1896 in Italy
Events from the year 1896 in Italy. Events. In 1896, the Banco Ambrosiano was founded in Milan by Giuseppe Tovini, a Catholic advocate, and was named after Saint Ambrose, the 4th century archbishop of the city. Tovini's purpose was to create a Catholic bank as a counterbalance to Italy's "lay" banks, and its goals were "serving moral organisations, pious works, and religious bodies set up for charitable aims." The bank came to be known as the "priests' bank."