Medieval Capital Markets
Medieval Capital Markets

Author: Jaco Zuijderduijn

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2009-05-06

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 9047429095

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Institutions that allow for the accumulation of capital were as crucial to economic growth throughout history as they are today. But whereas historians often focus on the precursors of modern banking institutions, little is known of any alternatives that may have served similar purposes prior to their rise. This study focuses on the institutional framework of markets for 'renten', a type of long-term debt that enabled economic development in much of Northwest Europe in the late Middle Ages. In the county of Holland, these markets allowed large segments of the public and private sectors to reallocate capital. This study thus uncovers the medieval capital markets in the region that was to become the core of the Dutch Republic.

The Promised Lands
The Promised Lands

Author: Wim Blockmans

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2010-08-03

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 0812200705

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They were, in the words of one contemporary observer, "the Promised Lands." In all of Europe, only Northern Italy could rival the economic power and cultural wealth of the Low Countries in the later Middle Ages. In The Promised Lands, Wim Blockmans and Walter Prevenier trace the relations between the cultural and economic developments of the Low Countries and the political evolution of the region under the rule of the dukes of Burgundy. Combining political, diplomatic, administrative, economic, social, artistic, and cultural history, Blockmans and Prevenier have synthesized the most recent research on the subject—much of it their own—to produce the most accessible and authoritative book in English on the subject. This is an updated and revised translation of a classic work first published in 1988, now expanded and reoriented toward a broader international readership.

Medieval Bruges
Medieval Bruges

Author: Andrew Brown

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2018-05-03

Total Pages: 574

ISBN-13: 110832181X

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Bruges was undoubtedly one of the most important cities in medieval Europe. Bringing together specialists from both archaeology and history, this 'total' history presents an integrated view of the city's history from its very beginnings, tracing its astonishing expansion through to its subsequent decline in the sixteenth century. The authors' analysis of its commercial growth, industrial production, socio-political changes, and cultural creativity is grounded in an understanding of the city's structure, its landscape and its built environment. More than just a biography of a city, this book places Bruges within a wider network of urban and rural development and its history in a comparative framework, thereby offering new insights into the nature of a metropolis.

Merchants and Trading in the Sixteenth Century
Merchants and Trading in the Sixteenth Century

Author: Jeroen Puttevils

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-10-06

Total Pages: 327

ISBN-13: 1317316630

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Sixteenth-century Europe was powered by commerce. Whilst mercantile groups from many areas prospered, those from the Low Countries were particularly successful. This study, based on extensive archival research, charts the ascent of the merchants established around Antwerp.

Freedom and Growth
Freedom and Growth

Author: S.R. Epstein

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2000-08-24

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 1134744552

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In discussions on European pre-modern economic growth, the role of individual freedom and of the state has loomed large. This book examines whether different kinds of 'freedoms' (absolutist, parliamentary and republican) caused different economic outcomes, and shows the effect of different political regimes on long term development. It thus offers

Gresham's Law
Gresham's Law

Author: John Guy

Publisher: Profile Books

Published: 2019-06-20

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 1782835415

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Thomas Gresham was arguably the first true wizard of global finance. He rose through the mercantile worlds of London and Antwerp to become the hidden power behind three out of the five Tudor monarchs. Today his name is remembered in economic doctrines, in the institutions he founded and in the City of London's position at the economic centre of the earth. Without Gresham, England truly might have become a vassal state. His manoeuvring released Elizabeth from a crushing burden of debt and allowed for vital military preparations during the wars of religion that set Europe ablaze. Yet his deepest loyalties have remained enigmatic, until now. Drawing on vast new research and several startling discoveries, the great Tudor historian John Guy recreates Gresham's life and singular personality with astonishing intimacy. He reveals a calculating survivor, flexible enough to do business with merchants and potentates no matter their religious or ideological convictions. Yet his personal relationships were disturbingly transactional. He was a figure of cold unsentimentality even to members of his own family. Elizabeth I found herself at odds with Gresham's ambitions. In their collisions and wary accommodations, we see our own conflicts between national sovereignty and global capital foreshadowed. A story of adventure and jeopardy, greed and cunning, loyalties divided, mistaken or betrayed, this is a biography fit for a merchant prince.

Kings as Judges
Kings as Judges

Author: Deborah Boucoyannis

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2021-07-15

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 1316731979

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How did representative institutions become the central organs of governance in Western Europe? What enabled this distinctive form of political organization and collective action that has proved so durable and influential? The answer has typically been sought either in the realm of ideas, in the Western tradition of individual rights, or in material change, especially the complex interaction of war, taxes, and economic growth. Common to these strands is the belief that representation resulted from weak ruling powers needing to concede rights to powerful social groups. Boucoyannis argues instead that representative institutions were a product of state strength, specifically the capacity to deliver justice across social groups. Enduring and inclusive representative parliaments formed when rulers could exercise power over the most powerful actors in the land and compel them to serve and, especially, to tax them. The language of rights deemed distinctive to the West emerged in response to more effectively imposed collective obligations, especially on those with most power.

Cities of Commerce
Cities of Commerce

Author: Oscar Gelderblom

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2015-12-29

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 0691168202

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Cities of Commerce develops a model of institutional change in European commerce based on urban rivalry. Cities continuously competed with each other by adapting commercial, legal, and financial institutions to the evolving needs of merchants. Oscar Gelderblom traces the successive rise of Bruges, Antwerp, and Amsterdam to commercial primacy between 1250 and 1650, showing how dominant cities feared being displaced by challengers while lesser cities sought to keep up by cultivating policies favorable to trade. He argues that it was this competitive urban network that promoted open-access institutions in the Low Countries, and emphasizes the central role played by the urban power holders--the magistrates--in fostering these inclusive institutional arrangements. Gelderblom describes how the city fathers resisted the predatory or reckless actions of their territorial rulers, and how their nonrestrictive approach to commercial life succeeded in attracting merchants from all over Europe. Cities of Commerce intervenes in an important debate on the growth of trade in Europe before the Industrial Revolution. Challenging influential theories that attribute this commercial expansion to the political strength of merchants, this book demonstrates how urban rivalry fostered the creation of open-access institutions in international trade.