There are plenty of businesses that have been around for a good minute. I bet some of you are driving a car that was made by a company that was started over 100 years ago. Maybe some of you have consumed an aged wine because you had the money and thought "why not?" Well, what if I told you there is a company out there today that is almost 500 years old and played a role in changing European history? Would you think what I’m telling you is a lie? You’re about to get educated so pull up a chair, sit down and prepare to read a historical trip into a company founded by one Italian family nearly half a millennia ago.

The company known today as Pietro Beretta Arms Factory had its humble beginnings in an Italian village called Gardona. While the forge that the family had owned had been in use until 1500, it wasn’t until October 3rd, 1526 that the first of many contracts was made. That first contract (which amazingly can still be seen today in the Venetian State Archives) was made by the Republic of Venice for 185 arquebus (one of the primitive versions of the modern day rifle) in exchange for 296 ducats which after doing some research equates in Renaissance pay to about 10 day’s pay for an apprentice at the time.

Of course if you want to know how much that amount is worth in today’s standards the ducat had about 3.5 grams of gold per coin (the European trade standard at the time), multiply that with the price of gold per gram $42.37 as of 10/1/16 then multiply that by the 296 ducats Beretta made that day and just shy of $44,000. Not a lot, mind you, but when you consider that da Vinci lived off of 50-100 ducats or florins a year, then you probably begin to appreciate what level of luxury Beretta was probably able to afford. I’ll give you a hint: a lot.

That bottom one is a bluderbuss

So you’re now probably asking "where in history did Beretta play a key role in?" Well, about 50 years after that order, 1571 to be exact, there was this massive naval battle between Christian forces and the Ottoman Empire at a place called Lepanto. Well the Venetians got involved in the fighting because the area contested was along their trade routes also they were currently in a war with the Ottomans. Apparently Beretta had taken some of that initial contract money and did good on their order because almost every account states they were the ones responsible for slapping cannons arquebus on the Venetian galleys and sailors fun fact the Venetians brought 115 of the 212 ships the Christians deployed in that fight that’s a lot of guns.

Now obviously, those guns did not just magically appear overnight and neither did those galleys, which means those guys were getting a fair number of contracts to make guns during that 50-ish year period and they were getting paid a pretty penny, too. Cannons in those days were one of the most expensive pieces of military equipment to field (hence why armies liked to capture them rather than destroy them). So you could easily argue that without the cannons produced by Beretta the Venetian navy and the Christian navy on the whole would have lost drastically, thus allowing the Ottomans control of the Mediterranean and continue their expansion. That’s a pretty huge deviation from our timeline if you ask me.

Pictured above an early depiction of brand name awareness at said battle

The awesome thing is after that battle from 1650 onward, Beretta has ended up supplying weapons for every European conflict even up to today. On top of all that the company is still family owned and operated today. By the way, those government contracts? They still get them with the Italian military using the Beretta AR 70/90 and soon to be upgrading to the ARX 160 in the near future. If you think that’s insane, they’re also responsible for one of the most popular handguns in the world and the standard sidearm of the United States Armed Forces the 92FS or as we like to call it the M9.

There you have it-- the story about how a little gun-making family in Italy grew to become a global powerhouse in the firearms industry. Sure, you can tell me there are older companies or other companies that made their mark in history, but how many can say they played a role in an event that guided Europe to where it is today and--to a certain degree-- America as well? So, on October 3 this year and maybe 10 years from now when they turn 500 years old, take a moment to think about how a family played a role in shaping the way you live.