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A comment on The richest families in Florence in 1427 are still the richest (2016). Parent comment

Re:The richest families in Florence in 1427 are still the ri... by osullivj on Thursday January 10, 2019 @05:32AM (#18872852)
They created modern banking. The Medici Bank [1] extended credit across Europe to finance trade.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medici_Bank

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Re:The richest families in Florence in 1427 are still the ri... by rurban on Thursday January 10, 2019 @06:52AM (#18873203)
and they were followed by the Fuggers, the Welsers, and finally the Rothschilds.

Interestingly the Medici fall down was caused by the exact same terms of the success of the others: Financing wars. The Medici had just bad luck that their king (of England) lost his war, and the Tories never paid them back (of course). The Germans and then the Rothschilds were more clever, they've won their important wars.

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Re:The richest families in Florence in 1427 are still the ri... by eunoia on Thursday January 10, 2019 @09:54AM (#18874211)
Isn’t the real lesson behind the Rothschild’s generational success that your king is inevitably going to lose a war or two and therefore to diversify beyond a single kingdom?
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