William Caferro | Vanderbilt University (original) (raw)
Journal Issues by William Caferro
Handbook of Medieval Military Strategy, 2024
Examination of loans, financial transactions and economy outside the town walls of trecento Flore... more Examination of loans, financial transactions and economy outside the town walls of trecento Florence
Antologia Militare; RIVISTA INTERDISCIPLINARE DELLA SOCIETÀ ITALIANA DI STORIA MILITARE, 2023
Examination of infantry based on archival sources
Shadow Agents of War, edited by Stephen Bowd, Sarah Cochram, John Gagne , 2023
This chapter examines 'shadow' bureaucrats and bureaucracy in trecento Florence. It traces the ac... more This chapter examines 'shadow' bureaucrats and bureaucracy in trecento Florence. It traces the activities of public offfij icials whose stated jobs (bell-ringer, accountant) suggest that they had little to do with the administration of warfare, but who in fact played major roles that reveal surprising and hitherto unknown institutional continuities. Given the frequency of warfare during the period, the evidence makes clear the need for additional research and a reevaluation of the Florentine bureaucracy that takes greater and more nuanced account of the efffects of warfare.
Comparative Economy and Martial Corporatism: Toward an Understanding of Florentine City Leagues, 1332-92, 2022
The essay makes extensive use of archival sources to examine the economic and political meaning o... more The essay makes extensive use of archival sources to examine the economic and political meaning of Florentine city leagues [taglie] during the period from 1332 to 1392, associated (since Machiavelli) with military decadence and loss of native martial spirit. The paper argues that rather than "failed proto-nationalistic" military associations, as they have long been understood, the leagues expose critical and otherwise unavailable evidence about the military, economic, and political organization of Florence and Italy. They provide insight into the comparative economic strength of Italian states during times of plague, for which data are otherwise scarce, and they reveal the "corporate" nature of Florentine diplomatic and military affairs-a "martial corporatism" that mirrors the well-known internal corporatism of the city long highlighted by scholars.
Dante Studies , 2020
R ecent historical research has done much to contextualize Dante in his political, social, and ec... more R ecent historical research has done much to contextualize Dante in his political, social, and economic milieu (De Robertis, Milani, Regnicoli, and Zamponi 2016; Milani and Montefusco 2014, 2017). Scholars have added important new details and perspectives, while highlighting also the contradictions inherent in the poet's life and of late duecento/early trecento Florentine society. "La figura di Dante presenta," as Silvia Diacciati argues, "elementi assai contraddittori," a judgment eloquently elaborated upon by Teodolinda Barolini with regard to Dante's views about "wealth management" (Diacciati 2017: 24; Barolini 2018: 45-46). The analyses reinforce the value of treating contradiction as a category of historical investigation that presents not an obstacle to greater understanding of the distant past, but a means of better apprehending it (Caferro 2018). Economic historians are nevertheless uncomfortable with contradiction. And efforts to contextualize Dante in terms of Florentine economic history present substantial challenges. Dante lived during a period of profound and transformative economic changes, when Florence ascended to leadership in the international economy. The rise was rapid, spectacular, and noisy. The Bardi, Peruzzi, and Acciaiuoli merchant banks became the "pillars of Christendom," known to modern scholars as "super companies" on account of their unprecedented size and scope. Florentine merchants were a "fifth element" alongside earth, air, fire, and water in terms of societal significance (Hunt 1994). To be sure, Florence's rise was, as Ignazio del Punta recently reminds
Desperta Ferro Arqueología e Historia n.35:, 2020
Description of human reactions to the plague of 1348
Business History Review , 2020
The essay examines the role of Christianity in premodern Euro-pean capitalism, with regard to the... more The essay examines the role of Christianity in premodern Euro-pean capitalism, with regard to the city of Florence. It traces the formation of the historical construct and the influence of Werner Sombart's Der moderne Kapitalismus, a work much neglected nowadays in the Anglophone academy. The article seeks to historicize and contextualize faith and economy, to stress their fundamentally intertwined nature and more specifically how notions of "negotiation" and diriturra (moral Christian rectitude) connect the seemingly antagonistic sides, and connect also Florentine finance and business history, which are too often studied independently. It argues that Christian rectitude and service to the church (a noncynical quid pro quo) were conjoined with a calculated, reasoned profit motive-evident especially among papal bankers, a key sector of the Florentine economy.
The Unbounded Community: Papers in Christian Ecumenism , 1996
examines Dante's apparent silences about Byzantium
Petrarch's War: Florence and the Black Death in Context, 2018
importance of understanding the immediate aftermath of the Black Death in its historical context
Petrarch's War: Florence and the Black Death in Context, 2018
an argument in favor of the importance of historical context, the utility of short-termism in eco... more an argument in favor of the importance of historical context, the utility of short-termism in economic study and the importance of "anomaly" as s subject of historical inquiry.
Mercenary Bands and Decline of Siena, 1998
Sienese public finance in the fourteenth century
Dizionario Biografico Italiano, Volume 93, 2018
Spinelli, famiglia (sec. XIV-XV). Ebbe origine nel comune di Pontassieve (contado fiorentino) sul... more Spinelli, famiglia (sec. XIV-XV). Ebbe origine nel comune di Pontassieve (contado fiorentino) sulla riva destra dell'Arno alla confluenza col fiume Sieve, a circa 14 chilometri ad est di Firenze.
Petrarch's War: Florence and the Black Death in Context, 2018
Europe, 1450-1789
nary, the so-called haiduks were men of the people who stood against the hegemony of foreign rule... more nary, the so-called haiduks were men of the people who stood against the hegemony of foreign rulers and the exploitation of the poor by the nobility. However, in some cases it proves difficult to distinguish between ordinary bandits and politically minded heroic outlaws, fighting against the oppressor. In the Balkans, the recorded history of haiduks goes back to the fifteenth century, but popular ballads about their lives and deeds did not flourish before the middle of the eighteenth century.
The American Historical Review , 2005
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Journal of European Economic History, 1994
Economic History Review , 2017
Medieval merchants and money honours the career of James Bolton. It examines many of the topics s... more Medieval merchants and money honours the career of James Bolton. It examines many of the topics studied by Professor Bolton over the years, including credit, money supply, trade, and immigration. At the core of the book is, as the title indicates, the medieval merchant. The focus is, however, more precisely on the medieval English merchant and on the city of London. The essays are detailed archival pieces reflective of Bolton's fine work. Collectively, they give a nuanced portrait of the English merchant and his milieu.
Handbook of Medieval Military Strategy, 2024
Examination of loans, financial transactions and economy outside the town walls of trecento Flore... more Examination of loans, financial transactions and economy outside the town walls of trecento Florence
Antologia Militare; RIVISTA INTERDISCIPLINARE DELLA SOCIETÀ ITALIANA DI STORIA MILITARE, 2023
Examination of infantry based on archival sources
Shadow Agents of War, edited by Stephen Bowd, Sarah Cochram, John Gagne , 2023
This chapter examines 'shadow' bureaucrats and bureaucracy in trecento Florence. It traces the ac... more This chapter examines 'shadow' bureaucrats and bureaucracy in trecento Florence. It traces the activities of public offfij icials whose stated jobs (bell-ringer, accountant) suggest that they had little to do with the administration of warfare, but who in fact played major roles that reveal surprising and hitherto unknown institutional continuities. Given the frequency of warfare during the period, the evidence makes clear the need for additional research and a reevaluation of the Florentine bureaucracy that takes greater and more nuanced account of the efffects of warfare.
Comparative Economy and Martial Corporatism: Toward an Understanding of Florentine City Leagues, 1332-92, 2022
The essay makes extensive use of archival sources to examine the economic and political meaning o... more The essay makes extensive use of archival sources to examine the economic and political meaning of Florentine city leagues [taglie] during the period from 1332 to 1392, associated (since Machiavelli) with military decadence and loss of native martial spirit. The paper argues that rather than "failed proto-nationalistic" military associations, as they have long been understood, the leagues expose critical and otherwise unavailable evidence about the military, economic, and political organization of Florence and Italy. They provide insight into the comparative economic strength of Italian states during times of plague, for which data are otherwise scarce, and they reveal the "corporate" nature of Florentine diplomatic and military affairs-a "martial corporatism" that mirrors the well-known internal corporatism of the city long highlighted by scholars.
Dante Studies , 2020
R ecent historical research has done much to contextualize Dante in his political, social, and ec... more R ecent historical research has done much to contextualize Dante in his political, social, and economic milieu (De Robertis, Milani, Regnicoli, and Zamponi 2016; Milani and Montefusco 2014, 2017). Scholars have added important new details and perspectives, while highlighting also the contradictions inherent in the poet's life and of late duecento/early trecento Florentine society. "La figura di Dante presenta," as Silvia Diacciati argues, "elementi assai contraddittori," a judgment eloquently elaborated upon by Teodolinda Barolini with regard to Dante's views about "wealth management" (Diacciati 2017: 24; Barolini 2018: 45-46). The analyses reinforce the value of treating contradiction as a category of historical investigation that presents not an obstacle to greater understanding of the distant past, but a means of better apprehending it (Caferro 2018). Economic historians are nevertheless uncomfortable with contradiction. And efforts to contextualize Dante in terms of Florentine economic history present substantial challenges. Dante lived during a period of profound and transformative economic changes, when Florence ascended to leadership in the international economy. The rise was rapid, spectacular, and noisy. The Bardi, Peruzzi, and Acciaiuoli merchant banks became the "pillars of Christendom," known to modern scholars as "super companies" on account of their unprecedented size and scope. Florentine merchants were a "fifth element" alongside earth, air, fire, and water in terms of societal significance (Hunt 1994). To be sure, Florence's rise was, as Ignazio del Punta recently reminds
Desperta Ferro Arqueología e Historia n.35:, 2020
Description of human reactions to the plague of 1348
Business History Review , 2020
The essay examines the role of Christianity in premodern Euro-pean capitalism, with regard to the... more The essay examines the role of Christianity in premodern Euro-pean capitalism, with regard to the city of Florence. It traces the formation of the historical construct and the influence of Werner Sombart's Der moderne Kapitalismus, a work much neglected nowadays in the Anglophone academy. The article seeks to historicize and contextualize faith and economy, to stress their fundamentally intertwined nature and more specifically how notions of "negotiation" and diriturra (moral Christian rectitude) connect the seemingly antagonistic sides, and connect also Florentine finance and business history, which are too often studied independently. It argues that Christian rectitude and service to the church (a noncynical quid pro quo) were conjoined with a calculated, reasoned profit motive-evident especially among papal bankers, a key sector of the Florentine economy.
The Unbounded Community: Papers in Christian Ecumenism , 1996
examines Dante's apparent silences about Byzantium
Petrarch's War: Florence and the Black Death in Context, 2018
importance of understanding the immediate aftermath of the Black Death in its historical context
Petrarch's War: Florence and the Black Death in Context, 2018
an argument in favor of the importance of historical context, the utility of short-termism in eco... more an argument in favor of the importance of historical context, the utility of short-termism in economic study and the importance of "anomaly" as s subject of historical inquiry.
Mercenary Bands and Decline of Siena, 1998
Sienese public finance in the fourteenth century
Dizionario Biografico Italiano, Volume 93, 2018
Spinelli, famiglia (sec. XIV-XV). Ebbe origine nel comune di Pontassieve (contado fiorentino) sul... more Spinelli, famiglia (sec. XIV-XV). Ebbe origine nel comune di Pontassieve (contado fiorentino) sulla riva destra dell'Arno alla confluenza col fiume Sieve, a circa 14 chilometri ad est di Firenze.
Petrarch's War: Florence and the Black Death in Context, 2018
Europe, 1450-1789
nary, the so-called haiduks were men of the people who stood against the hegemony of foreign rule... more nary, the so-called haiduks were men of the people who stood against the hegemony of foreign rulers and the exploitation of the poor by the nobility. However, in some cases it proves difficult to distinguish between ordinary bandits and politically minded heroic outlaws, fighting against the oppressor. In the Balkans, the recorded history of haiduks goes back to the fifteenth century, but popular ballads about their lives and deeds did not flourish before the middle of the eighteenth century.
The American Historical Review , 2005
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Journal of European Economic History, 1994
Economic History Review , 2017
Medieval merchants and money honours the career of James Bolton. It examines many of the topics s... more Medieval merchants and money honours the career of James Bolton. It examines many of the topics studied by Professor Bolton over the years, including credit, money supply, trade, and immigration. At the core of the book is, as the title indicates, the medieval merchant. The focus is, however, more precisely on the medieval English merchant and on the city of London. The essays are detailed archival pieces reflective of Bolton's fine work. Collectively, they give a nuanced portrait of the English merchant and his milieu.
Roundtable Comments, 2024
Horizons of Econ History and Money/Barter, 13th -18th Cent Mezzi di scambio non monetari. Merc... more Horizons of Econ History and Money/Barter, 13th -18th Cent
Mezzi di scambio non monetari. Merci e servizi come monete alternative nelle economie dei secoli XIII-XVIII/
Alternative Currencies, Commodities and Service as Exchange Currencies in Monetized Economies, 13th -18th century, 2024
The topic of alternate currencies in the late medieval Europe is often linked to money supply, wh... more The topic of alternate currencies in the late medieval Europe is often linked to money supply, which has long been the subject of spirited debate. Scholars have devoted a great deal of study over the years to the late fourteenth and fifteenth century «bullion famine, a discourse stimulated in the first instance by the famous «prosperity versus hard times» debate about the effects of pestilence and «crises» of the era. Monetary historians have cited numerous interrelated factors, including mint production, balance of payments, international trade, money hoards, among others, that reduced the supply of specie and hampered financial transactions. 1 This essay examines alternate currencies used during the «crises» of the second half of the century in trecento Italy to make payments to soldiers. Scholars generally agree that war tightened markets and created stretezza of money supply. But there remains much that we do not know and variables that have not yet been fully investigated, including the fundamental issue of how soldiers were paid (Caferro 2023, 123-146). The lacuna reflects a compartmentalization of study that has separated war into a self-contained category known as military history, which, since Machiavelli and the nationalist writers of the Risorgimento who established the field (Ricotti 1844, Canestrini 1851), has focused primarily on moral issues related to the reliance in the trecento on mercenary soldiers, often ultramontane, from foreign lands, whose auri sacra fames, greed for gold coin, replaced native martial spirit and contributed to a dramatic rise in the costs of warfare. The more civic-minded (virtuous) communal period is the subject of excellent essays, and recent works have broadened our understanding of the later period
Charity, Medicine, and Religion in Late Medieval and Early Modern Italy, edited by George Dameron and Beth Petitjean (Toronto; University of Toronto Press), 2023
Teaching History, 2019
warned me. "It is stilted, obscure and students do not get the humor. You will end up standing th... more warned me. "It is stilted, obscure and students do not get the humor. You will end up standing there scratching your head, talking to yourself. " Since classrooms at Fairfield have elevated ledges at the front of them, I took the warning very seriously. It is one thing to look bad, but entirely another to do so standing on a platform.
La Firenze dell'eta di Dante negli atti di un notaio: Ser Matteo di Biliotto, 1294-1314, 2020
Examination of diplomacy and espionage at time of Dante and Boccaccio
Rebel Economies, edited by Nicola di Cosmo, Didier Fassin and Clemence Pinaud, 2021
Examination of non-state implications of 14th, 15th Century War in Italy
Teaching History, 2019
A look at the way History has been taught at American Universities
Niccolò Acciaiuoli, Boccaccio e la Certosa del Galluzzo. Politica, religione ed economia nell'Italia del Trecento, edited by Alessandro Andreini, Susanna Barsella, Elsa Filosa, Jason Houston, and Sergio Tognetti (Rome: Viella), , 2020
bozze of recently published article on intersection of faith, economy, war and politics in trecen... more bozze of recently published article on intersection of faith, economy, war and politics in trecento Italy, regarding Niccolo Acciaiuoli
The Cambridge History of War, vol 2. War in the Medieval World, 2020
La Firenze del eta di Dante negli Atti di un Notaio Ser Matteo Biliottto, 1294-1314, 2020
A cura di ANDREA BARLUCCHI FRANCO FRANCESCHI FRANEK SZNURA I due corposi registri di imbreviature... more A cura di ANDREA BARLUCCHI FRANCO FRANCESCHI FRANEK SZNURA I due corposi registri di imbreviature (circa 1.500 atti) lasciatici da uno degli esponenti più in vista del milieu politico istituzionale dell'età di Dante, ser Matteo di Biliotto, sono stati editi fra il 2002 e il 2016 dopo un lavoro preparatorio di anni. Il presente volume raccoglie, su questa base documentaria, nove saggi di altrettanti studiosi del periodo bassomedievale chiamati a misurarsi con una così straordinaria fonte storica ognuno nel suo specifico ambito di competenze. In primo luogo si approfondisce la figura, l'attività professionale e la carriera politica del notaio fiesolano immigrato a Firenze, comparandole con quanto noto alla ricerca sui temi del notariato medievale e della diplomazia in età comunale. Inoltre i rapporti professionali intessuti da ser Matteo con una variegata clientela cittadina offrono prezioso materiale per aprire una finestra sul mondo del lavoro: vengono così alla ribalta l'azione internazionale delle grandi compagnie mercantili, l'operosità delle botteghe artigiane e le problematiche dell'apprendistato, l'estrazione della pietra serena alle cave fiesolane, infine l'ambiente dei pittori fiorentini anche meno noti dell'età di Dante. € 20,00 LA FIRENZE DI DANTE NEGLI ATTI DI UN NOTAIO editpress
Teaching History, 2020
A brief history of history teaching at American Universities
Teaching History, 2019
The art of Teaching History
Teaching History, 2019
On the Art of Teaching History, from vantage of medievalist.
Wiley, 2011
The volumes in this series select some of the most controversial episodes in history and consider... more The volumes in this series select some of the most controversial episodes in history and consider their divergent, even starkly incompatible representations. The aim is not merely to demonstrate that history is "argument without end," but to show that study even of contradictory conceptions can be fruitful: that the jettisoning of one thesis or presentation leaves behind something of value.
in Hundred Years War: Different Vistas, edited by A Villalon (Brill, 2008
Hundred Years War : A Wider Focus, edited by Villalon, L.J. Andrew and Donald J. Kagay,, 2005
Assessment of English White Company in Italian Context during Pisan-Florentine War, 1362-4
in Dante in Context, edited by Lino Pertile and Zygmunt Baranski (Cambridge University Press),, 2015
Examination of Dante in terms of politics and notions of empire of his day
Dante and the Greeks, edited by Jan Ziolkowski (Harvard University Press, 2014), , 2014
A paper in the symposium, "Technologies of Segregation," organized by Saundra Weddle and Daniel ... more A paper in the symposium, "Technologies of Segregation," organized by Saundra Weddle and Daniel Bornstein as part of The Divided City: An Urban Humanities Initiative, Washington University in Saint Louis.
The Routledge History of the Renaissance
The Economic History Review
The Medieval Review, Jul 1, 2011
Journal of European Economic History, 1994
Desperta Ferro Antigua Y Medieval, 2013
American Historial Review Clases I, 2005
Caferro/Contesting the Renaissance, 2010
Caferro/Contesting the Renaissance, 2010
Caferro/Contesting the Renaissance, 2010
... The historian of science Marie Boas described Copernicus as the embodiment of the culture of... more ... The historian of science Marie Boas described Copernicus as the embodiment of the culture of the Renaissance.53 Nevertheless, Copernicus had studied Aristotle at Padua and accepted much of Aristotle's cosmology, including the notion that the universe was a finite sphere ...
Caferro/Contesting the Renaissance, 2010
The Journal of Economic History, 1994
Renaissance Quarterly, 1998
Renaissance Quarterly, 2014
On Florentine diplomacy in the early trecento. Paper for Conference/Atti on Ser Matteo Billioti
The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, (Autumn 2011)
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Volume a cura di A. Andreini, S. Barsella, E. Filosa, J. Houston, S. Tognetti, Roma, Viella, 2020