http://makingrenmanuscripts.exhibits.library.upenn.edu/files/original/5af60374398b199b61d1185caf23a8df.png d116f936f935d4062ad51a25f200109c http://makingrenmanuscripts.exhibits.library.upenn.edu/files/original/3a5d2ab015a5b947d92057525b02a6bb.png 194b05d034ac82a8c8ea94ca117590e6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 12. Transmitting Knowledge; Politics, Economics, and the Merchant Class Subject The topic of the resource Politics, Economics, and the Merchant Class Description An account of the resource Beginning in the fourteenth century, increasingly complex systems of international and interregional commerce led to new challenges for merchants and monarchs alike. In response, innovative document types were created. In order to thrive, aspiring traders needed to master not only the basic skills of arithmetic and geometry, but also the application of such concepts to everyday situations. Basic arithmetic operations, especially those involving fractions, are couched in everyday challenges: how to gauge the contents of a barrel, measure the height of a tower, or determine inheritance sums. For more established merchants whose work took them across the Mediterranean basin, comprehensive guides to the goods available in each major city, paired with the relevant measurements and currency denominations, were essential. Alongside the far-flung banking and trade networks epitomized by the Peruzzi, Acciaiuoli, and Medici dynasties, the concurrent centralization of administrative power in expanding nation-states necessitated the establishment of a true fiscal policy. Fragmented systems of taxation, inherited from feudal days, needed to be reformed in the monarchies of England and France in order to pay for costly wars. The administration of state affairs became especially complex in the 1520s for the French king Francis I (1494–1547), so much so that a well-meaning official produced a set of actionable recommendations for reform. By adopting these, the king could limit his reliance on wealthy lords and merchants. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dr. Nicholas Herman Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Making the Renaissance Manuscript; Discoveries From Philadelphia Libraries Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Exhibition Catalogue Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Commission signed by Francis I for the vicomte de Turenne Description An account of the resource Written in French and dated to 30 December 1524, this document consists of a brevet, or commission, granted to the viscount of Turenne, Antoine de La Tour d’Auvergne, seigneur d’Oliergues (1474–1527), bestowing the rank of captain and the charge of twenty-five lances and fifty men-at-arms. It is signed by the French king, Francis I, in his distinctive scrawl: “françoys.” Politically, the document attests to Francis’s preparations for a new attack on Milan as part of the Italian war of 1521–26. Ultimately, this military campaign would end disastrously for the King, concluding abruptly with the decisive French defeat at the Battle of Pavia in February 1525, where the King was captured and held hostage for several years. Through this document, we become party to a strategic decision, personally approved by the king and issued less than two months prior to this ill-fated expedition. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1524 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Manuscript on parchment, 1 fol. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context University of Pennsylvania, Miscellaneous Manuscripts. Box 3 Folder 9 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant France