Agostino Chigi, the Holy See's Banker: Supplying the Sinews of War During the Italian Renaissance
Gilbert weaves an engaging tapestry of international conflict and papal intrigue in this short volume. Central to this book is how the business interests of Agostino Chigi, a prominent banker in Rome, intersected with the secular plans of the Roman Curia.

When Chigi arrived in Venice in 1511, the Most Serene Republic was in the midst of the War of the League of Cambrai, a grave threat indeed to Venice's existence. Chigi went to Venice to negotiate the terms of a 20,000 ducat loan to the Republic, which was in need of funds to finance the conduct of the war and to pay the salaries of condottieri, or mercenary soldiers. The loan, while relatively inconsequential to financing Venice's war efforts (the yearly salary of the commander-in-chief of the condottieri was more than twice the nominal loan amount), would cement Venice's relationship with Chigi, who as part of Julius II's inner circle was expected by Venetians to play a pivotal role in obtaining greater papal support for the beleaguered republic. As part of the conditionalities of the said loan, Chigi demanded a monopoly on the sale of alum--obtained from the papal-controlled and Chigi-managed Tolfa mines--on the Venetian market.

Chigi's visit to Venice, the banker's ensuing negotiations with the Venetians over the terms of the loan, and Chigi's attempts to establish a monopoly over the alum trade in Europe apparently took place with the blessing of Pope Julius II. Julius II, who probably saw himself as a new Caesar, wished to restore the Papal States to the Catholic Church and to expand the temporal powers of the papal office. He created alliances with various European powers, launching the League of Cambrai in 1508.

Chigi's storied career in Rome, which spanned three decades and three popes, is covered in some detail. As a "mercator Senensis Romanam Curiam sequens" or official banker to the Vatican, Chigi was expected to extend loans to the pontiff upon demand. In exchange for this, the banker was entitled to receive certain privileges, such as obtaining the right to administer the alum mines at Tolfa. Almost certainly privy to papal machinations, Chigi was alleged to have financed Julius II's election to the papacy in 1503. In recognition of Chigi's services to the Curia, Julius II honored the banker by making the Chigis in 1509 members of the pope's family, the Roveres.

Gilbert's book provides a richly nuanced portrait of Renaissance Italy, seen through the travails of Venice and the maneuverings of that era's Vicar of Christ and his banker. Scholarly yet written to be accessible to the layperson, "The Pope, His Banker, and Venice" leaves the reader wanting to learn more about Chigi and his times. ( )