Orlando Bonsignori (died 1273) was an Italian banker from

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

. He was the son of Bonsignore di Bernardo, a minor merchant, but Orlando, together with his brother Bonifazio, expanded the family fortunes until in the 1230 he was among the largest Sienese taxpayers. Friendship with

Pope Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV ( la, Innocentius IV; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254. Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universitie ...

led to the Bonsignori acting as his agents and bankers. In 1255, after Bonifazio's death, Orlando formed a consortium called the ''

Gran Tavola During the Middle Ages, the ''Gran Tavola'' (Italian for "''Great Table''") was the largest Sienese bank;de Roover, Raymond A., and Larson, Henrietta M. 1999. ''The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank''. Beard Books. . p. 2. it was one of the most ...

'' ("Great Table"), which soon became the most powerful bank in Europe. It became the exclusive banker for the deposits of the income of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

and, under

Pope Clement IV Pope Clement IV ( la, Clemens IV; 23 November 1190 – 29 November 1268), born Gui Foucois ( la, Guido Falcodius; french: Guy de Foulques or ') and also known as Guy le Gros ( French for "Guy the Fat"; it, Guido il Grosso), was bishop of Le P ...

, the ecclesiastical

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...

s for the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

. The Gran Tavola supported

Charles of Anjou Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier (1246–48, 1256–85) i ...

in his conquest of the

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 un ...

, and benefited greatly from his victory over the

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynasty ...

. Orlando Bonsignori died in 1273. After his death the Gran Tavola soon declined and eventually went bankrupt in the early 14th century.

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonsignori, Orlando 13th-century births 1273 deaths People from Siena Italian bankers Economic history of the Holy See Medieval bankers 13th-century Italian businesspeople