The Merchant of Prato: Francesco di Marco Datini, 1335-1410

"For God and Profit" is how the medieval merchant Francesco di Marco Datini headed a notebook in which he kepi track of his business dealings, and these were certainly his guiding lights. Born in the 1330s in the Tuscan town of Prato, the son of a poor taverner, Datini set out at the age of fifteen for Avignon, where, over the course of the next thirty-five years, he made a fortune trading in arms, armor, artworks, wool, saffron, leather, silk, and much more. Returning home, he expanded his...