The world of the little businessman in fourteenth-century Prato

Chapters 1 and 2 examine the way in which local tradesmen organized their businesses and plied their trade. By calculating average markups on their sales it is possible to estimate gross income from the principal business; and examples are given of numerous and varied ways of augmenting income. The sources of their supplies are also considered. In Chapter 2 the account book of an independent broker provides information to describe how he arranged transactions for many local tradesmen.;Chapters 4 and 5 highlight two business practices unremarked by economic historians--the extension of credit to customers and the granting of loans. Though at times the shopkeepers demanded pawns or guarantors as security or verification of a debt by witnesses, usually they relied on only the entry in the account book. All these petty entrepreneurs made frequent small loans to all members of society for a wide variety of reasons.;Chapter 6 examines how business practices employed in the local economy might have contributed to the development of deposit banking and discusses to what extent tradesmen used the services of merchant-bankers. Information from accounts before 1350 shows that these local tradesmen obtained "credito di esercizio" or a line of credit from their own suppliers. At the end of the fourteenth century the little businessmen turned to merchant-bankers for a line of credit in order to obtain supplies at a distance from Prato.;The conclusion stresses the immutable way in which local economies have functioned through the ages. A comparison of practices of today's Pratese tradesman with those of his ancestor of six hundred years ago shows just how little many of their business methods have changed. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).;Chapter 3 employs scattered references in the account books to portray the way of life of these members of the middling class. Their diet and the cost of food and of other basic necessities are examined. Almost all were in a position to own some property; a few appeared to own property which would have equalled the holdings of the more well-to-do businessmen. The role of religion in both their personal and business life are examined as well as the extent to which a few took part in local government.