Gran Tavola - Decline and Failure

Decline and Failure

The bank declined after the death of Bonsignori in 1273, and went bankrupt in 1298. The formality of bankruptcy may not have occurred until several years after 1298. 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).

The failure of the Gran Tavola was followed by a period of acute and sustained economic ruin in Siena, systemically spreading to several other Sienese banks. By 1320, Siena's international position had contracted almost entirely, following the additional failure of the Tolomei bank in 1313 and the decline of the Champagne fairs, whose commercial activities were "umbilically linked" to Siena; for example, Sienese institutions were not present in the Avignon Exchange created during the Avignon Papacy.

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, allegiances. Many years later, this loss served as one of the pretexts for the papal interdict of Siena. Furthermore, the failure of the Gran Tavola lead to the rapid rise of Florentine banking institutions. Under the leadership of Pope Boniface VIII, the papal finances were transferred to Florentine banking institutions as well.