Romeo Pepoli

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Romeo Pepoli (* around 1250 in Bologna , † 1322 in Avignon ) was a banker and politician from Bologna. Through a clever marriage policy, he increased the influence and reputation of his family and through his financial transactions became the richest private person in Italy in the fourteenth century.

Family and Marriage Policy

Romeo Pepoli comes from the wealthy Pepoli family, the son of Zerra di Ugolino (and possibly Paola Anguissola) . He had at least three siblings: Egidia, Donella and Giovanna. After his father died in 1267, Romeo tried to improve the position of the family by arranging weddings for his sisters with members of respected aristocratic families: while Donella married Uguccione Tettalasini into a Ghibelline family in 1276 , Giovanna married Giacomo Caccianemici a Guelf in 1281 . In 1280 Romeo Pepoli himself married Azzolina Tettalasini , with whom he had at least seven sons and three daughters. The children were also used as much as possible in Romeo's marriage policy, the most influential connection being the marriage of his daughter Giacoma to Obizzo III. d'Este from the old noble family of the Este .

Finances

The Palazzo Pepoli Vecchio, photographed by Paolo Monti

As early as 1269 Romeo was involved in the financial affairs of his father and his uncle Zoene, which took place in the fields of credit and real estate investments. It often happened that borrowers could not repay the money due to high tax burdens, whereby Romeo's property was enlarged by the land or real estate used as pledge . In this way, in 1276, he acquired a plot of land with a house in Via Castiglione in Bologna, which would house the family seat for the next few centuries (his son Taddeo had the Palazzo Pepoli built here).

Two statements of assets show the immense increase in land: in 1296 Romeo owned around 200 hectares of land, in 1315 it was already more than 2,600 hectares, which made him the largest landowner in Bologna. Owning real estate in the city and mills in the surrounding area not only brought income, but also enabled him to exert pressure and influence on the tenants and farmers. This increase in wealth was also reflected in the clientele: At first it was more about craftsmen, traders and wage earners who took out small loans, it was about 1,315 large families who were active in the agricultural sector or wholesaling, religious organizations that handled complex real estate transactions or powerful guilds and guilds .

politics

With the help of the in-laws that existed to families of Guelphs such as Ghibellines, Romeo had a brilliant political career from around 1275: he held offices in the guild of money changers, was together with other family members in a società d'armi (that was an organized Association of citizens for the military defense of the city or city districts, which also had a political say) and sat in the Consiglio degli Ottocento (Council of 800, made up of representatives of the guilds and the società d'armi ). He also sat on university committees that advised political institutions. His policy followed a moderate Guelfean line.

Bologna's war against the Estonians (1296–1299) ended with a victory, but it had serious consequences: diplomatic, student, economic and especially agricultural in the surrounding area. Politically, small committees for quick military decisions gained power and influence at the expense of traditional government organs: the War Committee, the Food Committee, and the Finance Committee. Romeo Pepoli sat repeatedly on these committees during the first years of the fourteenth century. The power, which he amassed through this and through his financial support for the commune , already made him look like a Signor of Bologna.

Even the former opponents, the Estonians, came now to ask Romeo for financial support. They were banished from their city of Ferrara in 1309 and now needed funds to set up a mercenary army with which they could take back the city - which had since fallen to the Papal States. Romeo was not resentful and granted the credit and also arranged Giacoma's wedding to Obizzo. In March 1317 this was celebrated, in August 1317 the Estonians had their city again.

In March 1320, the doctorate of Taddeo, the designated heir of Romeo, was celebrated with congratulations from all around.

End of the soaring

Romeo's rise came to an abrupt end in July 1321 when a riot, instigated and coordinated by his fiercest opponents, forced him and his family to flee. They found shelter with the relatives by marriage in Ferrara. After a number of failed attempts to return, Romeo fell into the hands of the papal legate Bertrand du Pouget . This sent him to the court in Avignon to Pope John XXII. account for the many political and judicial allegations that he instigated riots.

He died in Avignon in the autumn of 1322.

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ according to Giansante (p. 1); Wandruszka (p. 19) considers a 'de Rustiganis' or 'Lucchese Zovenzoni' to be more plausible as a mother.
  2. ↑ after Leo, p. 476: on October 1st.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Leo p. 474
  2. ↑ See Leo p. 478
personal data
SURNAME Pepoli, Romeo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Banker and politician
DATE OF BIRTH around 1250
PLACE OF BIRTH Bologna , Italy
DATE OF DEATH 1322
Place of death Avignon , France