Rise
The Gran Tavola has its roots in the societas of the Bonsignori, which began activity in the 1240s with the participation of the Malavolti.
The Gran Tavola was founded by Orlando Bonsignori in 1255 and in the 1260s became the exclusive depository-general of the incomes of the Papal States \. Pope Innocent IV's (1243-1254) conflicts with Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor had demonstrated plainly to the Roman Curia the importance of reliable and robust financial services relationships. 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.
The slightly larger Ricciardi bank of Lucca was also intimately involved in church finances. During the reign of Pope Clement IV, the bank became responsible for the collection of all the ecclesiastical tithes for the Holy Land. Under Pope Urban IV (1265-68), all pontifical taxes were collected by the Gran Tavola. After the 1260s, popes Nicholas III, Honorius IV, and Nicholas IV continued to use Sienese banks for a small amount of transactions.
The bank also supported Charles of Anjou in his conquest of the Kingdom of Sicily; through a network of "virtual banking syndicates" the bank secured a loan of 200,000 livres tournois for the Angevin monarch. The Gran Tavola benefited greatly from Charles's victory over the House of Hohenstaufen, having previously seen its commercial opportunities limited by Siena's political support of the Hohenstaufen. The Gran Tavola was "at the center of financial operations in both Genoa and Tuscany"; Guglielmo Leccacorvo served as the bank's representative in Genoa. Bonsignori made his institution one of the most influential in Western Europe by expanding its reach into Catalonia, France, and England.
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