The Lombards, a Generic Name for Italian Bankers

Banking was something associated with the lombard oand the lombards was a generic name for italian bankers. It has been calculated that during the second part of the fifteenth centurya the average e artisan in in italy ad five times the purchasing power of his counterpart in france. The lombard rate, if people have heard that term before, right? It's the interest rate that setal banks charge to a commercial banks for short terms,. They still use that term in english, at least.