The ''Practica della mercatura'' (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

for "The Practice of Commerce"),. also known as the ''Merchant's Handbook'', is a comprehensive guide to

international trade International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (See: World economy.) In most countries, such trade represents a significan ...

in 14th-century Eurasia and North Africa as known to its compiler, the Florentine

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

Francesco Balducci Pegolotti. It was written sometime between 1335 and 1343, the most likely dates being 1339 or 1340. Its original title was the ''Book of Descriptions of Lands'' ('); its more common name is that from its first printing in 1766. Pegolotti's work is based on his own experience as a banker and merchant for the Bardi, and on various local documents, statutes and price lists available to him.

History

autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Intern ...

survives. The sole surviving manuscript, used by all the printed editions, is that in the

Biblioteca Riccardiana The Biblioteca Riccardiana is an Italian public library under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture (Italy), Ministry of Culture, located inside the Palazzo Medici Riccardi at 10 Via de’ Ginori in Florence, in the neighborhood comprising the Mer ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. It states that it was copied on 19 March 1472 by Filippo di Niccolaio Frescobaldi from a copy held by Agnolo di Lotti of Anella, who claimed it had been made from Pegolotti's original.. Pegolotti seems to have had access to an earlier, much more limited, compilation made at

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

in 1279, now preserved in the Biblioteca Comunale at

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

, entitled ''Memoria de Tucte le Mercantie''. Pegolotti's work was probably used by the compiler of the Venetian trade manual ''Tarifa zoè noticia dy pexi e mexure di luogi e tere che s'adovra marcadantia per el mondo'' in the 1340s. It then served as a source for a later work which shares its title, the ''Pratica della mercatura'' compiled by Giovanni di Bernardo da Uzzano in 1442. Soon afterwards it was drawn on by the author of ''Libro che tracta di mercatantie et usanze de' paesi'', compiled in 1458 probably by Giorgio Chiarini, afterwards incorporated in

Luca Pacioli Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli, O.F.M. (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 account ...

's ''

Summa de arithmetica Summa and its diminutive summula (plural ''summae'' and ''summulae'', respectively) was a medieval didactics literary genre written in Latin, born during the 12th century, and popularized in 13th century Europe. In its simplest sense, they migh ...

''.

Glossary

Glossary of terms then in use for all kinds of taxes or payments on merchandise as well as for every kind of place where goods might be bought or sold in cities (Evans, pp. 14–19). Languages listed as necessary include **

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

("Saracen", "Barbary") **

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

**English ** West Flemish and Brabantian (both

Dutch dialects Dutch dialects and varieties are primarily the dialects and varieties that are both cognate with the Dutch language and spoken in the same language area as the Standard Dutch. They are remarkably diverse and are found within Europe mainly in th ...

) ** French (and the French of

Outremer The Crusader states, or Outremer, were four Catholic polities established in the Levant region and southeastern Anatolia from 1098 to 1291. Following the principles of feudalism, the foundation for these polities was laid by the First Crusade ...

: "Cypriot", "Syrian") ** Friulian ** Genoese **

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

(and "Trapezuntine") ** Persian ** Provençal ** Sardinian ** Sicilian and Apulian ** Spanish **" Tartar" ** Tuscan ** Venetian

Routes and cities

Listing of the principal routes and trading cities frequented by Italian merchants; the imports and exports of various important commercial regions; the business customs prevalent in each of those regions; and the comparative value of the leading moneys, weights and measures. *Includes the following routes and surveys: **The journey to Gattaio (Evans, pp. 21–23), from

Azov Azov (, ), previously known as Azak ( Turki/ Kypchak: ), is a town in Rostov Oblast, Russia, situated on the Don River just from the Sea of Azov, which derives its name from the town. The population is History Early settlements in the vici ...

via

Astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...

Khiva Khiva ( uz-Latn-Cyrl, Xiva, Хива, ; other names) is a district-level city of approximately 93,000 people in Khorazm Region, Uzbekistan. According to archaeological data, the city was established around 2,500 years ago. In 1997, Khiva celebr ...

, Otrar and Kulja to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

(in the text these names appear as ''Tana, Gittarchan, Organci, Ottrarre, Armalecco, Canbalecco''). The merchant is advised that he will be considered more respectable if he takes a woman with him on this journey, but she must be fluent in the

Cuman The Cumans or Kumans were a Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language. They are referred to as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Rus' chronicles, as " ...

language. **Coast of the Mare Maggiore **Stages from Ayas via

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

, Erzingan and

Erzerum Erzurum (; ) is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of ancient Theodosiopolis. T ...

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

in Persia (in the text these names appear as ''Laiazo, Salvastro, Arzinga, Arzerone, Torissi'') **England and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

as sources of wool, listing many monasteries including

Newbattle Newbattle (from Old Scots ''Neubothle'', "new building") is a village and civil parish in Midlothian, Scotland. The village lies south of Dalkeith, about seven miles from Edinburgh. It is notable for containing Newbattle Abbey, a stately hom ...

Balmerino Balmerino is a small village and former monastic centre in Fife, Scotland. It is the home of Balmerino Abbey and the former Abbot of Balmerino, abbots of Balmerino who were great regional landlords. It became a secular lordship in 1605 when th ...

, Cupar,

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

, Dundrennan, Glenluce, Coldingham, Kelso, Newminster near Morpeth,

Furness Furness ( ) is a peninsula and region of Cumbria, England. Together with the Cartmel Peninsula it forms North Lonsdale, Historic counties of England, historically an exclave of Lancashire. On 1 April 2023 it became part of the new unitary author ...

Fountains A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...

Kirkstall Kirkstall is a north-western suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, on the eastern side of the River Aire. The area sits in the Kirkstall (ward), Kirkstall electoral ward, ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds Central and Headingley (UK Parl ...

, Kirstead, Swineshead, Sawley and Calder. *Includes main headings for the following trading places. Many others are listed incidentally. Under each heading there are lists of the main commodities with details of weights and measures, laws and customs of trade, pricing, customs duties. Pegolotti adds tables of comparison of each city's weights and measures with those of others to facilitate calculations. ** Tana nel Mare Maggiore ** Caffa ** Torisi di Persia ** Trabisonda ** Gostantinopoli e Pera ** Altoluogo di Turchia (Ayasoluk) ** Setalia di Turchia ** Erminia, chiefly Laiazo d'Erminia. Merchants of the Compagnia dei Bardi were exempt from customs duties at Ayas ** Acri di Soria ** Allessandria **

Damietta Damietta ( ' ) is a harbor, port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt. It is located at the Damietta branch, an eastern distributary of the Nile Delta, from the Mediterranean Sea, and about north of Cairo. It was a Cath ...

** Cipri, chiefly Famagosta di Cipri. Pegolotti notes that he has negotiated a reduction of customs duties for the Compagnia dei Bardi and for those identified as Florentine merchants by the Bardi representative at Famagusta ** Rodi ** Candia di Creti ** Cicilia, including

Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

** Chiarenza ** Stiva (Ištip) ** Nigroponte ** Sardigna **

Maiolica Maiolica is tin-glazed pottery decorated in colours on a white background. The most renowned Italian maiolica is from the Renaissance period. These works were known as ''istoriato'' wares ("painted with stories") when depicting historical and ...

** Tunisi di Barberia ** Tripoli di Barberia ** Gierbi di Barberia ** Vinegia ** Frioli **

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

Puglia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

Salerno Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located ...

** Napoli di Principato **

Firenze Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

** Gienova ** Nimissi e Monpolieri ** Vignone ** Aguamorta ** Evizia ** Borgogna **The fairs of Campagna ** Parigi ** Fiandra ** Bruggia di Fiandra ** Brabante ** Anguersa. Pegolotti notes that he has negotiated equality for Florentine merchants at Antwerp with those from Germany, England and Genoa ** Londra d'Inghilterra ** Roccella di Guascogna ** Sobilia di Spagna ** Reame di Morocco di Spagna, including Niffe, Salle and Arzilla

Lists and tables

*Lengths of cloth (Evans pp. 277–286) *Fineness of gold and silver coin (Evans pp. 287–292) *Spices and their packing (Evans pp. 293–300, 307–319) *

Compound interest Compound interest is interest accumulated from a principal sum and previously accumulated interest. It is the result of reinvesting or retaining interest that would otherwise be paid out, or of the accumulation of debts from a borrower. Compo ...

tables (the first known tables of compound interest, Evans pp. 301–302) *Valuation of pearls and precious stones *Buying and selling grain *Shipping *Calendar tables *Fineness of gold and silver (Evans pp. 331–360) *Types and qualities of spices and other trade goods (Evans pp. 360–383)

Editions

Pegolotti's ''Pratica della mercatura'' was first published by Gianfrancesco Pagnini as part of ''Della Decima'', his multi-volume history of the finances of

, in 1766. Only short sections have appeared in French and English translation. The 1936 edition by Allan Evans is now standard: it includes important glossaries of commodities, place names, coins and money, etc., but no translation. * . * . * . * .

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

*Fabio Mariano, ''I luoghi della mercanzia: dal palazzo medievale alla Borsa novecentesca'', in: Aa.Vv.,'' Arte, economia e territorio. Architettura e collezioni d'arte delle Camere di Commercio'', Edizioni Jaca Book, Milano 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pratica Della Mercatura Italian literature 14th-century books Business books