Bardi family

Family of Italian bankers prominent in 14th-century Florence. By 1310 they were the wealthiest family in Florence and used their position to secure political dominance. In 1346, however, they were bankrupt and (unlike other Italian banks bankrupted at the same time) failed to regain either their wealth or political influence.

Their downfall came about largely through their involvement with the attempts of Edward III of England to finance the Hundred Years' War. From 1338 they participated in schemes to exploit the English wool trade though monopolistic syndicates, which were intended to repay the large loans they made to the king. These did not work, and in 1341 Edward defaulted on his repayments. It was this, combined with the burden of supporting Florence's war against Lucca, that brought them (and several other Italian banks, such as the Acciaiuoli) to bankruptcy.

The sole surviving evidence of the Bardi fortune can be seen in their gifts to the Church of Santa Croce in Florence. Count Giovanni Bardi (1534-1612) was a composer and leading cultural figure in late 16th-century Florence, the patron of musicians, scholars, and poets.