St Antoninus of Florence on Trade, Merchants, and Workers

by Jason Aaron Brown

Overview

Saint Antoninus of Florence was a Dominican friar and archbishop of Florence from 1446 to 1459. He composed one of the most comprehensive manuals of moral theology, the Summa, which has long been counted among the more copious, influential, and rewarding medieval sources.

St Antoninus of Florence on Trade, Merchants, and Workers gives an orientation to the life and teaching of Saint Antoninus, focusing on his writings on economic ethics. It includes a critical edition of his original Latin text with an English translation. The book provides an extensive introduction to his thought, situating it in its intellectual and social context, and elucidates the development of medieval economic and moral doctrines in law and theology. The book examines historians' arguments about Italian business culture in the wake of the medieval "Commercial Revolution" and whether this culture can be considered capitalistic. It concludes that while Saint Antoninus is surprisingly modern in the economic concepts he deploys, his moral teaching on proper means and ends in the marketplace stood against certain nascent capitalistic tendencies in fifteenth-century Florence. Through examination of the manuscripts, this book opens a window into a premodern author's writing process that will be of interest to scholars of medieval manuscripts and literary production.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781487545949
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	04/18/2024
Series:	Toronto Studies in Medieval Law , #5
Pages:	624
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jason Aaron Brown is a sessional instructor in the Department of History at the University of Manitoba.

Table of Contents

List of Tables, Plates, and Figures
List of Photos
Acknowledgements
Preface
Abbreviations
Chronology of St Antoninus's Life

Part 1: Introduction

1. St Antoninus of Florence
Preamble. St Antoninus today
1. Sources for the biography of Antoninus
2. First influences: Niccolò Pierozzi and the Dominican friars
3. Giovanni Dominici and canon law
4. The Observant reform movement and the founding of San Marco
5. Antoninus the Counsellor
6. Archbishop of Florence, 1446–1459
7. Saint Antoninus and his posthumous influence

2. The Summa
Preamble. The written works of St Antoninus
1. The conception of the Summa
2. Textual witnesses: identifying the autograph manuscripts
3. The composition of the Summa
4. Conclusion: the Summa as Recollectorium

3. The Scholastic Tradition on Justice in Buying and Selling
Preamble. Antoninus's authorities in the Summa as a whole
1. Introductory remarks
2. The Bible, Church fathers, and sacred canons via Peter Lombard and Gratian
3. Roman law via the Liber Extra and the decretalists
4. Aristotle via Thomas Aquinas: Aquinas's synthesis
5. Postscript: Peter John Olivi via Bernardino of Siena

4. St Antoninus's Teaching on Trade, Merchants, and Workers
Preamble. The business culture of renaissance Florence
1. Theology of work: Summa 3.8.1
2. Justice in buying and selling: Summa 2.1.16
3. Fraudulent practices, especially those known in Florence: Summa 2.1.17
4. Types of contracts: Summa 3.8.2
5. Exchange banking and other commercial transactions: Summa 3.8.3
6. The different sorts of workers and their vices: Summa 3.8.4
7. Purpose: preaching, hearing confessions, and consulting in the court of souls

Part 2: Latin Text and English Translation

Introduction to the Edition
Textual witnesses
Codicological descriptions
Editorial principles
Note on the translation
Apparatus abbreviations

Edition and Translation
Antoninus Florentinus, Summa, 2.1.16
De fraudulentia per modum predicationis / On fraud, arranged for preaching
Antoninus Florentinus, Summa, 2.1.17
De uariis fraudibus que commictuntur in negotiando / On the various frauds which are committed in trading
Antoninus Florentinus, Summa, 3.8.1
De merchatoribus et artificibus per modum sermonis / On merchants and workers, arranged for a sermon
Antoninus Florentinus, Summa, 3.8.2
De diuersis generibus contractuum / On the various kinds of contracts
Antoninus Florentinus, Summa, 3.8.3
De negotiatoribus et campsoribus / On traders and bankers
Antoninus Florentinus, Summa, 3.8.4
De diuersis generibus artificum / On the various kinds of workers

Bibliography
Pre-1600
Post-1600

Appendix 1. Recensions
1. Table of substantial additions to the first recension of 2.1.16
2. Table of substantial additions to the first recension of 2.1.17
3. First draft of 3.8.1 on M2 fol. 69r
4. Table of substantial additions to the first recension of 3.8.1
5. First draft of 3.8.2 on M2 fol. 114v–115r
6. Table of substantial additions to the first recension of 3.8.2
7. Table of substantial additions to the first recension of 3.8.3
8. Table of substantial additions to the first recension of 3.8.4

Appendix 2. Sources and parallel passages for 2.1.16
Summary
Table of sources and parallel passages

Appendix 3. Description of the hand A's letter-forms