I think the activities you describe in Florence were not evidence of a high level of moral character.
Apples and oranges. "High" moral character [or a "low" one] does not make any sense unless in comparison with something else, lower or higher, with that "something else" serving as a standard and a reference point. However, one could compare two moral characters side by side, and then say that one is higher than another, and thus preferable, without venturing an opinion on whether the higher one is high enough [and thus "high" in the sense you used]. What I was saying was that the Florentine practices would be a moral improvement in NO, i.e. I was doing a comparative judgment, when you attempted an absolute one.