Caponsacchi

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In Canto XVI of the Paradiso, Cacciaguida reviews the ancient Florentine families and notes the Caponsacchi as already present in the city market. The verse «Già era ’l Caponsacco nel mercato» is found in the part of the speech in which Dante's ancestor recalls families once powerful and later in decline, in a list that includes the Visdomini, the Tosinghi, and the Adimari. The critical notes to the canto clarify the context: the houses recalled managed the economy of the bishopric during the vacant sees and many were tied to personal tensions of the author. The family is therefore evoked as an example of a Florentine lineage long rooted in the economic spaces of the city.