I Frescobaldi e gli altri

From the Crusades to the Pazzi Conspiracy, from the Hundred Years’ War to the rise of Matteo Renzi, bankers at the top of power, yesterday as today the direct heirs of the great aristocratic and banking families of the Middle Ages still sit in key positions of power. How decisive have the gigantic loans granted by the great bankers to princes and sovereigns been, from the Middle Ages to today? What is truly surprising about this new, enthralling study by Pietro Ratto is the disturbing fact that the direct heirs of that aristocratic and financial elite that had the world in its hands a thousand years ago, are still today at the top of some large multinationals, and of certain powerful banks, which firmly hold the reins of global politics and economics.