At one point, the British Government collected information from “state papers and manuscripts relating to English affairs” that were located in northern Italian librairies. One such document from 1473 lists a Lorenzo Franchini as witness to a commercial affair in London, England.
1473. William Slade in front of his house (ante domum) in Lombard Street, parish of St. Nicholas Acon, on the 15th March 1473 [1474], the bill-broker Manfred de’ Nocchij, certifying that on the 12th March in London the ducat was worth 50f pence sterling. Witnesses, Gabriel de Ursi and Lorenzo Franchini, both of Bologna.
[Protest in Latin. Copy of the bill in the original Italian. Protest and copy, 15 lines. Notarial signature, 3 lines. Parchment.]
Source: Calendar of state papers and manuscripts relating, to English affairs, existing in the archives and collections of Venice: and in other libraries of Northern Italy
