Aagje Deken wrote the text for 74 of these songs for which she asked 4 ducats (21 guilders) compensation per page.
In 1537, Thomas Howell, a Welsh merchant trading in Bristol, London and Seville, bequeathed 12,000 gold ducats to the Drapers' Guild to provide dowries “every yere for Maydens for ever.” His “Merchant’s Mark” is still used as a logo for the school.
He was recruited by Venice into the successful defence of Corfu during the 1716 siege against the invading Ottoman Turks; he was decorated by the Serenissima for his outstanding success with a statue and a pension of 5000 ducats a year.
The first Marquis was Nicolò Gravisi, who foiled a plot in 1435 to betray Padua to Marsilio da Carrara and in return in 1439 received a pension of 400 ducats from the Republic of Venice.
The preferred choice of Henry VIII was Thomas Wolsey (for whom he was prepared to spend 100,000 ducats), although Giulio de'Medici (future Pope Clement VII) was also acceptable to him.