Gran Tavola

[6] The first so-designated papal depository was the Piccolomini firm headed by Angeliero Solafico circa 1233 under Pope Gregory IX; the Gran Tavola filled this role between 1250 and 1270.

[6] During the reign of Pope Clement IV, the bank became responsible for the collection of all the ecclesiastical tithes for the Holy Land.

[4] The coup de grâce for the Gran Tavola was the crunch caused by the confiscation of Sienese assets by Philip IV of France (as a result of debts he claimed to have been owed by the Bonsignori) and the loss of papal business under Pope Boniface VIII (a trend under way since the early 1290s).

[6] The failure of the Gran Tavola was followed by a period of acute and sustained economic ruin in Siena,[10] systemically spreading to several other Sienese banks.

[11] Pope Nicholas IV lost 80,000 florins as a result of the collapse of the Gran Tavola but the loss was mitigated by the overall weakening of Siena, at the time known for its anti-papal, though nominally Ghibelline,[clarification needed] allegiances.