Palazzo della Mercanzia

At the old Carrobbio, where the city's main roads met, goods passed through the Gabella Grossa city customs house. The palace's lower arches once sheltered a loggia for unloading goods, while above it stood a hall for commercial proceedings. Between two windows survives a pale Istrian-stone balcony; court decisions were proclaimed from here. The Bologna Chamber of Commerce now operates in the palace.

Here stands Palazzo della Mercanzia—the Palace of Commerce. At the end of the fourteenth century, Bologna's twelve largest guilds sought a court of their own. Their dispute would usually begin with a very tangible loss: the goods had already been handed over, but there was no money; an entry in the account book had been forged; a business partner had declared bankruptcy. While the ordinary court observed lengthy formalities, the seller was left without goods and without funds for the next deal.

The city magistrates established the Merchants' Forum for them. Commercial disputes were assigned to the court, while merchants, money changers, and artisans drew up the rules by which it heard cases. At first, they invited a lawyer from another city to preside: an outsider was expected to be less dependent on Bologna families and business connections.

The site was chosen where commercial business had already passed through the hands of officials. The crossroads was called Carrobbio; the main roads met here, and Gabella Grossa—the city customs house—stood here. A loggia for unloading goods was built below, and a courtroom above. On January ninth, thirteen ninety-one, the judge designated the new upper loggia as the permanent venue for hearings. This gave commerce the building now called Palazzo della Mercanzia—the Palace of Commerce.

The local system forced the claimant, the defendant, and the judge himself to move quickly. An oral statement, delivered by a messenger to the opposing party and entered in the register by a notary, was enough for a summons. A person who acknowledged a debt was given five to ten days to settle it. A disputed case was to be concluded within fifteen to thirty days; for delay, the judge could be required to pay a fine, court costs, and the claimant's damages.

In fifteen ninety-two, this system caught up with a Bolognese banker who had failed to repay his creditors. Among his clients were the noble Bolognetti and Bentivoglio families: he lived by banking deals with people whose surnames opened many doors in the city. Now his own reputation became the subject of a judgment.

After the prescribed ringing of the court bell, known as Lucardina, an attendant stepped onto the balcony and proclaimed the decision. The banker was ordered to be chained in front of the portico for several days, in full view of merchants and passersby. The court considered it insufficient to record the punishment in the register: a man entrusted with money had to lose that trust publicly. The judgment did not restore the creditors' lost funds, and it left the convicted man with a ruined business and disgrace; some bankrupts were expelled from Bologna after such an exposure, although this particular banker's later fate is unknown.

The pale Istrian-stone balcony remains between two windows on the facade. Lucardina is no longer beside it: the old bell is kept in the Civic Medieval Museum. The Bologna Chamber of Commerce now operates in the palace.