Sometimes, while translating a video for Yabla, a word crops up that leaves us perplexed. It doesn't appear to be in a dictionary, and even if it is, it doesn't make enough sense to be able to translate it correctly. So we start researching it on our preferred search engine. We might find the answer and that's that, but sometimes we go down some interesting rabbit holes. So this week, we'd like to share what we learned, because it relates to some good-to-know euphemisms people use when talking about money. 

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We're talking about the documentary series called L'Italia che piace (the Italy people like), which has recently focused on Novara, a city in northern Italy, not far from Milan. You will hear about its history in the video, but one thing gets mentioned only briefly, so we set out to learn more. 

Viene costruita dalla cittadinanza, con i soldi che vengono raccolti proprio con la tassa del sesino, la tassa sull'acquisto della carne.

It's built by the citizenry, with the money that is collected, actually, by way of the "sesino" tax, the tax on buying meat.

Captions 5-8, L'Italia che piace Territori - Part 9

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The documentary mentions the building of the dome on top of the basilica in the middle of the city. It ended up being paid for in a particular way. Citizens contributed voluntarily to the project, but there was also a special tax called l’arbitrio del sesino or l'imposta del sesino. We wondered, "What's a sesino?"

A little research revealed that un sesino is a particular coin. Why is it called sesino? We might be able to guess it has something to do with the number 6 — sei. And we would be right! With a little more searching, we found, on a numismatic website:

The name of the coin un sesino indicates that the coin is equal to 6 denari.

Along with the sesino, there were: la trillina (3 denari) and il quattrino (4 denari). These coins were used from the 14th to the 18th century in various cities.

It all starts to make sense, because whoever has lived in Italy has heard people use quattrino or quattrini to mean "money."

Se proprio vogliamo chiamarla debolezza... era un poco tirato nei quattrini, ecco.

If we really want to call it a weakness... he was a bit tight-fisted with money, that's it.

Captions 73-74, Il Commissario Manara S1EP11 - Beato tra le donne - Part 3

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In fact, in Renaissance times, un quattrino was a quarter of a fiorino in Florence. We often translate it as "a farthing." But unless you studied Italian history, you might not make that connection.

Still today, il denaro is another word for "money." Sometimes it's called il danaro. And in playing cards, denari is a suit in a Neapolitan deck of cards. 

We learn in the video that this particular sesino tax was on meat. On a website about Novara, we further learn that it was un'imposta per ogni libbra di carne non bovina acquistata in città (a tax on each pound of non-bovine meat purchased in the city).

So, in short, it would seem that people had to pay one sesino for every pound of meat that wasn't beef. This was to pay for the dome of the basilica. We do wonder why the tax was just meat that wasn't beef. That will remain for another day of research.

Note there are two spellings for libra: with one b or two. Did you ever wonder why the abbreviation for pound is "lb"? The English word "pound" comes from pondo meaning "body." A unit of measure in Roman times was "libra pondo," which meant "a pound by weight." The abbreviation "lb" is derived from the libra part of the expression.

There you have it. A little extra information, which, si spera (hopefully), will whet your appetite to watch the video!

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