Abstract

Italian communes from 1300–1600 bought and sold numerous towns and castles from Crete (enfeoffed to Venice in 1205) to Arezzo (offered to Florence in 1384) to Tabarka (given as mortgage to a Genoese family in 1540). Despite the popularity of this custom, however, existing scholarship claims Renaissance cities expanded territorially through violent conquests that centralized government finances and promoted militant imperialist discourses. Drawing on case studies of the Florentine purchase of two cities — Lucca (1342) and Pisa (1405) — this article reveals how the buyers of Renaissance cities instead drew upon a vast, little-studied network of private creditors to pay for new lands. The vendibility of space, moreover, helped foster a commercialized ideology of empire. Diarists heralded their city’s superior commerce. Civic leaders tied the good of their communes to keeping its honour and faith with city-sellers. And polemicists stained opponents with accusations of fraud while demoting cities such as Pisa and Lucca to mere merchandise. Buying cities thus allowed Renaissance merchant elites to demonstrate not only their city’s superior material wealth, but also mercantile prowess — their ability to bargain for a good deal (buon mercato).

中文翻译：

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Mercato 的艺术：购买托斯卡纳文艺复兴时期的城邦*

摘要

从 1300 年到 1600 年，意大利公社买卖了许多城镇和城堡，从克里特岛（1205 年被授予威尼斯）到阿雷佐（1384 年被授予佛罗伦萨）到塔巴卡（1540 年作为抵押给一个热那亚家庭）。然而，尽管这种习俗很受欢迎，但现有的学者声称文艺复兴时期的城市通过暴力征服扩大了领土，这些征服集中了政府财政并促进了好战的帝国主义话语。借鉴佛罗伦萨购买两个城市——卢卡 (1342) 和比萨 (1405) 的案例研究——本文揭示了文艺复兴时期城市的买家如何利用庞大的、鲜有研究的私人债权人网络来支付新土地的费用。此外，太空的可售性有助于培养商业化的帝国意识形态。日记作者预示着他们城市的商业发达。公民领袖将他们公社的利益与保持其与城市卖家的荣誉和信仰联系在一起。论战者用欺诈指控玷污对手，同时将比萨和卢卡等城市贬为纯粹的商品。因此，购买城市让文艺复兴时期的商人精英不仅可以展示他们城市优越的物质财富，还可以展示他们的商业实力——他们讨价还价的能力（奔梅尔卡托）。