Antonio Pessagno

Sir Antonio Pessagno (* around 1280; † after 1334) was a merchant from Italy. He is best known for his work as the financier of King Edward II of England and for his work in France. From 1312 to 1319 he was the main financier of the government of the English king, whom he also served as advisor, diplomat and seneschal of Gascon during this time.

origin

Antonio Pessagno came from Genoa , where his family had long belonged to the urban upper class. His brother Manuel was made the inheritance of Admiral of Portugal in 1317 . Antonio Pessagno was married to Leona Fieschi , who came from the Fieschi family , one of the most influential noble families from Genoa.

Promotion to the merchant of the English king

Pessagno is first mentioned in 1306 or 1307 as one of the foreign merchants who exported wool from England. Before 1311 he procured spices for the English royal court. In 1311 the English Treasury investigated how much foreign money was in England in the possession of foreign merchants. Pessagno had more money than any other Italian in England with 12,000  florins (the equivalent of around £ 2000). Up to this point in time, the Frescobaldi family from Florence had been the main debtor of the government of King Edward II. After the king had to accept severe restrictions due to an opposition to the nobility, which were laid down in the so-called ordinances , the king could no longer meet his financial obligations towards the Frescobaldi. The Frescobaldi family went bankrupt a little later. Despite the warnings from Giovanni Frescobaldi , Pessagno now lent money to the English king, albeit initially on a small scale. His origins from a respected Genoese patrician family and his skills as a seafarer made him acceptable to the English royal court, so that on April 5, 1312 he was officially designated as the king's merchant . By this point he had already loaned the king at least £ 2086.

Most important lender to the King of England

In the next few years Pessagno continued to lend the English king large sums of money. In addition, he financed the procurement of goods for both the royal household and for the war with Scotland . The power of the king was at this time severely restricted by the restrictions of the ordinances, so that the high credits of Pessagno during this critical phase of the rule of the king ensured his solvency. In May 1313, Pessagno was supposed to get the king a loan of £ 20,000. When Edward II visited the French king Philip IV in June 1313 , he received a loan of £ 33,000 from the French king in Paris through Pessagno's contacts. Pessagno organized an additional £ 13,000 on credit from Enguerrand de Marigny . These immense sums were probably used to finance the king's visit to France. In March 1314, Pessagno organized the transfer of £ 25,000 which Pope Clement V loaned the English king. The money was used to finance the king's campaign in Scotland in 1314. Pessagno organized at least half of the equipment and provisions of the English army for this campaign, and he lent the king large amounts of cash. Between March and June 1314 he provided the king with at least £ 21,000, but despite this sufficient financial support, the English army was decisively defeated at the Battle of Bannockburn .

In total, between April 1312 and January 1319, Pessagno lent the English crown at least £ 144,000, averaging £ 20,500 a year to lend the crown more money than any other merchant before. Most of the capital that Pessagno lent probably came from other Genoa merchants. In November 1314, Pessagno confirmed to the king that he had returned £ 104,900. The king owed him £ 6605 at that time. The king thanked Pessagno with gifts of at least £ 6782, and in October 1312 the king granted him the sole right to buy the tin from the ore mines in Cornwall and Devon . In south-west England, however, so numerous accusations were made against Pessagno that this monopoly was withdrawn from him in 1316.

Activity as royal advisor, diplomat and Seneschal of Gascony

In England Pessagno also had intensive contacts with London merchants. Since the City of London advocated observance of the ordinances, they refused Pessagno in 1313 the appointment to Freeman . In contrast, at the royal court, Pessagno was soon valued as a generous financier. He rose to become the king's advisor and also served as a diplomat. In October 1313 he sat down together with the Earl of Pembroke , the Earl of Hereford and Bartholomew Badlesmere successfully for the pardon of Gruffudd de la Pole , a henchman of the Earl of Lancaster . In May 1315 he accompanied Pembroke and the Bishop of Exeter when they traveled to Vincennes as envoy to the new French King Louis X. On November 1, 1315, he was knighted by the king , and on November 24, along with Pembroke and William Montagu , he advised the king to conclude a truce with the Scottish King Robert Bruce . During the great famine from 1315 to 1317 , Pessagno imported grain from the Mediterranean, which was mainly used to supply the garrisons in the castles on the border with Scotland. During the Scottish invasion of Ireland from 1315 onwards, Pessagno worked out a plan to gain control of the Irish Sea , where the Scottish privateer Thomas Dun landed English ships. Pessagno wanted to hire five large galleys from Genoa with a total of 1000 men, which should be ready for use in the summer of 1317. However, due to the high costs, the plan was not implemented. In January 1317 Pessagno traveled together with Pembroke, Badlesmere and the bishops of Norwich and Ely as envoy to the Curia in Avignon . After Pembroke was captured on the return voyage, he stayed with Badlesmere in Paris to seek Pembroke's release. How exactly Pembroke was released is not known, but on June 23, 1317, Pessagno and Badlesmere reached London again with Pembroke.

On November 17, 1317, the King appointed Pessagno Seneschal of Gascony , authorizing him to take out loans of up to 20,000 marks for the administration of the area . With this he was supposed to finally redeem the loan granted by Clemens V in 1314. As with the administration of the tin monopoly, however, Pessagno proved clumsy in the administration of Gascon. He became involved in serious conflicts with nobles from the region. On November 20, 1318, the King appointed William Montagu as the new Seneschal. Pessagno was not informed in advance of his impeachment and Montagu was to send him back to England immediately, if necessary as a prisoner. The cause of this abrupt impeachment was probably the dispute between Pessagno and Jourdain de l'Isle , the leading nobleman of Gascon. Pessagno had probably made the influential Earl of Pembroke his opponent, against whom the Pope had advocated l'Isle in 1318. On January 16, 1319, Edward II turned to the Pope himself and stated that Pessagno had made false accusations against Pembroke during his last visit to the Curia. He may also have been charged with financial irregularities in his administration.

Emigration and return under Edward III.

Pessagno returned to England after his impeachment and appeared in the Treasury on April 26, 1319 to present his accounts. Although he apparently regained the king's favor by August 1319, he no longer played a role as the king's lender. This task was taken over by the Bardi bank in Florence . Probably out of opposition to Hugh le Despenser the Elder and his son Hugh le Despenser , the reckless new favorites of the king, Pessagno traveled to Paris before April 1320 and initially did not return to England. During the War of Saint-Sardos in 1324, Archbishop Walter Reynolds falsely suspected him of putting together a fleet with his brother Manuel for an invasion of England.

Only after the fall of King Edward II and the fall of the regent Roger Mortimer in 1330 did Pessagno return under Edward III. returned to the English court at Christmas 1330, where he was treated as a Knight Banneret . Pessagno may have had William Montagu , one of Edward III's closest friends. assisted in the fall of Mortimer. Montagu promised him the repayment of £ 8141 that the Crown still owed him. In 1334 Pessagno still served as the English ambassador to the papal court in Avignon, but his further fate is unknown.

literature

• Natalie Fryde: Antonio Pessagno of Genoa, king's merchant of Edward II . In: Studi in memoria di Federigo Melis , Vol. 2, Giannini, Naples 1978, pp. 155-179

Web links

• EB Fryde: Pessagno, Sir Antonio (bc 1280, d. In or after 1334). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 219
2. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 22
3. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 139
4. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 218
5. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 218
6. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 219
7. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 87
8. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 53
9. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 166
10. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 281, n8
11. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , p. 247
12. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 106
13. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 262
14. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 286
15. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 289
16. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , p. 303
17. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 339
18. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 339
19. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 182
20. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 340
21. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 145