October 6, 2009
Alonso García, David (2008) “Finances royales et monde financier dans la creation de la monarchie espagnole (xvie siècle)” in Les finances royales dans la monarchie espagnole (xvie-xixe siècles), ed Anne Dubet. Rennes: Presses Unioversitaires de Rennes, 175-186.
Early modern governments’ reliance on private finance has usually been interpreted as a sign of weakness. This is an anachronism; the use of private finance is the result of a strategy from the sovereigns (p.175). In Spain, the crown sees the involvement of the merchants in the tax-collection process as a way to enrich the kingdom (p.176). Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Early Modern, Economic History, Europe, reading notes | Tagged: 1500s, Catholic Kings, Charles V, Ferdinand, finance, Habsburg, monarchy, obligado a guardas, public finance, Spain, tax, tax-collection, taxes | Permalink
Posted by Ben
September 12, 2009
Stabel, Peter and Jelle Haemers (2006) “From Bruges to Antwerp. International commercial firms and government’s credit in the late 15th and early 16th century”, in Banca, Crédito y Captial. La Monarquía Hispánica y los antiguos Países Bajos (1505-1700), eds. Carmen Sanz Ayán and Bernardo J. García García, Madrid: Fundación Carlos de Amberes, p.20-38.
Introduction
The Financial Revolution – i. e. the gradual increase of government spending made possible by an increasing reliance on loans obtained from the capital markets – has essentially been studied from the side of the public demand. The ability of the markets to match this demand being regarded almost as a given. Meanwhile the impact the governments’ enormous financial needs may have had on private finance have hardly been addressed (p.22). Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Economic History | Tagged: 1400s, 1500s, Antwerp, bankers, Belgium, Bruges, Bruxelles, budget, Burgundy, Charles V, Credit, finance, financial revolution, Habsburg, Maximilian I, Medicis, merchant, merchant bankers, Netherlands, private finance, public finance | Permalink
Posted by Ben
September 8, 2009
Nogal, Carlos Álvarez (2006) “La transferencia de dinero a Flandes en el siglo XVII” in Banca, Crédito y Captial. La Monarquía Hispánica y los antiguos Países Bajos (1505-1700), eds. Carmen Sanz Ayán and Bernardo J. García García, Madrid: Fundación Carlos de Amberes, 204-231.
Introduction
From 1567 to 1586, the Spanish Crown sent some 1.5m. ducats annually to Flanders; by 1608 this figure was reaching 3.5m. To do that, the king had to rely on Genoese intermediaries that could provide credit in Antwerp while being paid in Spain. But how exactly did the bankers manage to transfer that much money around war-torn Europe? (p.205) Financiers have often been accused to unduly charge the monarchy enormous fees for their service, but how much exactly did this service cost the bankers themselves? Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Early Modern, Economic History, Europe, reading notes | Tagged: 1600s, Alatriste, Antwerp, asiento, banker, banking, Belgium, bills of exchange, bullion, Eighty Years War, finance, Flanders, Genoa, Genoans’ century, Habsburg, money transfer, Netherlands, public finance, silver, Spain, tercio, Thirty Years War, war, war finance | Permalink
Posted by Ben