Walter VI Tries Fixing Florence

In 1342 AD, while Florence struggled with a severe banking and public debt crisis, the city appointed a foreigner, Walter VI of Brienne, as a temporary governor to sort out its finances. He imposed measures that taxed the rich and restored the flat tax estimo, moves that went against his agreement with the elite but helped address the fiscal mess. His policies worked so well for the lower classes that they tried to make him ruler for life.

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