Building a city : spaces and real estate dynamics in Rome in the 15th century

Abstract

The urban configuration of Rome in the low Middle Ages, that is of the city that accompanied the formation and economic and political growth of the commonality, took shape in a phase of economic development that began in the twelfth century and continued throughout the following. In economic terms, one of the aspects closely related to the use of urban spaces is the relationship between such spaces and the market for land and the edifices erected thereupon. Between the end of the XIV century and the beginning of the XVI, the number of residents nearly trebled and «what’s more, this growth was very peculiar, in the sense that the increasing number of well-to-do immigrants and foreign papal courtiers boosted demand for fine goods» . Thus, also the most important of the pope’s bankers took advantage of their position to engage heavily in trade, a function that Florentine bankers had begun to fulfill since the latter part of the XIV century. This financial and trade pattern was not linked to Rome as a city but as seat of the papal court. In fact, when this moved from the city, the merchant bankers followed it, weaving a web of international relationships along the way. For this reason they were called Romanam Curiam sequentes (followers of the Roman curia). The effort of the central government was part of a much broader process. In fact, the popes were committed to changing their dominions to a modern state.