Piedmont was the centre of paper manufacturing in Europe in the 15th century. The brothers Anton and Michel Gallician, who moved to Basel before 1450, when they were young men, and worked in Heinrich Halbisen’s pa-per mills, also came from there. In 1454, they started their own business, and acquired Basel citizenship three years later. They very quickly rose to become the most important paper producers in Basel. This was also asso-ciated with social advancement:
Michel’s son Hans became master of the saffron guild and a member of the government. But then he became embroiled in a corruption scandal, the so-called pension storm. In 1523, the family had to leave Basel for good.