Il Libro del pellegrino (Siena, 1382-1446) : affari, uomini, monete nell’Ospedale di Santa Maria della Scala

In this book the two authors publish the edition, comment, with historical and numismatic interpretation of a rather rare and precious document: the pilgrims' book (Archivio di Stato di Siena) records in detail coins deposited in the care of the Sienese hospital of Santa Maria della Scala by pilgrims directed to Rome between 1382 and 1446. The friars in charge of the deposits did record not only the value of the money, but described the coins in detail, using the names sometimes in an incorrect form; he also described the pilgrim, his or her name, and provenance. They were pilgrims from all over Europe, carrying a great variety of coins, many of which were gold ones, and in some cases (e.g. nobles of England and Flanders) this is the first time they are documented as present in Italy, carried but exchanged and never admitted into circulation (nor found in hoards) because their weight standard was different from that of the Italian florin/ducat. The study of this document could not have been realized without the close collaboration of the two authors. Reviews by: Philippe Braunstein in “Quaderni Medievali”, 58, dicembre 2004, p. 326-330; Hans-Ulrich Geiger in “Schweizer Münblätter”, 213, 2004, p. 23-24; Anna Balaguer in “Acta Numismatica”, 34, 2004, p. 238-240; Marc Bompaire in “Revue Numismatique”, 165, 2009, p. 476-478; S. Tognetti in “Nuova Rivista Storica”, 88, maggio-agosto 2004, p. 568-571; short note by R. Ganganelli in “Rivista Italiana di Numismatica” 2005.