Siena, the story of a mediaeval commune . he fairs ofChampagne.* In these merchant gatherings, Italians, usuallydesignated as Lombards, or with scant internationalcourtesy, on account of their sharp bargains, as Lom-bard dogs, occupied a conspicuous place. Especiallytoward the end of each fair, when, as we have seen, thebanking began, did they step forward with the air ofpolite and accommodating middlemen; and amongthem, from the beginning of the thirteenth century,*)were prominent many adventurous citizens of the second half of that same century we have orig- * On the fairs of Champ
Siena, the story of a mediaeval commune . he fairs ofChampagne.* In these merchant gatherings, Italians, usuallydesignated as Lombards, or with scant internationalcourtesy, on account of their sharp bargains, as Lom-bard dogs, occupied a conspicuous place. Especiallytoward the end of each fair, when, as we have seen, thebanking began, did they step forward with the air ofpolite and accommodating middlemen; and amongthem, from the beginning of the thirteenth century,*)were prominent many adventurous citizens of the second half of that same century we have orig- * On the fairs of Champagne and the general commercial activity of theSienese in the thirteenth century, see the following: Paoli, Siena alleFierediSciampagna; Paoli and Piccolomini, Lettere Volgari; Zdekauer,Documenti Senesi riguardanti le Fiere di Champagne (Studi Senesi nelcircolo Giuridico, XII, 337); II Monte dei Paschi, Vol. I; Patetta,Caorsini Senesi in Inghilterra, Bull. Sen., IV, 311/. fSee Paoli, Fiere di Sciampagna, p. 69. The earliest date is Saint CatherineBy Andrea Vanni (in the Church of San Domenico) THE BURGHERS 99 inal material of a unique kind, being a number ofletters of Sienese merchants in the Tuscan idiom, record-ing the transactions of Champagne with accuracy andfulness.* Although these documents, owing to theirantiquity, constitute an important contribution to thegeneral history of mediaeval commerce, the student ofSiena is interested in them chiefly because they furnisha clear, direct, and wholly intelligible picture of theactivity on which the early prosperity of the town wasfounded. What economic facts do those letters communicate?To begin with, we make out that it was customary,toward the middle of the thirteenth century, for a num-ber of enterprising Sienese citizens to form a partnershipand dispatch one or more of their number to Champagneto turn the subscribed capital to account. As almostall the great Sienese families with whom we shall bedealing, the Salimbeni
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