The Peruzzi were bankers of Florence, among the leading families of the city in the 14th century, before the rise to prominence of the Medici. Their modest antecedents stretched back to the mid 11th century, according to the family's genealogist Luigi Passerini, but a restructuring of the Peruzzii company in 1300, with an infusion of outside capital, marked the start of a quarter-century of prosperity that brought the family consortium to the forefront of Florentine affairs. Semi-public patronage reaffirmed the Peruzzi status in Florence: in his will in 1299, Donato di Arnoldo Peruzzi left money for a memorial chapel in a transept of the Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence. It was probably his grandson Giovanni di Rinieri Peruzzi who was Giotto's patron in frescoing the walls with murals honoring John the Evangelist and John the Baptist, which Giotto executed, starting in 1313.

For economic historians, the surviving account books of the Peruzzi from the years 1335–1343 provide an indispensable primary source for the economic history of the city on the cusp of the late Medieval and Early Modern period. The contemporary chronicler Giovanni Villani is the other prime source for the family's affairs.

Angelo Peruzzi, Ufficiale OMRI (Italian pronunciation: [ˈandʒelo peˈruttsi]; born 16 February 1970 in Blera, Viterbo) is an Italian former World Cup-winning football goalkeeper, and a three-time winner of the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year award.

Peruzzi retired from professional football after the 2006–07 season and now works as Ciro Ferrara's assistant at the Italian under-21 team, a position he was appointed to on October 2010.

Peruzzi began his Serie A career with A.S. Roma in 1987. He was loaned to Hellas Verona in 1989, but was one of the two A.S. Roma players (the other being Andrea Carnevale) suspended for a year in October 1990 after failing a doping test because an appetite suppressant he was taking at the time contained a banned substance. His signing with Juventus in 1991 successfully revived his career, and he soon surpassed Stefano Tacconi as the Turin giants' starting goalie. Peruzzi won three Scudetti, a UEFA Cup, and was part of Juventus' 1996 Champions League title squad that defeated AFC Ajax in the final on penalties. After one season with Internazionale, he transferred to Lazio for €17.9 million in 2000, and made over 200 appearances in Serie A and European competition with the club.