Antonino, St (1389–1459)

Italian churchman and economist. A Dominican friar, he became archbishop of Florence in 1446 and used his position to fight corruption in the Church and to help the poor. Appreciating the role of trade in ensuring the wealth of the Church, he did much to weaken the Church's traditional distrust of commerce. He was canonized in 1523.

He was born in Florence. Inspired by the preaching of John Dominici, Antonino joined the Dominican Order in 1405 at Cortona. He became prior of the Dominican house in Fiesole in 1425. In 1436 or 1437, with the aid of Cosimo de' Medici, he established the convent of San Marco in Florence (decorated by Fra Angelico). It is this link with the Medici that encouraged his acceptance of commerce and in particular his claim that usury (charging interest on a loan) was not a sin.

Between 1439 and 1445 he attended the Council of Florence, his integrity and piety winning him the respect and confidence of the papacy. He received the archbishopric of Florence in 1446 but continued to live as a humble friar, spending what he could of the see's revenues on the poor.

He wrote a range of moral and theological treatises and a chronicle of world history, works that continued to be widely published throughout the 16th century.