, vol. 3: Continuing Afro-European Supremacy, 1250-1450, Stuttgart, 2005.

35Březinová 2007 = H. Březinová, Textilní výroba v českých zemích ve 13.-15. století, Praha-Brno, 2007.

36Capitular 1874 = Capitular des Deutschen Hauses in Venedig, ed. G. M. Thomas, Berlin, 1874 (reprint Vaduz 1978).

37CDB IV.1 = Codex diplomaticus et epistolari regni Bohemiae IV.1, ed. J. Šebánek and S. Dušková, Praha, 1962.

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Notes

1 The series of the Vatican archives are, with aiming at the Czech lands, briefly but accurately described by Hledíková - Skýbová 1978, p. 259-287.

2 This thesis was recently discussed at the conference Die römische Kurie und das Geld. Von der Mitte des 12. Jahrhunderts bis zum frühen 14. Jahrhundert, which took place in Allensbach-Hegne, 8 – 11 April 2014. See report on the conference http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/tagungsberichte/id=5606, [online 26-10-2014]. In this debate, Markus Denzel declared attempts to evade canonical interdiction of interest a turning point of the cash-less payment system.

3 Renouard 1941, p. 147; see also Esch 1966, p. 277-398.

4 Denzel 1995, p. 308.

5 One of the first Roman papal changers, known by name, Bobo Iohannis Bobonis, is documented as campsor domini pape in 1232-1238. See recently Venditelli 2013, p. 1834-1841.

6 The fundamental work on the Curia and the church administration of the Czech lands in the pre-Hussite period has been published by Krofta 1904-1908 in six instalments, recently Hledíková 2013.

7 RBM I, p. 356, No. 759.

8 The conditions, under which the first Bohemian bracteates began to be coined by consensus between Bohemia and Meissen, have been analysed by Zaoral 2000a, p. 993-999 and Zaoral 2000b, p. 85-88.

9 Stromer 1978, p. 1-15, Stromer 1995, p. 135-158 and Stromer 1999, p. 1-9. See also Rösch 1982.

10 Sources to history of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi have been published in Capitular 1874. See also Simonsfeld 1887, Lupprian 1976, p. 128-134, Lupprian 1978 and Rösch 1982, p. 85-96.

11 Rösch 1982, p. 87.

12 CDB IV.1, p. 449-451, No. 264. Activities of papal collectors in Breslau have been recently examined by Schuchard 2010, p. 11-61.

13 Pošvář 1964, p. 54-63.

14 Blanchard 2005, p. 930 prefers figures of Kořán 1955, p. 89-90, 195, based on actual mine revenues, to the hearsay and chronicle evidence presented by Spufford 1988, p. 125 or the estimations of Janáček 1972a, p. 259 note 12, which yield an exaggerated annual output figure of 20-25 tonnes.

15 Majer 2000, p. 73, 76-78.

16 Janáček 1972b, p. 897 note 100. See also Kudrnáč 1977, p. 2-15 and Morávek - Litochleb 2002.

17 Stromer 1995, p. 143-146.

18 Novotný 1937, p. 370-372.

19 Cessi 1985, p. 257; Novotný 1937, p. 252.

20 Stahl 2000, passim. See also Travaini 1977, p. 39-60.

21 Janáček 1972a, p. 245-261.

22 Stahl 1987, p. 476-479.

23 For more details see Zaoral 2004, p. 95-132 and Zaoral 2011, p. 235-261.

24 Supply of Venice by unminted metal has been analysed by Robbert 1995, p. 409-436. See also Blanchard 2005, p. 936-970 and Stahl 2000.

25 Majer 1995, p. 264-266 and Majer 2004, p. 60.

26 A non-punishable use of unminted metal by larger payments is, for example, documented in report of the so-called Saar memorials from 1250, according to which a magnate weighed out his son-in-law 14 pounds of gold and 104 pounds of silver. See FRB II, p. 528.

27 Fischer 2003, p. 185. Silver and gold bullion was changed into Venetian grossi and ducats also later, as is evident from the accounting book of the Runtinger family of Regensburg from 1383-1407. See Bastian 1935-1944.

28 Der Schatzfund 2004.

29 Attention to this fact has been drawn in Lane - Mueller 1985, p. 134-142. See also Lane 1984, p. 29-48.

30 CDM III, p. 402-408, No. 402.

31 RBM II, p. 125-126, No. 328.

32 RBM II, p. 140, No. 364.

33 RBM II, p. 140-141, No. 365.

34 It is evident from the following: on 19 June 1260 Petrus acknowledged the receipt of a certain sum of money from the provost, dean and chapter of Vyšehrad, and inserted two papal letters. The first credential (1255 October 11, Anagni) authorized him to collect owed money for crusade to the Holy Land and for the Papal Curia. Among territories of collection there are named Bohemia, Moravia and neighbouring areas as well as towns and dioceses of Salzburg, Freising, Passau and Regensburg. The second credential (1259 December 13, Anagni) entrusted him with collections from Bohemia, Moravia, Austria as well as towns and dioceses of the Gnesen (Gniezdno) province. See CDB V.1, p. 349, No. 226. The inserts have been published in CDB V.1, p. 108, No. 54 and p. 324, No. 208.

35 The lost procuration letter, in the version known from the formulary book of Marinus of Eboli, has been published by Reinke 2012, p. 379-380 (Dok. Y) and p. 247-248 (commentary). The stated 40 solidi monetae usualis is an undefined figure. According to Reinke, with reference to other figures in the procuration letters, this sum is probably equal to 27 solidi turonensium. See Reinke 2012, p. 249 note 94.

36 RBM II, p. 97, No. 257.

37 RBM II, p. 140, No. 365 and p. 141, No. 367. Peter´s retinue is termed personae, not familiares. They were undoubtedly the same people and baggage horses which are stated at the beginning of his mission.

38 RBM II, p. 141, No. 368.

39 Weissen 2001, p. 60, available on the website http://kweissen.ch/docs/weissen%20-%202000%20-%20Habil%20-%20ganz.pdf [online 26-10-2014].

40 MPV I.1, p. 17-24, No. 26. Master Gerardus deposited money of various weight and value by merchant Iohannes Alfani in Florence.

41 This amount is equivalent to about 25 solidi turonensium. See Reinke 2012, p. 249 note 95.

42 CDH VII.1, p. 325-328, No. 271.

43 CDB V.1, p. 714, No. 482.

44 1 Florentine florin = 20 soldi of Rome is the rate documented at the Papal Curia in 1259-1281. See Spufford 1986, p. 67.

45 See, for example, MPV I.1, p. 29, No. 34 (letter of 17 September 1301).

46 See figures for the average wages of craftsmen from the building accounts of the Prague cathedral published by Suchý 2003.

47 Quirini-Poplawska 1995, p. 137.

48 Reinke 2012, p. 250-252.

49 A list of home and foreign textiles in the archaeological finds from Bohemia was published by Březinová 2007.

50 The written evidence of the Venetian glass trade in Prague at the end of the 13th century is traced by Graus 1960, p. 94 note 119. It concerns an entry in the deed of the Břevnov monastery from 1296: „It. cristalinam monstranciam Venetiis emptam pro 7 mar.«  See RBM II, p. 1202, No. 2752. The finds of Venetian and Islamic glass in Bohemia and Moravia have been published by Černá 1994, Černá 1996, p. 103-106, Sedláčková 2006, p. 191-224, Černá - Podliska 2008, p. 237-256, Sedláčková - Haggren 2009, p. 42-51. Smetánka 2003, p. 56 deals with sale of imported glass in 13th-century Prague.

51 They are grossi of Marino Morosino (1249–1253) and Ranieri Zeno (1253–1268). See Dohnal 1989, p. 3-4 and Dohnal 2001, p. 291, fig. 72. Two petty Italian coins have been found in the space of medieval town in Olomouc. See Bláha 1985, p. 157 and Sedláčková - Bláha 1998, p. 54. The Venetian grosso of Pietro Ziani (1205-1229), found at the Prague Castle, is another example of the occurrence of Venetian coins in the 13th-century Czech lands. See Nemeškalová-Jiroudková - Tomková 1995, p. 114–115. Fully exceptional is a 19th-century report on the hoard of Florentine florins from Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou (Jarmeritz) in South Moravia which is dated back to the second half of the 13th century. See Pošvář 1966, p. 77-78.

52 RBM II, p. 126, No. 330.

53 Bláha 1998, p. 49-52.

54 RBM II, p. 146, No. 374. See also Čechura 1999, p. 2-16. This report seems to relate to questionable data mentioned by Hübsch 1849, p. 112-113. In that year Pope Urban IV paid in Venice a certain amount of money destined for purchasing goods for the Ottokar´s court. A critical stand to this report has been taken by Simonsfeld 1887, p. 80.

55 MPV I.1, p. 7-9, No. 14.

56 Novák 1903, p. 53-57, No. 59-62.

57 Unminted « German » silver appears in the early (ca 1290) list for Florence, compiled some forty years later (ca 1330), under the guise of « della bolla di Venegia », bars of silver sealed at the Venice mint. See Grierson 1957, p. 485-492.

58 Štefánik 2002, p. 553-568.

59 Astorri 1998, p. 116 and 128.

60 Cited according to Reichert 1994, p. 337. For more details on activities of the Florentines in Bohemia see Reichert 1987, p. 269-280.

61 Weissen 2006, p. 372-373 and Jan 2006, p. 133-135.

62 Jan 2006, p. 146.

63 Veronesi 2008, p. 218-220.

64 Davidsohn 1925, p. 31 and 567.

65 In light of recent research, attesting Ranieri´s presence in Bohemia already by 1299, Josef Šusta´s still accepted commentary on the mediating role of Peter of Aspelt, Bishop of Basel (1296-1306) and Archbishop of Mainz (1306-1320), chancellor to Wenceslaus II, King of Bohemia (1278-1305), during the realization of the currency reform seems to be a mere fiction. See Šusta 1926, p. 100-101, Weissen 2006, p. 372 and Jan 2006, p. 144-146.

66 Pánek 1973, p. 65-74.

67 CIB I, p. 265-435. The Mining Code has been recently analysed by Pfeifer 2002.

68 This description of Prague was used for the first time by Janáček 1961, p. 187.

69 Spufford 2002, p. 134.

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References

Electronic reference

Roman Zaoral, “The management of papal collections and long-distance trade in the thirteenth-century Czech lands”Mélanges de l’École française de Rome - Moyen Âge [Online], 127-2 | 2015, Online since 12 October 2015, connection on 29 March 2024. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/mefrm/2732; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/mefrm.2732

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About the author

Roman Zaoral

Charles University - Faculty of Humanities, Prague - zaoral@post.cz

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Copyright

CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0

The text only may be used under licence CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. All other elements (illustrations, imported files) are “All rights reserved”, unless otherwise stated.

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