"[H]eralded by such god-mothers as War, Pestilence, and Revolution, the first banking institution of the modern world found existence. The finances of the republic were exhausted by this series of calamities; the doge, in 1171 [or] 1157 [or] at both dates,—was obliged to have recourse to a forced loan, exacted from the most opulent citizens, each being required to contribute according to his ability. The new doge, finding the revenues of the state still further disordered, the income of the government inadequate to its demands, and an expensive war with Frederick Barbarossa on his hands, felt himself obliged to resort to the same measure."