Southern Italy and the Florentine Economy, 1265-1370.

The article explores some reasons as to why Florence, Italy was ever able to establish a position of clear primacy in the trade of southern Italy. This exploration has been conducted not by the direct comparison between Florentines and their rivals, but by looking at internal strengths and weaknesses in the link between Florence and Naples, Italy--strengths which reduced southern reliance on Florence's real and potential rivals, weaknesses which created especially close bonds of economic interdependence. Scholars have long been aware that the scale of the relationship between Florence and Naples was unusually great. Some areas of Florentine success have been indicated in banking, in commerce, in office-holding, in land-getting, in culture too. But it is also necessary to present the Florentine balance-sheet keeping alive the question what specific advantage Florence derived from the south. The first point that must be made is that Florence was well suited to pay for the grain, oil, and livestock it bought in the south. It is abundantly clear that the Florentines paid for these goods by exporting finished cloth to southern Italy. A second consideration was the dependence of Florence on outside food supplies.