L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 24 L'Italo-Americano B a n k s : w e a l l u s e t h e m b u t h a v e w e e v e r t h o u g h t a b o u t when and how they were created? History tells us that the earliest forms of banking - or something close to it - were practiced by the Assyrians a n d t h e B a b y l o n i a n s i n Mesopotamia, as far back as 2,000 years before the birth of Christ. It was quite normal for the wealthy to entrust their riches to mem- bers of the royal palace or to religious functionaries for safekeeping. This connection between financial and reli- gious activities continued in A n c i e n t G r e e c e , w h e r e priests would set near the temple their trapeza, a stall where they could directly manage and control all offers made to temple itself. It is, however, during the Italian Middle Ages and Renaissance, at the time of comuni and signorie, that t h e i d e a a n d c o n c e p t o f "bank" came closer to what we know today. That's why w e o f t e n s a y b a n k s a s a n institution are an Italian creation. In the beginning, it was all in the hands of goldsmiths, who were in charge of assess- ing the value of gold and sil- ver coins, depending on the level of purity of the metal. S o o n , p e o p l e w o u l d a l s o deposit sums of money at t h e i r w o r k s h o p s f o r s a f e - keeping. At some stage - we don't have an exact date - goldsmiths in Tuscany and, very likely Liguria and Vene- to (Genoa and Venice were key trade cities, with plenty of money circulating) started i s s u i n g n o t e d i b a n c o , "counter notes," their name coming from the fact they w e r e o f t e n s i g n e d o n t h e g o l d s m i t h ' s w o r k i n g c o u n t e r . T h e s e r e c e i p t s s h o w e d t h e a m o u n t o f m o n e y r e c e i v e d f o r s a f e - keeping. In the late Middle Ages, noblemen and mer- chants began using lettere di credito, "credit letters," a very early form of cheque. B a c k t h e n , h o w e v e r , things worked very different- ly if you think that noblemen and even royals would often get rid of debts by simply bestowing a title on their c r e d i t o r : w e h a v e a v e r y famous example of it in the D e M e d i c i f a m i l y , who became signori of Florence, h e n c e t h e c i t y ' s e f f e c t i v e rulers, as a repayment for a l o a n t h e y h a d p r e v i o u s l y granted. Florence, the De Medicis, Tuscany… this quaint and precious corner of Italy is key for the development of financial institutions and it is there, in Siena to be pre- cise, that the first bank was born. The Monte dei Paschi di Siena was founded in 1472 and, with its 551 years of activity, it is the oldest a c t i v e b a n k i n t h e w o r l d . Founded as a mount of piety called Monte Pio by the lead- e r s h i p o f t h e R e p u b l i c o f S i e n a , i t s s t a t u t e w a s approved, as mentioned, in 1472: despite its historical ups and downs, the last of which took place between 2013 and 2017, when Monte dei Paschi was saved from bankruptcy by statal inter- vention, the bank has oper- ated without interruption since then. I n i t i a l l y , M o n t e P i o w o r k e d j u s t l i k e a p a w n shop: you would bring some- thing valuable and receive money in exchange for it, and you could get whatever you surrendered only if you paid back in time the money you had borrowed. When S i e n a b e c a m e p a r t o f t h e Grand Duchy of Tuscany in 1 5 5 5 , M o n t e P i o s t a r t e d offering loan agreements to landowners in the region. In 1580, it also became a tax collector, adding another important public financial activity to its belt. Less than 50 years later, in 1624, a sec- ond banca pubblica focusing only on the financial activi- ties of landowners and farm- ers was created, with the name of Monte non vacabile dei Paschi della città e stato di Siena. Among its clients, there was also the Grand D u k e o f T u s c a n y F e r d i - nand II, who gave to the M o n t e a l l r e v e n u e s f r o m s t a t e - o w n e d f a r m l a n d i n Maremma (the paschi) as a guarantee for his debts. In 1783, the Monte Pio and the Monte dei Paschi were unified. A century later, their name became Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the same t h a t t h e b a n k s t i l l h o l d s today. W e ' v e a l l m e t a s a p i e n - t o n e (sah-pee- ehn-toh-nai) at least once in our lives, and I am sure I speak for everyone when say- ing we'd rather never spend time with them again! Sapientone comes from the word sapienza, which means "knowledge" or "wis- dom." It is the augmentative form of the noun sapiente, "wise" or "knowledgeable," and we use it when referring to people who flaunt their knowledge too much, often w i t h o u t r e a s o n a n d o f t e n without being all that knowl- edgeable or wise at all! In English, you can trans- late it with "know-it-all." S a p i e n t o n e c a n b e declined in gender and num- ber so you can find it also at the feminine (sapientona), and plural (sapientoni and sapientone). To be honest, sapientoni are never too funny and it's better to avoid them if you can because they tend to be very pretentious and often don't accept to be wrong: E' inutile discuterne con lui, fa il sapientone ma non ha capito nulla ("there's no point in dis- cussing it with him, he plays the know-it-all but he didn't understand anything"). More often than not, sapi- entoni love the sound of their own voice and never let other people speak: you can't have a dialogue with a sapientone because they don't know how to debate. It's all about them, and how smart they are. As you can see, sapientone isn't a very positive word. It n e v e r r e f e r s t o s o m e o n e smart and knowledgeable for real, but rather to those who wrongly believe to be: E' un s a p i e n t o n e p i e n o d i s è : sarebbe capace di insegnare fisica a Einstein! ("he is a pompous know-it-all: he'd teach Einstein physics!). The best thing to do with s a p i e n t o n i i s n o t t o g e t involved: let them speak to the air and the walls, while you think about what you'd l i k e t o h a v e f o r d i n n e r tonight... Non fare il sapientone con me, è un atteggiamento che non mi piace Don't be a know-it-all with me, it's an attitude I don't like Ci sono professori fantasti- ci nella mia scuola e altri che fanno solo i sapientoni There are some fantastic teachers in my school, and others who are just know-it- all Fare il sapientone non ti porterà da nessuna parte! Being a know-it-all won't lead you anywhere! LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Word of the day: sapientone - someone needs a reality check! Italian curiosities: did you know the first banks were born in Italy? The headquarters of Monte dei Paschi, in Siena (Photo: Tinamou/Dreamstime) (Photo: Monkey Business Images/Dreamstime)

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