La mercatura fiorentina giura fedeltà al duca d’Atene. Dai rogiti di ser Bartolo di ser Neri da Ruffiano

In a dramatic moment of her history, Florence, or rather the ruling class composed essentially by businessmen, decided in the summer 1342 to give herself to the power of Walter of Brienne, duke of Athens. The French-Apulian baron, linked to the Angevins of Naples, and so to the Guelph international alliance, should guarantee the political and economic interests of the Florentine merchant community, putting an end to the war against Pisa and reopening for Florence the essential access to the sea. About this diplomatic affair and, first of all, about its financial implications an exceptional witness is provided by the documentary evidences of Bartolo di Neri da Ruffiano. The Florentine notary collected sworn commitment to pay thousands of florins by 112 mercantile, banking and textiles companies.