Today's rich families in Florence were rich 700 years ago
I&#x27;m not entirely surprised.  In Florence, and probably in lots of other places too, wealth was amassed in land holdings and gold (florins being the currency).  Land holdings over a 700 year horizon seems like a far better stability bet than equities, since the land itself has intrinsic value even if the occasional war or natural disaster gets rid of whatever is happening on it.  Back in the 1400&#x27;s, the merchant class absolutely made a great living - upper class even.  But the old blue bloods (many families of which even went broke, in terms of liquidity) and nobility had land.  They used that land to build business and bring in rents, and build business relationships with other upper class families, but even as the businesses faded the land remained.  I mentioned some of the old Florentine nobility going broke - many of them preferred hardship to selling their land holdings.  Some of them would eventually marry off a daughter to a family that desired the blue blood relationship and some land would go as dowry, thus restoring the fortune in that family (through the wealth of the inlaws).  One good example is Lisa Gherardini&#x27;s marriage into the del Giocondo family - she was of an old nobility fallen on harder times, while the Giocondo family were new money merchants.  Some land and a few florins went with her, the Gherardini family were restored a bit and the Giocondo family remained wealthy for a long time.<p>I&#x27;m not a historian, but I&#x27;ve taken a bit of an interest in Florentine history as an adult, so take this for what it&#x27;s worth.  A real historian would probably know better.