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The Merchants Society Bellardi of Lucca

The Society of Bellardi Merchants of Lucca, London & Paris, Money Lenders-Exchangers to the Kings of England and France. An historical guide to references for the Society of Ballardi from their early beginnings from Lucca, Lombardy, Italy. and their subsequent entry into Plantagenet, England and France. By Adrian. J. Ballard. 2013.

Belardi is an Italian surname of medieval origin. It is a patronymic surname derived from the given name Belardo.

Belardi is a name that means "son of Belardo" or "son of the bright ruler". 

It is thought to derive from the medieval name Abaelardus or Belardus , known for example as Belardus de Esculo (Ascoli) (1112-1120), author of the Descriptio Terrae Sanctae. 

Traces of this surname are found, for example, in the Frosinone area in 1500 with Francesco de Belardo da Caira (FR).

The surname Belardi is typical of Lazio, Tuscany, and Umbria.

Belardo is Neapolitan.

Belardelli is Roman.

Belardetti is very rare, as is Belardinetti , which is specific to the Marche region.

Belardoni has a lineage in the province of Perugia.

Bellardone  has a Piedmontese lineage in the province of Vercelli. 

BELLARDI (Ballardi, Beilardi)

We know of no information on the activities of this family of Lucca bankers in Italy; the sources in which they are mentioned inform us, in fact, exclusively of their presence in England between 1294 and 1313, that is, under Edward I and Edward II. During this period, according to a calculation by Rhodes, they lent the two English sovereigns a total of 10,074 pounds and 12 shillings.

The most important members of the family appear to have been Coluccio and Giovanni . The first English document relating to the Bellardi shows Coluccio acting together with Brunetto Bulgarini on 29 September 1294. Although he does not appear in 1294, it is probable that Giovanni was also in England at that time. He appears for the first time in a deed dated 23 July 1297 in which Edward I exempted the abbot and convent of Westminster from paying a fine imposed because they had allowed some prisoners entrusted to them by the sovereign to escape: Giovanni was among these prisoners. However, it does not appear that his guilt was very serious; the king must have easily forgiven him, however. In fact, on 20 May 1299 he granted permission to Giovanni and Coluccio to open, together with Giovanni Saleys, a bank of exchange in Dover, and on 1 August of the same year he authorised the two Bellardis and Saleys to open another in Semermue. From this date until 1313 the Bellardi company carried out regular activity in England, as attested by numerous documents.

Listed as "King's merchants" in a deed dated April 5, 1300, and listed among the major bankers acting on behalf of Edward I in a document dated July 15, Coluccio and Giovanni received a special exemption for their Dover bank on June 8 of the same year: the monarch ordered the magistrates overseeing the bankers' activities to no longer supervise the Bellardis. The same exemption was later confirmed by a sovereign order dated August 25, 1302.

Numerous debt records by Edward I demonstrate the remarkable activity of the Bellardi family and the importance they assumed at the English court. The king turned to them in 1304 to obtain half of the sum of 4,000 marks (the other half was requested from the Frescobaldi family) needed by his son Edward to travel to France to pay feudal homage to Philip the Fair for the Duchy of Guienne. Nor was the monarch the only one to turn to the Bellardi family: other members of his family also turned to them. On October 4, 1304, Queen Margaret asked Coluccio to lend 500 pounds, and on March 22 of the following year, John of Brabant, the king's son-in-law, obtained the substantial sum of 1,000 pounds from the two Lucca bankers.

The Bellardis' business was particularly prosperous in those years. The Gallerani account books show that the company's Paris branch was in constant contact with Paganello di Poggio, the Bellardis' representative and likely head of a branch in France. Among other things, we have information about a banking transaction between the Bellardis on one side and the Fini, Speziali, and Gallerani companies on the other: the contract, signed in Paris on April 25, 1303, concerned a shipment of 1,575 pounds of tomesi. The Bellardis' business in Ireland must also have been prospering, since on November 22, 1305, Giovanni Vanni—whose name has been linked to that of Coluccio and Giovanni since 1301—appointed a company representative for that island in the person of one Elisio da Lucca.

The Bellardis also had business relations with Italy: in 1302 they acted as representatives in England of Amadeus of Savoy and between 1305 and 1306 Paganello di Poggio carried out two operations with the Gallerani, agents at the papal curia.

The death of Edward I (1307) did not diminish the company's business: the new king Edward II showed Giovanni and Coluccio the same benevolence as his father who, among other things, on 10 November 1303 had pardoned Giovanni from the sentence for the murder of an Englishman named Robert Geffray. Having granted them London Citizenship, the new sovereign established for the two Bellardis on 3 March 1309 a lifelong tax exemption. Numerous documents also show us how the young sovereign used the Lucca company to obtain loans perhaps larger than those requested by Edward I. To pay these debts, the monarch ordered on 29 August 1311 the collectors of the customs house of Kingston-upon-Hull to pay the customs revenues to Coluccio and Giovanni. The order was repeated on 15 December. 1311 and on this same day the king gave the Bellards, as a guarantee of his credit, the custody of the castle of Kirkby-Moorside.

note; 1303 f.l. John Ballard of Cannons Ashby, Northamptonshire, pardon, death of Robert Geffray. pardon in consideration of their services in Scotland, of (many name) deaths and other offences, and of any consequent outlawry. [Cal Patent Rolls]. 

note; 1304. 21 October. Letters for Robert, prior of Bath, staying in England, nominating John Stoket and Richard Ballard his attorneys in Ireland for two years.. [Cal Patent Rolls]. 

The attribution of the taxes of Kingston-upon-Hull to the company was established by the sovereign as early as 24 January 1312.

The last documents in which the names of Giovanni and Coluccio appear are those dated December 15, 1311; in all the deeds from 1312 and in the one from 1313, Giovanni Vanni acts on behalf of the company. It is likely that the two Bellardis died in the final days of 1311 or during 1312, and that the company died out after the death of its owners: no document mentions it after July 13, 1313.

In addition to Giovanni and Coluccio, three other members of the Bellardi family appear in English documents, although they do not appear to be connected to the company's activities. 

A Walter Bellardi is recorded on May 10, 1300, among the knights assigned to Joan, wife of Edmund of Kemesek; on May 25, 1306, the same Walter is mentioned in a court document. This latter document also mentions a Guglielino (William) Bellardi, while a Riccardo Bellardi is named on October 21, 1304, as the representative in Ireland of Robert, Prior of Bath.

note; Edmund de Kemesyk was born 1269, of Great Sampford, Essex and died 1300 in Fordham, Cambridgshire. his wife was Joan de Welle.

Sources and Bibli .: Calendar of the Patent Rolls . Edward I, at . d .1292-1301, edited by the Deputy Keeper of the Records, London 1895, pp. 417, 418, 449, 450, 505, 510, 519, 528; Calendar of the Patent Rolls . Edward I, at . d . 1301-1307, London 1898, pp. 61, 176, 260, 264, 265, 303, 321, 372, 394, 408, 475, 495; Calendar of the Patent Rolls . Edward I I, a . d .1307-1313, London 1894, pp- 137, 144, 145, 153, 205, 213, 332, 356, 386, 388, 399, 410; Calendar of the Close Rolls . Edward I, at . d . 1296-1302, edited by the Deputy Keeper of the Records, London 1906, pp. 46, 354, 398, 556; Calendar of the Close Rolls . Edward I, at . d . 1302-1307, London 1908, pp. 3, 74, 87, 116, 229, 266, 282, 290; Calendar of the Close Rolls . Edward I I, a . d .1307-1313, London 1892, pp. 36, 311, 354, 356, 357, 391, 395, 476, 532, 542, 544, 551, 585; G. Bigwood, Les livres des comptes des Gallerani , I, Bruxelles 1961, pp. 9 no. 15, 10 n. 20, 14 n. 36, 16 nos. 44-46, 36 n. 112, 42 n. 137, 53 n. 174, 74 n. 249, 75 n. 252, 76 nos. 255 s., 77 n. 261, 78 n. 268, 217n. 701; L. Librario, On the Political Economy of the Middle Ages , Turin 1872, II, p. 308; W. E. Rhodes, The Italian Bankers and Their Loans to Edward I and Edward II, in Historical Essays , edited by T. F. Tout and J. Tait, pp. 144, 160; A. Sapori, The Frescobaldi Company in England , Florence 1947, pp. 14 ff.; C. Belloni, Historical Diz . of Italian Bankers , Florence 1951, pp. 25, 224; A. Sapori, Studies in Economic History ( 13th-14th-15th Centuries ), Florence undated [but 1955], pp. 868 ff ., 922, 1046, 1050; G. Bigwood, Les livres de comptes des Gallerani , II, Bruxelles 1962, pp. 85, 100, 114, 149, 163-167, 185, 199, 247-250, 252.

© Institute of the Italian Encyclopedia founded by Giovanni Treccani - All rights reserved

Origins in Lucca

Johannis "Ganno" f.

mid-12th c. est. Putative progenitor (Inferred from territorial formulas (terra Gani, fines cum terra Gani) and onomastic cycle in my corpus )

Bellardo f. Ganno

mid-12th c. est. Father of Simon (i.e., Bellardi = patronymic shown in 1183) Implied by 1183 subscription “Simon filius Bellardi” — Bellardi is Simon’s father; no direct doc yet naming Bellard as son of Ganno ).

Simon (Simo) f. Bellardi 28 Apr 1183 (Lucca) Son of Bellard; married Mattea (degli Opizzi) Explicit witness subscription in 28‑04‑1183 regestum; spouse Mattea attested elsewhere in my corpus ).

Johannis "Ganni" di Saldatico, of the parish of "Subgruminio" mentioned in a deed dated 5th January 1227 after his death.

witness. Bencipari, the daughter of the late Serreto and wife of Bellardi

Witness. Maria, the daughter of late Alamanno and wife of Deodato

ratifiy the sale "Perpetual Lease" of “a vineyard with olives and figs in Subgruminio, in the district called Salvatico, in the place called Colle” to Guido son of Orlando Diversi, acting as tutor of Lamberto Deodati’s daughters. 

Bellardi & Deodato, sons of the late Ganni of "Saldatico" of the parish of "Subgruminio" (Segromigno)

[STAL 05-01-1227 - CERTOSA].

note; Salvatici a port on the Gulf of Genoa.

note; Another region that produced magnificent silk fabrics from the 8th century AD was Lucca. This city became very prosperous through its trade in silk fabrics during the Middle Ages and was well known for its merchants and luxury artisans. It was the centre of Jewish life, led by the Kalonymos family that kept commercial links with the Byzantine Empire and the Middle East. Because Lucca had no direct access to the sea, it forged an agreement with Genoa to become its trading post (ensuring great wealth for the Genovese) and in exchange Genovese ships were to bring back to Italy the raw silk purchased by Lucca's merchants from the Levant. [The Silk Weavers of Lucca].

note; Genoa boasts a centuries-old tradition as a city of merchants and bankers. [History of Genoa].

note; Bardi north east of Genoa. [Map].

note. Collegno (ancient lombard burials) abt 150 miles inland north west of Genoa [Map].

note; Bellardi 5 miles west of Collegno [Map]

note; Seven castles around the walls of Lucca are named Baluardo (trans; "Bulwark" defensive structure) [Map].

Bellardi fils Ganni & Deodato fils Ganni (sons of Gannino)

Simon "Simo" fils Bellardi is witness to a charter, 4 Feb 1183  . he was married to Donna Mattea (degli Opizzi) father of 

Giovanni Belardi (John Ballard) property deed, 6th April 1255 leese in perpetuity to Giovanni Belardi of the Pieve di St. Macario (St Marks) and to his son Savino (fils Giovanni OR Bellardi), a field with trees and vines.

[STAL 06-04-1255 - COMPANY OF THE CROSS].

Salvino Bellard, of San Macario,  son of John Bellard, 6th June 1257, deed.

[STAL 06--06-1257].

Giovanni Bellardi (John Vanne) & Collucio Bellardi (Coluche) mention in a deed 15 May 1299,

Giovanni called Vanne and Coluccio, brothers, sons of Simo or Simone Bellardi, merchants of Lucca, having sold to Bartolomeo, son of the late Bonifatii Conlonis, two pieces of vineyard land, with house, millstones, vats, barrels, etc. existing in the territory or mountain called Monte S. Quirico, near the city of Lucca for the price of £. 800 of small Lucchese denarii with a deed celebrated in the land of Paris....

Vanne son "Domini Percivallis Labri" ...

Donna Mattea wife of the said Simo or Simone and daughter "olim Rodelossi Guasconis de Opithonibus", ratifies the said sale...

[STAL 15-05-1299 - STATE ARCHIVES].

State Archives of Lucca

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