Detail from Masaccio’s The Tribute Money in the Brancacci Chapel
In 1422, Felice Brancacci set out from Florence to establish trading relations with Mamluk Egypt, and to advocate for his city's currency. This is that story, part one of two.
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Sources:
Florence's Embassy to the Sultan of Egypt, translated by Mahnaz Yousefzadeh. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.
Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. Practising Diplomacy in the Mamluk Sultanate: Gifts and Material Culture in the Medieval Islamic World. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014.
Goldthwaite, Richard A. The Economy of Renaissance Florence. JHU Press, 2009.
Najemy, John M. A History of Florence, 1200-1575. John Wiley & Sons, 2008.