entry Aug 2005
rev. Aug 2011
Palazzo Ricca
— the Bank of
Naples & the Historical Archives
Palazzo Ricca (photo) is
located at via Tribunali 213. One story goes that in the mid-1500s
some lawyers loitering on the stairs of Palazzo Capuano, the Hall of
Justice cum debtors' prison, were
flagged down by an inmate. He was waving his
coat and wanted to "loan" it to them for five carlini,
the sum he needed to get out of jail. They
agreed. With that, the grand and benevolent
institution of the pawn shop in Naples was born,
with said enterprising legal fleagles opening up
shop right there in the prison. The business
soon moved into new premises and opened as the Monte
e Banco dei Poveri.
That
colorful story may or may not be true. The
Bank of Naples, itself, has this to say about
its own history:
The origins of the Banco di Napoli date back to the public banks in religious locations, which emerged in Naples in the 16th and 17th centuries. One of the first charitable institutions to go into banking was the Monte di Pietà, founded in 1539, whose philanthropic purpose was to provide interest-free loans on pawned goods. Later, the Monte di Pietà opened a depository bank that was recognized with a viceregal proclamation in 1584.
Another seven institutions were then opened [in Naples]: the Sacro Monte e Banco dei Poveri (1600); the Banco Ave Gratia Plena or Banco della Santissima Annunziata (1587); the Banco di Santa Maria del Popolo (1589); the Banco dello Spirito Santo (1590); the Banco di Sant' Eligio (1592); the Banco di San Giacomo e Vittoria (1597); and the Banco del Santissimo Salvatore (1640). These eight banks prospered for over two hundred years.
(Such
institutions in Naples were in the tradition
of the many such church-run non-profit pawn
houses that had started to open throughout
Italy in the mid-1400s in order to combat
usury.) In 1616, the original Monte di Pietà
transferred to Palazzo Ricca and in 1632 became
a public institution. The adjacent Palazzo Cuomo
was added to the premises in 1787. The name Banco
dei Poveri would remain until a
consolidation of all such public banks in 1794
by Ferdinand IV of Bourbon produced the "Banco
Nazionale di Napoli," then becoming the "Bank of
the Two Sicilies"
in the early 1800s. After the unification of
Italy (1861), the institution became, simply,
the "Banco di Napoli".
note on
St. Cajetan
I was kindly reminded a few days ago that August 7 is the feast day of St. Cajetan (San Gaetano in Italian) (1480-1547), one of the promoters of the original Monte di Pietà in 1539. The saint was born Gaetano dei Conti di Tiene (also Thiene) and founder of the order of the Clerics Regular, better known as the Theatines. (He should not be confused with his contemporary, Cardinal Thomas Cajetan, prominent theologian of the Counter-Reformation.) San Gaetano is the patron saint of the unemployed, gamblers, job seekers and good fortune. His remains are in the Theatine church of San Paolo Maggiore in Naples. The church is at the precise center of the old historical center of the ancient city (#33 on this map). The square is, indeed, named Piazza San Gaetano and there is a prominent statue of the saint in the square. The statue is from the years 1657-70 and was the work of the indefatigable Cosimo Fanzago. Originally, it was to be an obelisk, a "plague column" like others in the city, but was never finished.
"String" of
bank documents
from the
1600s
My main
interest in the Bank of Naples is that it
was recently bought out and is now called the
Sanpaolo Banco di Napoli. When I first saw that
name, I thought: "Hmmm, San Paolo is the
name of the Naples soccer stadium. My bank has
been bought by a football team!" Even
worse, the Naples club is wallowing in the
nether realm of the C league (as Minor League as
you can get). What does this mean for my money?
As it turns out, Sanpaolo is also the moniker of
some high-powered northern Italian manipulator
of mammon, so I was wrong. On the other hand, I
tried to use my Sanpaolo Banco di Napoli piece
of plastic in a Sanpaolo Banco di Napoli on the
island of Sardinia, foolishly figuring that
since the island is part of Italy, there would
no problem:
"We can't take that."
"But it's your bank! It's my bank! It's our bank," I said, deftly angling for some solidarity.
"Yes, but only in
Naples." (That is an
exact quote). So, maybe I wasn't wrong.
My secondary
interest in the bank has been that it
maintains a library and historical archive, one
of the most exhaustive of its kind in the world,
documenting centuries of
financial life of Naples and Southern Italy. I
have never used the archive. (It is housed at
the original site, Palazzo Ricca. The bank,
itself, is now on via Roma/via Toledo, photo,
left.) My plan is to
flash my Sanpaolo Banco di Napoli card at them
and see if works in lieu of the letter of
recommendation from a university or research
institute, signed in sextuplicate with attached
urine sample just to get in and read some
newspapers from the 1600s.
Due to the
above-mentioned consolidation decreed by King
Ferdinand in 1819, the archive contains historical
material from all of the early banks in Naples.
All documents from eight public banks, founded
between 1463 and 1640 were then archived together
in Palazzo Ricca. It became the "General Archive";
since 1950 it has been called the "Historical
Archive".
After
various incarnations as hock shop, bank, credit
institution, juggernaut of greed, limited
company and whatever else, the bank has now
created a separate Instituto di Napoli
Foundation, which is responsible for running the
archive. From the Foundation's published
description of itself:
Through the Historical Archive, with its Library and Newspaper and Periodical Section, the Instituto di Napoli Foundation recognizes its link with the past and the bond with its tradition...the institution pursues social objectives and promotes economic and cultural development...it undertakes activities in the fields of scientific research, education and training in the humanities and economics...safeguarding and enhancing the national heritage and activities related to the arts, archaeology, museums and the environment...
The archive is
housed in approximately 300 rooms on four floors
of Palazzo Ricca and contains almost three million
items, ranging from liability records to client
records and other bank instruments such as loan
records, investments in national debt
certificates, real estate transactions, etc. Again, from their own
description: "The detailed payment
information...housed in the
Historical Archives allows [the tracing
of]...events that took place in Naples and its
provinces, as well as throughout Italy and in some
cases even Europe and America."
The Istituto also runs the library with its Newspaper and Periodical Section, also on the premises of Palazzo Ricca. Currently, the library consists of approximately 32,000 legal, economics and financial essays and monographs, as well as 17,000 miscellaneous works and 48,000 Italian and foreign financial newspapers and periodicals. Additionally, there are a total of 250 "relics", most of which are made of silver and gold, marking some of the most significant stages in the history of the Banco di Napoli. These relics include plaques, commemorative medals and gold coins from 1806 onwards.
[related
item at Treasures of the
Bank of Naples]
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