Tag: Florence

Bank and Banking

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary the word “bank” comes from the Italian word “banca” meaning a table where money was exchanged. In early days of trading (meaning the early days of human settlements), people would exchange goods for goods directly. However, at some point, this became impracticable, especially when dealing with distant settlements. Thus, coins were introduced, which were usually made of gold and/or silver, therefore, their value was calculated based on its material. However, coins were different from place to place and people needed to go to the “banca” to exchange it. This process was very informal and usually performed by merchants, who used to travel a lot.

Then, people found that they needed a place to store their money, a safe place that is. And what safer place was there than the religious temples, guarded by the gods themselves?… Priests were soon lending money to people and robbery started to happen. Things became more serious during the Roman Empire, when buildings were designated especially for storing money and lending money became a common practice. Everyone could lend money and get it back, usually at very high rates. Those who engaged in such activities in small scales were called “usurers”.

During the Medieval Times and Renaissance, Italians consolidated their vocation for trading between themselves and the outside world. At the same time, Kings and Popes (and nobles, too) were increasingly resorting to debt to pay their grand projects. Back then, Italy was not a united country as it is today. The cities were independent and some of them, like Florence, were very rich. Using all their knowledge about trading, exchange of money, and lending, Florentine families, like Bardi and Peruzzi, founded the first official banks. Later, they were completely surpassed by the Medici, who founded what was soon the biggest bank in Europe. At this point, “usurers” were already looked down upon and the word became a bad name.

So, this is how banks of deposit (people needed to store money in a safe place) and exchange banks (people needed to change coins to pay for goods in other places) came to be. Banking activity came about with the necessity of people to get loans to pay for their projects in advance.

 
For more information about the history of banking:

 

Key place: ITALY | “A Room with a View”, by E. M. Forster

Lucy is an English middle-class young lady that visits Italy with her unmarried cousin Charlotte. When arriving in Florence, disappointment awaits them. They were expecting an authentic Italian hotel, but they find that the hotel is actually managed by an English woman and is full of English guests. In addition, they were given the wrong room: they specifically asked for a room with a view to the river, but they got a room at the back. This was the beginning of several misunderstandings based on English prejudices. However, Lucy discovers a whole new world inside of her that will change her perspective of the world. Something happens in Florence, between her tours around the city, which she will try to forget before returning home. Once there, she tries to go back to her former life, unsuccessfully.

E. M. Forster travelled extensively, especially through Europe. He also had a keen eye for people’s behaviour and was a sharp critic of English society, for his hypocrisy and class stratification. His writings reflected that so accurately that he was nominated for the Nobel Prize several times, but never won it.

“A Room with a View” is about the journey of Lucy, both to another country and of self-discovery. The book starts and ends in Florence, the symbol of such a change in her. All characters in the story have their own important role to play. There is a contrast between native Italians, with a free lifestyle, and English visitors, trapped in a meaningless life full of rules that they themselves struggle to follow. Also, there are English people from different classes and we are informed on the prejudices between them. Lucy wants to fit in, and she almost succeeds if it was not for a certain (impertinent?) young man.

The book was published in 1908, when it was fashionable for the members of the English high society to travel around Europe (and other members of the middle class, with money). In 1985, the book was adapted to the cinema, starring Helena Bonham Carter as Lucy and with the participation of Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, and Daniel Day-Lewis. There is also a 2007 TV movie based on the book.