Francesco datini biography

c. 1335–1410

Cloth merchant

Correspondence.

Francesco Datini's life is one of the best documented merchant stories in all European history. At his death he left behind almost 140,000 letters and a collection of more than 500 account books. His career may not have been extraordinary, but the grad of records his businesses produced have provided a rich mine for scholars anxious to reconstruct the history of one of Europe's most vigorous commercial centers in the early Renaissance.

Humble Birth.

Datini came from humble origins and lost his parents during the Black Death in 1348. When he was about fifteen he left Florence and traveled to Avignon, which at the time was the capital of the långnovell Church. There he began work in a Florentine business in the city. Like many later capitalists he shepherded his resources, eventually investing in the business. Within eight years of his arrival in Avignon, he had already acquired a significant fortune, although his suc

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Early Modern Motherhood

By Sanne Hermans

21/08/2024

Most people worldwide celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. However, exceptions exist, such as in Antwerp, where mothers are honoured on August 15 during the Catholic feast of Assumption Day. This holiday prompted me to revisit my research on the relationship between motherhood, time, and, most importantly, the future. To explore this theme, I examined the letters of Hedwich de Bacher (1580-1609), the wife of jewellery merchant François Thijs. In 1605, she had a young son named Christopher and was expecting a baby girl. While residing in Amsterdam, she occasionally corresponded with her parents in Halberstadt. These letters offer valuable insights into her prospects as a young mother, starting with her reflections on pregnancy. On May 11, 1605, she wrote to her father, Andreas de Bacher—a court physician and thus the family’s trusted sounding board for all things medical—detailing the

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The Merchant of Prato: Francesco Di Marco Datini, 1335-1410

“For God and Profit” is how the medieval merchant Francesco di Marco Datini headed a notebook in which he kept track of his business dealings, and these were certainly his guiding lights. Born in the 1330s in the Tuscan town of Prato, the son of a poor taverner, Datini set out at the age of fifteen for Avignon, where, over the course of the next thirty-five years, he made a fortune trading in arms, armor, artworks, wool, saffron, leather, silk, and much more. Returning home, he expanded his operations, setting up offices all across the Mediterranean, which he oversaw through an unceasing flow of correspondence. When he died, Datini asked that all his papers be preserved in his house, and in 1870 they were found, a little worm-eaten and mouse-nibbled but largely intact, in a sack under the stairs. They are one of the great records not only of medieval life but of the emergence of the modern commercial world.Dra