Bunch of new research has been published on Genoa that seems to indicate rather conclusively that it, and not Austria or Florence, was the place where early modern finance* was born.
Anyway, I thought this was pretty fucking neato, because Florence has worn this crown for centuries.
*Obviously many financial instruments existed during the Classical period and perhaps even earlier. This is major-ly neato because it’s an unbroken tradition from there on out.
edit: There is nothing more goddamn frustrating than trying to read primary sources via Babelfish. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH.
Don’t know how ‘new’ this is. Braudel makes a similar argument in Civilization and Capitalism. However, I think that modern finance is generally regarded as being ‘born’ in the unique banking system of 14th c Venice, not 15th c. Genoa, although Genoa clearly contributed to its adolescent development.
In university, I took a year-long Medieval Studies course that was evenly split between the Viking Age and Renaissance Italy. Course materials included things like Njal’s Saga and translations of commercial documents from the Italian city-states. Bloody halberds aside, guess which one I found more interesting? Saved the PDF, and will try to give it a read later.
When it comes to tourism, though, Florence remains a must-see, while Genoa is a could-stand-to-miss.
