Journal Issues by William Caferro
Handbook of Medieval Military Strategy, 2024
Examination of loans, financial transactions and economy outside the town walls of trecento Flore... more Examination of loans, financial transactions and economy outside the town walls of trecento Florence
Antologia Militare; RIVISTA INTERDISCIPLINARE DELLA SOCIETÀ ITALIANA DI STORIA MILITARE, 2023
Examination of infantry based on archival sources
Shadow Agents of War, edited by Stephen Bowd, Sarah Cochram, John Gagne , 2023
This chapter examines 'shadow' bureaucrats and bureaucracy in trecento Florence. It traces the ac... more This chapter examines 'shadow' bureaucrats and bureaucracy in trecento Florence. It traces the activities of public offfij icials whose stated jobs (bell-ringer, accountant) suggest that they had little to do with the administration of warfare, but who in fact played major roles that reveal surprising and hitherto unknown institutional continuities. Given the frequency of warfare during the period, the evidence makes clear the need for additional research and a reevaluation of the Florentine bureaucracy that takes greater and more nuanced account of the efffects of warfare.
Comparative Economy and Martial Corporatism: Toward an Understanding of Florentine City Leagues, 1332-92, 2022
The essay makes extensive use of archival sources to examine the economic and political meaning o... more The essay makes extensive use of archival sources to examine the economic and political meaning of Florentine city leagues [taglie] during the period from 1332 to 1392, associated (since Machiavelli) with military decadence and loss of native martial spirit. The paper argues that rather than "failed proto-nationalistic" military associations, as they have long been understood, the leagues expose critical and otherwise unavailable evidence about the military, economic, and political organization of Florence and Italy. They provide insight into the comparative economic strength of Italian states during times of plague, for which data are otherwise scarce, and they reveal the "corporate" nature of Florentine diplomatic and military affairs-a "martial corporatism" that mirrors the well-known internal corporatism of the city long highlighted by scholars.
Dante Studies , 2020
R ecent historical research has done much to contextualize Dante in his political, social, and ec... more R ecent historical research has done much to contextualize Dante in his political, social, and economic milieu (De Robertis, Milani, Regnicoli, and Zamponi 2016; Milani and Montefusco 2014, 2017). Scholars have added important new details and perspectives, while highlighting also the contradictions inherent in the poet's life and of late duecento/early trecento Florentine society. "La figura di Dante presenta," as Silvia Diacciati argues, "elementi assai contraddittori," a judgment eloquently elaborated upon by Teodolinda Barolini with regard to Dante's views about "wealth management" (Diacciati 2017: 24; Barolini 2018: 45-46). The analyses reinforce the value of treating contradiction as a category of historical investigation that presents not an obstacle to greater understanding of the distant past, but a means of better apprehending it (Caferro 2018). Economic historians are nevertheless uncomfortable with contradiction. And efforts to contextualize Dante in terms of Florentine economic history present substantial challenges. Dante lived during a period of profound and transformative economic changes, when Florence ascended to leadership in the international economy. The rise was rapid, spectacular, and noisy. The Bardi, Peruzzi, and Acciaiuoli merchant banks became the "pillars of Christendom," known to modern scholars as "super companies" on account of their unprecedented size and scope. Florentine merchants were a "fifth element" alongside earth, air, fire, and water in terms of societal significance (Hunt 1994). To be sure, Florence's rise was, as Ignazio del Punta recently reminds
Desperta Ferro Arqueología e Historia n.35:, 2020
Description of human reactions to the plague of 1348
Business History Review , 2020
The essay examines the role of Christianity in premodern Euro-pean capitalism, with regard to the... more The essay examines the role of Christianity in premodern Euro-pean capitalism, with regard to the city of Florence. It traces the formation of the historical construct and the influence of Werner Sombart's Der moderne Kapitalismus, a work much neglected nowadays in the Anglophone academy. The article seeks to historicize and contextualize faith and economy, to stress their fundamentally intertwined nature and more specifically how notions of "negotiation" and diriturra (moral Christian rectitude) connect the seemingly antagonistic sides, and connect also Florentine finance and business history, which are too often studied independently. It argues that Christian rectitude and service to the church (a noncynical quid pro quo) were conjoined with a calculated, reasoned profit motive-evident especially among papal bankers, a key sector of the Florentine economy.
The Unbounded Community: Papers in Christian Ecumenism , 1996
examines Dante's apparent silences about Byzantium
Petrarch's War: Florence and the Black Death in Context, 2018
importance of understanding the immediate aftermath of the Black Death in its historical context
Petrarch's War: Florence and the Black Death in Context, 2018
an argument in favor of the importance of historical context, the utility of short-termism in eco... more an argument in favor of the importance of historical context, the utility of short-termism in economic study and the importance of "anomaly" as s subject of historical inquiry.
Mercenary Bands and Decline of Siena, 1998
Sienese public finance in the fourteenth century
Dizionario Biografico Italiano, Volume 93, 2018
Spinelli, famiglia (sec. XIV-XV). Ebbe origine nel comune di Pontassieve (contado fiorentino) sul... more Spinelli, famiglia (sec. XIV-XV). Ebbe origine nel comune di Pontassieve (contado fiorentino) sulla riva destra dell'Arno alla confluenza col fiume Sieve, a circa 14 chilometri ad est di Firenze.
Petrarch's War: Florence and the Black Death in Context, 2018
Europe, 1450-1789
nary, the so-called haiduks were men of the people who stood against the hegemony of foreign rule... more nary, the so-called haiduks were men of the people who stood against the hegemony of foreign rulers and the exploitation of the poor by the nobility. However, in some cases it proves difficult to distinguish between ordinary bandits and politically minded heroic outlaws, fighting against the oppressor. In the Balkans, the recorded history of haiduks goes back to the fifteenth century, but popular ballads about their lives and deeds did not flourish before the middle of the eighteenth century.
The American Historical Review , 2005
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Journal of European Economic History, 1994
Economic History Review , 2017
Medieval merchants and money honours the career of James Bolton. It examines many of the topics s... more Medieval merchants and money honours the career of James Bolton. It examines many of the topics studied by Professor Bolton over the years, including credit, money supply, trade, and immigration. At the core of the book is, as the title indicates, the medieval merchant. The focus is, however, more precisely on the medieval English merchant and on the city of London. The essays are detailed archival pieces reflective of Bolton's fine work. Collectively, they give a nuanced portrait of the English merchant and his milieu.
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Journal Issues by William Caferro
Mezzi di scambio non monetari. Merci e servizi come monete alternative nelle economie dei secoli XIII-XVIII/