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MAESTRO GIOVANNI DI ANTONIO DA SAN MINIATO. Catasto return, in Italian, MANUSCRIPT ON PAPER
Florence, 1457
Manuscript inventory of possessions and balance of account, S. Giovanni del Drago, Florence, 1457, inscribed on upper wrapper 'Beni di Maestro Giovanni dl M. Anto. da S. Miniato' and on the inside upper wrapper 'Decina, o, prestanzone di m Antonio da Saminiato' in a 16th- or early 17th-century hand, 12 pages, approximately 300 x 222mm, blank leaves (some staining, two small worm-holes in margins, wear on outer margin, tear on f.1 touching four words in two lines, two small losses in old vertical crease on f.1, affecting six words in five lines), a quire of 8 leaves stitched in later paper bifolium.
This statement of the assets and income of Maestro Giovanni of San Miniato resident in the district of S. Giovanni del Drago, Florence records his formal and official submission for the assessment of his tax liability. The city of Florence instituted a new tax system in 1427 with steady revenue being raised by the catasto. This could be augmented in times of especial need by prestanze, loans from its citizens, forced if necessary. By law the head of each household was required to submit a report listing all his property, whether land, buildings, livestock or personal, his stock in the Monte Comune, all business investments and, in order to check the income from his investments, a copy of the latest balance sheet for each company or firm in which he was a partner. The individual returns or portate were filed with the catasto officials, who approved them and had them transcribed into bound volumes called campioni. The final reckoning allowed for deductions for debts and various charges and a reduction of 200fl. for each 'mouth' of his household excluding servants and slaves. The final sum owed was assessed as one half florin for each hundred of the remaining taxable wealth.
The present manuscript exactly follows this format; listing all of Giovanni's properties, many in and around San Miniato al Tedesco where his family originated; naming those who owed money to him and his son Tommaso, and those to whom he and Tommaso owed money; the charges upon him, including his slaves; the balance sheet of debts and credits with the Compagnia del Arte della Lana in San Miniato. After the final computations and the subtraction of the costs of six 'mouths' Maestro Giovanni was assessed as owing 33 florins 6s. 11d. This put him among the top one percent of tax-paying households; in the 1457 catasto only 11 citizens paid more than 50 florins, and 51 paid between 20 and 50: R. de Roovere, The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank, (Cambridge, Mass. 1963), p.29.
As well as being a fascinating relic of the sophistication of renaissance finances and administration, this inventory also provides a complete business profile and picture of the social circumstances of a wealthy landowner and merchant.
Florence, 1457
Manuscript inventory of possessions and balance of account, S. Giovanni del Drago, Florence, 1457, inscribed on upper wrapper 'Beni di Maestro Giovanni dl M. Anto. da S. Miniato' and on the inside upper wrapper 'Decina, o, prestanzone di m Antonio da Saminiato' in a 16th- or early 17th-century hand, 12 pages, approximately 300 x 222mm, blank leaves (some staining, two small worm-holes in margins, wear on outer margin, tear on f.1 touching four words in two lines, two small losses in old vertical crease on f.1, affecting six words in five lines), a quire of 8 leaves stitched in later paper bifolium.
This statement of the assets and income of Maestro Giovanni of San Miniato resident in the district of S. Giovanni del Drago, Florence records his formal and official submission for the assessment of his tax liability. The city of Florence instituted a new tax system in 1427 with steady revenue being raised by the catasto. This could be augmented in times of especial need by prestanze, loans from its citizens, forced if necessary. By law the head of each household was required to submit a report listing all his property, whether land, buildings, livestock or personal, his stock in the Monte Comune, all business investments and, in order to check the income from his investments, a copy of the latest balance sheet for each company or firm in which he was a partner. The individual returns or portate were filed with the catasto officials, who approved them and had them transcribed into bound volumes called campioni. The final reckoning allowed for deductions for debts and various charges and a reduction of 200fl. for each 'mouth' of his household excluding servants and slaves. The final sum owed was assessed as one half florin for each hundred of the remaining taxable wealth.
The present manuscript exactly follows this format; listing all of Giovanni's properties, many in and around San Miniato al Tedesco where his family originated; naming those who owed money to him and his son Tommaso, and those to whom he and Tommaso owed money; the charges upon him, including his slaves; the balance sheet of debts and credits with the Compagnia del Arte della Lana in San Miniato. After the final computations and the subtraction of the costs of six 'mouths' Maestro Giovanni was assessed as owing 33 florins 6s. 11d. This put him among the top one percent of tax-paying households; in the 1457 catasto only 11 citizens paid more than 50 florins, and 51 paid between 20 and 50: R. de Roovere, The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank, (Cambridge, Mass. 1963), p.29.
As well as being a fascinating relic of the sophistication of renaissance finances and administration, this inventory also provides a complete business profile and picture of the social circumstances of a wealthy landowner and merchant.