Front page Headlines in 2012? Guess again:
try Florence, Italy, in 1346. The Compagnia de Bardi and the Peruzzi, the two
biggest European merchant banks, went bankrupt: the Peruzzi in 1343 and the
Bardi in 1346.
These two merchant banks are described as
“super-companies” as they were larger than any other medieval banks, including
the Medici bank that flourished in the 15th century. Europe had to
wait until the 16th century for the rise of the Fuggers to see
anything approaching their size.1 The failure of these two banks was
catastrophic for the medieval European economy.
