In the 13th century, the Sassetti were already a powerful family in Florence, and many of its members held very important positions within the government of the Comune. It was in the 15th century, though, that the family's fortunes took a sharp turn for the best, when Francesco di Tommaso Sassetti acted as the "General Manager" of the Banco Mediceo at the court of the Medici for 40 years. In 1560, the family moved to Pisa and Livorno in order to better manage their commercial exchanges with their Marseille subsidiary. In 1687, the family moved from the Kinzica district in Pisa to the San Francesco area of the same city to live in the Battaglia building, a palazzo they inherited from the women of the family.
