He became an apprentice of a merchant in Florence and when he was fifteen, he joined a group of merchants who were going to Avignon, the city where the Popes had moved at the time.[1] His first business was the arms trade, which was quite profitable in Avignon during the Hundred Years' War.[2] He eventually became a supplier of luxury goods and art for the wealthy cardinals residing there.[1] The works of art these figures bought were some of the first consumed for private, non religious use. Before this time, the church had been the primary patron of the arts. Later on, the papacy and other pious individuals commissioned religious artwork, creating a use for Francesco's merchant skills.