The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-10-22

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Dante. or even preoede his birth, Az a rule
however whore such documents are quoted,
II 10 for the purpose OF Calculating the ori.
gin and evolution OF institutions or usaeer
which we ace prevailing In the fifteenth
century. To sneak precisely. one might
say that tho Italian Renaissance in general
and the Florentine Renaissance in particular
began in 1853. and was already passing into
decadenoe on the death OF Leo X. OF course
however. IL would be impossible to exnlaip the
Florence OF three-duarters Of a century
without glance before and after or the ten
chapters OF this book. that which we have
found most interesting. and which we think
will prove OF the most interest to the general
reader. 10 that which deals with the private life
OF the Florcntines. II is that to which we shall
principally conine ourselves. after saying q
word or two about the population and wealth
OF the Florentine republic at the epoch under
review. and OF the extent to which education
was disseminated.
As early az the year 1888. villanl made an
estimate OF the population Of the Floren tine
State with the result OF attributing to the city
proper 10000. and to the surrounding terri
tory 100000 Inhabitants. Thenceforward.
ono reads from time to time OF the growth OF
the population.and particularly Of the increase
OF the working classes: yet. when census
was attempted at tho end OF the fifteenth CEN
fury. 1t was found that the population OF the
city did not exceed 10000 souls Mr.. Scaife
is accordingly led TO believe that VILLAIN over
estimated the population in his time. for he
does not think that vIsitntions OF tho plaque
could have kept the number Of inhabitants
stationary through 30 long period. Just
such thing. however, seems to have occurred
In England. for. according to Thorold Rogers.
the population OF England in the early part
Of the reign OF Edward ILL.,. before the
great plague reduced It by one-half. was
as large as It was two centuries later in
the reign OF Henry VIII. There ls no doubt
that the number OF mendicants in Florence
was immensely increased between the time Of
Dante and that OF Raphael In the middle Of
the fourteenth century there were no Floren-
tines SO poor as to be considered paupers.
while at the end OF the fifteenth century We
find $4,000 people accepting aims In tho
city. Another point worth noting il that
while in tho enumeration Of the denizens
In 1895 the number Of inhabitants amount
ed. as we have said. to about 10000.
the number OF those possessing all the rights
OF citizens was only 5000 Most Of the citi-
zens acquired their rights by heredity. and
the nEe Mt which they attained the franchise
seems to have varied from twenty-four to
twenty-nine years. Tho latter was the age
adopted in the reform OF 1894, at which time
one had to prove that Mt least his grandfather
had exercised the rights OF citizenship before
he could have his name written on the
list. Citizenship when once acquired could be
lost in various ways. One Of the Instruments
Of Medicean tyranny was the introduction Of
certain officials who we're empowered to warn
any citizen that he was no longer to lay claim
to his rights. Another law mado the loss OF
citizenship follow the non payment Of taxes.
but this evil could be easily remedisd by pay
ment.
Before forming any conception Of the wealth
OF Florence. one must assume at least pro-
vsonaly. unit OF value. Mr.. Seattle does
not attempt to say what thu silver form was
worth. hut. on grounds that seem to us
trustworthy. he calculates that the gold form
OF Florence was worth by weight $50. AS to
tho purchasing power OF the same weight Of
gold in medieval times compared with our
own day. the author cites Italian author
tiles for the statement that il Is now only
one-flfth OF what 1t was at the beginning
OF the fifteenth century. Other computations
make tho difference that OF one to ten. Bear
ing in mind these data with relation to the
unit Of values. we proceed to note some facts
exemplifying tho amount OF money accumu-
lated by certain Florentines. In the fourteenth
century there were eighty banks in the city.
for which were coined from $50 900 to 100000
gold forms per annum. besides 10000 pounds
OF subsidiary coin. The most disastrous
financial failure OF the fourteenth century
was that OF the Bardi and Peruzzi fam
lilies. the Rothschilds OF their time. who.
until their failure. far surpassed tho
Medici In riches and honor The Peruzzi had
lent King Edward III. OF England 13J.OOO
marks sterlng-a mark sterling was worth
more than four and half gold horins and
the Bard had lent him 100000 marks. The
King being unable to pay his debts. there was
nothing left for the creditors to do but declare
from which. however. the Peruzzi
eventually recovered and they have remained
In high repute up to the present day. 1t is as
serted in this volume that the extent OF the
I'lorentine banking operations gave rise to tho
invention OF exchange. without which our mod
ern international trade would be practically i'm
possible. There Is reason to believe. however
hat the Jews OF Angevin England used bills
Of exchange to facilitate business with their
brethren on tho Continent OF Europe To re-
urn to the indications OF the amount OF riches
collected by individual Florentines we OBJ
serve that when Giovanni. tho father OF
rosimo de Medici. died In 1923. he left
l70.221 gold forms: Cosimo left 235 I37
lorins: Piero. his son. and father OF the great
Lorenzo. left 237.9S2 forms. In the mean
me it is to be remembered. the family had
devoted to public uses immense sums OF
which Cosimo alone Is said to have contributed
rom 100000 to 50OOO0 gold forms. SO far.
moreover. we have spoken only OF property in
he form Of specie. How great the wealth Of
he Florentines really was may DO inferred
rom tho number and magnincence OF the pri-
'ate palaces which they erected. not only In
he city. but in the neighborng country.
II.
Let us glance now at the appliances OF learn
ng In medieval Florence. about which we |
rave heard good denl. and the dissemination |
Il education. about which we have heard but |
title The University OF Florence received an |