W^STROPP— 'Earl// ttalian Maps of Ireland from 1300-1600. 381 



contain many of their works. I need only give such names as those of the 

 Vesconti of Venice and Genoa in 1311-20, Giroldis in 1420, and Fra Mauro 

 in 1450, to confirm this side of the statement, for all were employed by the 

 rioreritines, and worked in that city.' When we turn to Irish records our 

 only difficulty is a great one — how to select from a mass of material that could 

 supply matter for a long independent paper on the Florentines in Ireland. 

 The name " Florentine " is found at New Koss so early as 1217 ; and 

 Sir John Gilbert shows that in ISTovember, 1266, there were several Florentines 

 trading in Dublin. We find the names of Cynus, son of Jacobus de Mancino,^ 

 merchant and citizen of Florence, a member o^ the "Eiki" Society (as 

 the Pdcardi of Lucca were called in Dublin), Philip Eodulphi, Matthew 

 Bonfilioli, and Eobert Amenati. For the first three, Fulk, Archbishop of 

 Dublin, advanced £100; the deed is sealed with the seal of Master Angelus 

 de Frusinon, a canon of Ferns. King Edward appointed Bonausius Bonaudi 

 and his fellow-merchants of Florence to receive the Customs of Ireland, 

 along with the Lucca merchants, in 1275. The year 1256 saw Hispanellus 

 Simonetti, John Baymund, and Eemucius Jacobi, Florentine merchants, 

 trading in Leinster ; Fulk Masner and his two associates of Florence were 

 granted duties on wool that same year. Cambinus del Pape, a native of 

 Florence, got licence to stay in Ireland the next year. The Irish Plea 

 EoUs show that Eeyner of Florence had a lawsuit in 1295. In April, 

 1292, Hubert de Passo, merchant of Florence, held letters obligatory of 

 Theobald le Botiller. Toraldus del Pape, a Florentine merchant, appears 

 down to 1310 as having business in Ireland. Others of the same name and 

 place were in England, Hugh Pape being one of those appointed to collect 

 the duty on wool and hides, one-half mark on each sack of 42 stone, 

 or on 300 woolfells, and one mark on each last of hides in 1282; and 

 Donettus del Pape in 1275, who was at Newcastle, and with Hugh were 

 associated Hugh del Post and " Torsian " Donate' 



_ There was one Florentine company of outstanding importance who had 

 Irish branches, the Friscobaldi. They appear in Ireland, at any rate, 

 in 1282, James and Toresian " Donat " accounted for £2000 from that year to 



' For some information and illustrations of the bankers and money-lenders of the city, see " The 

 Guilds of Florence" (Edgcumbe Stanley, ed. 2, chap, -vi, p. 170). The Friscobaldi first appeared 

 as bankers about 1260 ; the Bardi in 1244. It is noteworthy that religious feeling regarded usurers 

 as only a shade less black than actual heretics. Edward I accordingly paid a lump sum to " com- 

 pensate " the Friscobaldi for the money lent for the crusade instead of paying interest. The rules of 

 the Guild of Bankers seem to date from 1280 ; the original book being lost, the revised statutes date 

 1299, and an improved code in 1334. Strangers and ecclesiastics were not allowed to be members 

 of the banking firms. 



^ See also " Crede Mihi," 126. 



' Calendar of Fines, i, p. 169. 



