The Medieval Super-Companies
A Study of the Peruzzi Company of Florence

A detailed 1994 description and history of one of the most famous companies of the early fourteenth century, the Peruzzi Company.

Edwin S. Hunt (Author)

9780521894159, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 9 May 2002

304 pages, 3 b/w illus. 1 map 20 tables
22.8 x 15.6 x 2.1 cm, 0.528 kg

"Hunt successfully demonstrates his main points about the Peruzzi Company and is thorough and clear in his analysis of his published primary and secondary sources, leaving few possibilities unconsidered." Speculum

This 1994 book presents a detailed description and history of one of the most famous companies of the early fourteenth century. This analysis of the Peruzzi Company produces a radical reassessment of what made the Florentine 'super-companies' so exceptional: commodity trading, especially in grain, which required heavy capital, sophisticated organisation, and an international network. But the book also exposes the limitations of their financial power, and explodes the myth that the collapse of the Peruzzi and its joint-venture partner, the Bardi, was caused by bad loans to Edward III made to finance his invasions of France.

List of tables
Map of the Peruzzi network, 1335
Introduction
Part I. Anatomy of the Super-Company: 1. The company and the family
2. The nature of the business
3. The structure of the Peruzzi Company
4. The accounting of the Peruzzi Company
Part II. History of the Peruzzi Company from its Reorganization in 1300: 5. The prosperous years 1300–24
6. The decline begins 1325–35
7. The critical years 1335–40
8. The collapse 1340–43
9. The aftermath
Conclusions
Bibliography
Appendices.

Subject Areas: Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], European history [HBJD]