The 's Treasury

under the Medicis was a financial great power in Italy, wool flowing from the city and gold flowing in, not least of all through the Medici bank. The bank, along with ownership of much of the local industry, meant that a Medici ruler exerted immense control over the duchy's economy. Eventually extensive ownership meant that the distinction between the personal wealth of the Duke and state funds was largely negligible. For example did the Grand Duke have exclusive rights to the state's extraction of salt and minerals, but those funds were expected to directly benefit the state and the city. \nHowever, with so much personal control, what was state money and what was family money largely came down to each individual Grand Duke.