Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Knights Templar started London's first bank (2017)

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 124 posts

Re: The Knights Templar started London's first bank (2017)

#11

Post by halfbrite »

docdeek wrote: post #5

> If you had been at the great fair of Lyon in 1555, you could have seen the answer. Lyon's fair was the greatest market for international trade in all Europe. This is interesting to me as I live in the city and it's long been a center for trade, geographically positioned on two major rivers and with access to Paris, Switzerland, and Italy. Try as I might, though, I can't Google up anything about that fair in 1555 -…

The Foires de Lyon are likely being referenced, but that specific year is more than likely a reference to the Grand Parti de Lyon -- which was neither a party or a faire.

Re: The Knights Templar started London's first bank (2017)

#12

Post by bazoom42 »

DoingIsLearning wrote: post #4
dr_dshiv wrote: post #3

Nice article. Wish they had gone on to cover Cosimo Medici! He was the best. Inventing banking and then using the profits to fund the renaissance? Need people like that today.

> Need people like that today. Florentine maecenas were no different from billionaires today chasing each other in space races. They didn't sponsor artists for the sake of art but rather as a display of wealth and power. Edit: I am clarifying intention here, it does not mean that the side effects don't have a net positive, but they are unlikely to come from a purely altruistic place.

> They didn't sponsor artists for the sake of art but rather as a display of wealth and power.

Perhaps, but we still got the art.

Re: The Knights Templar started London's first bank (2017)

#14

Post by VoodooJuJu »

DoingIsLearning wrote: post #4
dr_dshiv wrote: post #3

Nice article. Wish they had gone on to cover Cosimo Medici! He was the best. Inventing banking and then using the profits to fund the renaissance? Need people like that today.

> Need people like that today. Florentine maecenas were no different from billionaires today chasing each other in space races. They didn't sponsor artists for the sake of art but rather as a display of wealth and power. Edit: I am clarifying intention here, it does not mean that the side effects don't have a net positive, but they are unlikely to come from a purely altruistic place.

Although many so-called "nobles" certainly funded the arts for such vain purposes, I guarantee that many other nobles were funding art for its own noble sake.

Re: The Knights Templar started London's first bank (2017)

#15

Post by docdeek »

halfbrite wrote: post #11
docdeek wrote: post #5

> If you had been at the great fair of Lyon in 1555, you could have seen the answer. Lyon's fair was the greatest market for international trade in all Europe. This is interesting to me as I live in the city and it's long been a center for trade, geographically positioned on two major rivers and with access to Paris, Switzerland, and Italy. Try as I might, though, I can't Google up anything about that fair in 1555 -…

The Foires de Lyon are likely being referenced, but that specific year is more than likely a reference to the Grand Parti de Lyon -- which was neither a party or a faire.

Thanks - the Grand Parti de Lyon was what I was finding when I was searching and it didn’t align with the idea of the Foires I was expecting to find.

Re: The Knights Templar started London's first bank (2017)

#16

Post by fooker »

dr_dshiv wrote: post #3

Nice article. Wish they had gone on to cover Cosimo Medici! He was the best. Inventing banking and then using the profits to fund the renaissance? Need people like that today.

>Inventing banking and then using the profits to fund the renaissance?

How about productizing electric cars and satellite internet to fund space exploration?

Re: The Knights Templar started London's first bank (2017)

#18

Post by s3000 »

dr_dshiv wrote: post #3

Nice article. Wish they had gone on to cover Cosimo Medici! He was the best. Inventing banking and then using the profits to fund the renaissance? Need people like that today.

>Inventing banking and then using the profits to fund the renaissance? Need people like that today.

When it comes to culture, do we still need funding? The internet offers connection and replication.

What is preventing the people with the right skills from coming together and creating the next level of civilization?

Re: The Knights Templar started London's first bank (2017)

#19

Post by Cthulhu_ »

teleforce wrote: post #6

I'm pretty sure they got this 'original' idea from the practice of their Muslim contemporaries. This is a very similar concept to the origin of cheque where it's too dangerous to carry gold and cash along the silk road from Middle East countries to China and beyond.

Stupid question, but wouldn't stealing a cheque work back then? I mean I can imagine only known people would be allowed to cash it. Plus there's more benefits to carrying a cheque, large quantities get difficult to move around (same with cash money, which is one reason that higher denominations are discouraged)

Re: The Knights Templar started London's first bank (2017)

#20

Post by mathnmusic »

seanhunter wrote: post #8

If you ever come to London I would highly recommend a visit to that area[1]. take the district line to "Temple" and walk into temple court. This is a set of interconnecting pretty courtyards surrounded by buildings used as offices for lawyers working at the nearby high court. These courtyards have a feel similar to an Oxford/Cambridge college and have been used as settings for "Harry Potter" and other films (to give…

Streetview link: https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5130263,-0.1102586,3a,75y,98...
Post reply on HN