Benedetto Cotrugli ( hr, Benedikt "Beno" Kotruljević; 1416–1469) was a

Ragusan Ragusan may refer to: * citizen of the Republic of Ragusa hr, Sloboda se ne prodaje za sve zlato svijeta it, La libertà non si vende nemmeno per tutto l'oro del mondo"Liberty is not sold for all the gold in the world" , population_estimate ...

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

, scientist,

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

and

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

Life

Cotrugli was born in the city of Ragusa (modern

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

), part of the Republic of Ragusa. As a diplomat of the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

, he spent some 15 years in the

Court of Naples A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordanc ...

where he led many discussions and polished his thoughts on humanist subjects. From 1451 until 1469 he lived in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. He died in Aquila.

Surviving manuscripts

The earliest extant copy of Cotrugli's

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

''Libro de l'Arte de la Mercatura'' (''Book on the Art of Trade'') is kept in the National Library of Malta and is dated 1475, although the original manuscript was dated 1458.Basil S. Yamey (1994). "Benedikt Kotruljević on bookkeeping (1458)". ''Accounting, Business & Financial History'' 4(1): 43-50. The text of his 1458 manuscript ''

Della mercatura e del mercante perfetto ''Della mercatura e del mercante perfetto'' written by Benedetto Cotrugli around 1400 was the first bookkeeping manuscript and trade manual. Anzovin, 2000, p. 36, item 1441 The title has been translated in English by the alternate names of ''Of c ...

'' is followed by an appendix containing an inventory and many journal entries. It contains an early description of the

double-entry bookkeeping system Double-entry bookkeeping, also known as double-entry accounting, is a method of bookkeeping that relies on a two-sided accounting entry to maintain financial information. Every entry to an account requires a corresponding and opposite entry t ...

, predating the description made by

Luca Pacioli Fra Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli (sometimes ''Paccioli'' or ''Paciolo''; 1447 – 19 June 1517) was an Italian mathematician, Franciscan friar, collaborator with Leonardo da Vinci, and an early contributor to the field now known as accounting ...

in his ''

Summa de arithmetica ' (''Summary of arithmetic, geometry, proportions and proportionality'') is a book on mathematics written by Luca Pacioli and first published in 1494. It contains a comprehensive summary of Renaissance mathematics, including practical arithmeti ...

'' of 1494.

Heritage

In 2007 the Croatian state devoted a silver 150 kuna commemorative coin to Cotrugli. Cotrugli is the patron of the Cotrugli business school, with branches in Zagreb, Belgrade and Ljubljana.

Notes

Bibliography

*B.Cotrugli, "Il libro dell'arte di mercatura", Guerini Next, september 2022 *B.Cotrugli, "Arricchirsi con onore", edited by Alessandro Wagner, introduction by Brunello Cucinelli, Rizzoli, May 2018 *B.Cotrugli, ''The Book of the Art of Trade'', edited by Carlo Carraro and Giovanni Favero, with Scholarly Essays from Niall Ferguson, Giovanni Favero, Mario Infelise, Tiziano Zanato and Vera Ribaudo, translated in English by John Francis Phillimore, Springer Nature, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017 *B. Cotrugli, Libro de l'arte de la mercatura, critical edition of the original Italian manuscript, by Vera Ribaudo, Cà Foscari University Press, Venice, May 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cotrugli, Benedetto 1416 births 1469 deaths People from the Republic of Ragusa Croatian Renaissance humanists 15th-century diplomats 15th-century merchants 15th-century businesspeople People from Dubrovnik Economy of Dubrovnik