Bankers, merchants and farmers

In the second half of the 14th century Chieri was the most important centre of the Turin area, thanks to significant privileges such as mercantile exemptions along the routes and the Alpine passes that led to areas of great financial and commercial interest (Savoy, Burgundy and Flanders). These were the activities of the famous Lombards, remembered for their business acumen in money trading in many roads and streets in Europe today (Lombard Street in the City of London, for example). In the 15th century favourable economic conditions led various town families, already involved in commercial activities, to open lending banks in northern European countries- the so-called “casane”- often supplanting the work of the people of Asti, and to commission numerous works of art. Among these the family Villas stood out. There was a beneficial interaction between Piedmont and the Northern cities and a constant exchange in terms of living, dressing and building with those distant districts.