Around 1500, Bursa was a crucial center of silk production and trade. Located in North-West Anatolia, it served as the point of arrival for caravans conducting precious silks from the coasts of the Caspian Sea. Florentine agents dispatched in the Ottoman Empire by Florentine companies bought a portion of the cargo carried by those caravans. Examination of these companies’ accounts books and correspondence reveals the vitality of this business and provides new insight about the mechanisms of the silk trade in Bursa. These long-neglected commercial sources demonstrate that Florentines depended on Ottoman intermediaries, particularly Jewish merchants and artisans, to procure silk and participate in the caravan trade.