Before the Medici family rose to power in the early 15th century, the Peruzzi family was one of Florence’s two premier banking families (alongside the Bardi) that helped pioneer the modern world of banking!
Alongside the Bardi, the Peruzzi were ruined by a combination of King Edward III of England defaulting on a sizable loan and the breakdown of trade resulting from the Hundred Years’ War, inadvertently paving the way for the rise of the Medici.