Bank runs. Market volatility. Panic in the streets. When I say we’ve been here before, I don’t just mean 2008 or 1929. One of the earliest recorded bank runs dates back to the 14th century. Italian city-states like Florence and Venice sat at the crossroads of trade routes between Asia and Europe and were financial hubs.

In the early 1300s, the “Peruzzi” family quickly became one of the most powerful and wealthy in Florence, through a highly profitable textile trade that focused on imported English wool. As their wealth grew, so did their banking network, extending throughout Europe and even to England’s King Edward the Third.