- I am a Researcher of Economic History at the University of Milan. My main scientific interests focus on the dynamics ... moreI am a Researcher of Economic History at the University of Milan. My main scientific interests focus on the dynamics of informal credit markets in the Ancien Régime economies and on living standards and well being level in 19th-century Europe, drawing upon household budgets.edit
The application of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in the financial sector has fostered the development of new services that are frequently referred to collectively as 'decentralized finance', or DeFi. In the wake of these recent... more
The application of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in the financial sector has fostered the development of new services that are frequently referred to collectively as 'decentralized finance', or DeFi. In the wake of these recent developments many observers and practitioners regard DLT as a major technological disruption to the financial system, possibly leading to the complete disintermediation of banks and to their substitution with a network of bilateral relations between borrowers and lenders recorded in a common ledger. Recent historiography has shown that a potentially analogous system existed in Ancien Régime societies whereby finance was provided not only by specialized intermediaries, but also by an 'informal' credit network where debtors and creditors entered directly into relationship through notaries. In this paper, we carry out a systematic comparison between cryptolending, an extreme form of DeFi at the technological frontier, and the early system of peer-topeer lending represented by notarized loans in the early modern period. Our aim is to assess the true novelty of current practices and to understand if, and in what sense, the technological innovation represented by DLT can effectively produce a structural change in the functioning of the financial system.
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L’articolo analizza le forme di credito non-bancario sviluppatesi in età preindustriale, comparabili per molti versi all’odierno cryptolending. In entrambi i casi si sviluppano reti “informali” di credito che seguono traiettorie diverse... more
L’articolo analizza le forme di credito non-bancario sviluppatesi in età preindustriale, comparabili per molti versi all’odierno cryptolending. In entrambi i casi si sviluppano reti “informali” di credito che seguono traiettorie diverse dai circuiti istituzionalizzati: quelli regolati dalle banche centrali o dagli operatori specializzati. Se nel prestito d’età moderna, erano i notai a svolgere un ruolo cruciale nel propiziare l’incontro tra debitori e creditori attraverso una selezione delle informazioni sui loro clienti, nella DeFi o finanza decentralizzata, sono le piattaforme informatiche, basate sulla tecnologia blockchain, che pongono direttamente in rapporto domanda e offerta di denaro e consentono di stipulare contratti di prestito a esecuzione automatica, gli smart contracts. Il mercato del credito in antico regime si fondava su due elementi cardine, la fiducia e la reputazione e i capitali venivano allocati non sulla base dei prezzi (i tassi di interesse) ma delle informazioni, relative appunto all’affidabilità e all’onestà delle due parti. Le criptovalute, d’altro canto, mirano come detto ad essere trust-less, capaci quindi di prescindere dalla fiducia, per affidarsi alla certezza della crittografia. Il proposito di sostituire il meccanismo alla fides, risponde al desiderio di ovviare alle incertezze derivanti dalla fallacia umana, come l’errore o l’azzardo morale.
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This article examines the role of women in private capital markets in northern Italy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. If bankers, financial dealers and major merchants were prevalent in the institutionalized credit markets,... more
This article examines the role of women in private capital markets in northern
Italy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. If bankers, financial dealers and major
merchants were prevalent in the institutionalized credit markets, women proved crucial in
private lending intermediated by notaries. The assets allowing them to participate in the
credit market derived principally from their dowries, mainly consisting of cash but also including
real estate. They used their properties as collateral for mortgages, which were employed
to meet family needs or to fund their husbands’ businesses, in some cases rescuing
them from bankruptcy and safeguarding their reputation. The cash was invested in interestrate
loans: female capital was not mere “petty finance”. Many widows coming from the aristocracy
or the urban elite had large sums at their disposal which were channelled into the
circuits of credit to finance manufacturing, trade and agriculture, boosting silk production
in some regions, the opening of new shops and partnerships in others, and promoting local
and international commerce. A portion of this capital was also lent to rural communities for
paying taxes, funding current expenditures, and modernizing infrastructure.
Italy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. If bankers, financial dealers and major
merchants were prevalent in the institutionalized credit markets, women proved crucial in
private lending intermediated by notaries. The assets allowing them to participate in the
credit market derived principally from their dowries, mainly consisting of cash but also including
real estate. They used their properties as collateral for mortgages, which were employed
to meet family needs or to fund their husbands’ businesses, in some cases rescuing
them from bankruptcy and safeguarding their reputation. The cash was invested in interestrate
loans: female capital was not mere “petty finance”. Many widows coming from the aristocracy
or the urban elite had large sums at their disposal which were channelled into the
circuits of credit to finance manufacturing, trade and agriculture, boosting silk production
in some regions, the opening of new shops and partnerships in others, and promoting local
and international commerce. A portion of this capital was also lent to rural communities for
paying taxes, funding current expenditures, and modernizing infrastructure.
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The New Institutional Economics often refers to the nineteenth century as an era of an institutional revolution. Given that the mechanisms of credit markets were a network, we presume an evolution within this meta-institution... more
The New Institutional Economics often refers to the nineteenth century as an era of an institutional revolution. Given that the mechanisms of credit markets were a network, we presume an evolution within this meta-institution complementary to a shift from personal to impersonal trust. Against a background of a comparable formal framework, this led to various informal phenomena coexisting on the market. Based on three comparable research sites in the border region of Saar–Prussia, Luxembourg and France, Clemens and Reupke focus on this institutional transition period. Especially they aim to reveal the mechanisms used either by private persons and by local banks. Within this context, it has to be mentioned that saving unions, including the company-internal ones, display a striking transitional form. Their research’s goal is to contribute to the differentiation of the research field by presenting the institutional revolution as a heterogeneously multilayered and locally varying process.
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The research analyses capital market in Verona during the second half of the 17th century. The study, based on about 11.700 contracts, 940 of which referring to credit, revealed that the notary played a crucial role inside such a circuit.... more
The research analyses capital market in Verona during the second half of the 17th century. The study, based on about 11.700 contracts, 940 of which referring to credit, revealed that the notary played a crucial role inside such a circuit. Institutions and people of almost all ranks, coming both from the city and from the countryside, went to the notary to seal a will, to create a dowry, to register a sale, a rent, and to make a loan. The notary went to gather a set of precious information referred to his customers \u2013 such as who had liquid to invest, who need money, and also who was an honest debtor and a relible creditor - that put him in the position to combine demand and offer (in this case borrower and lender), reducing the asymmetric information and lowering transaction costs. In this market pivoted on notary, information rather than prices, played an essential role in allocating capitals. The research reveals that in Verona the demand coming from the middle class and also from state institutions - like the city and the villages - strongly spurred the mobilization of capitals. Credit in Verona was then demand following rather than supply leading
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This paper analyses the expenditures and living standard of a nineteenth-century Habsburg family, the Bossi Fedrigotti. Drawing upon the household budgets and the documents of their private archives, this study investigates the type,... more
This paper analyses the expenditures and living standard of a nineteenth-century Habsburg family, the Bossi Fedrigotti. Drawing upon the household budgets and the documents of their private archives, this study investigates the type, composition, and variation in expenditures during two benchmark decades, 1835-1844 and 1855-1864. The relatively small share of expenses for food as compared to leisure, cultural activities, charity and conspicuous consumption reflects the household’s quest for social status and reputation befitting the noble title obtained in the previous century. The Fedrigotti also represented a pillar in the economic system of Rovereto where they lived, which they actively supported through a variety of economic and non-economic actions, helping the city to prosper and advance.
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Nel corso degli ultimi tre decenni il modello di quasi-mercato della sanità lombarda ha richiamato l’attenzione di ricercatori e policymakers da tutti i paesi OECD. Ispirandosi alla riforma britannica dei primi anni ‘90, il sistema... more
Nel corso degli ultimi tre decenni il modello di quasi-mercato della sanità lombarda ha richiamato l’attenzione di ricercatori e policymakers da tutti i paesi OECD. Ispirandosi alla riforma britannica dei primi anni ‘90, il sistema sanitario della Lombardia ha incoraggiato la competizione tra pubblico e privato e ha promosso la libertà di scelta del paziente, ottenendo un notevole aumento della qualità dei servizi erogati e un sostanziale pareggio del bilancio regionale dedicato, che passa appunto per essere come uno dei meriti principali del modello. La pandemia scoppiata nel 2020 ha ‘spiazzato’ questo modello e ne ha messo a nudo i difetti principali. Anche se era molto difficile prevedere le esatte contromisure richieste dal COVID-19 (che qualcuno aveva anche immaginato), le fragilità complessive del sistema sono apparse subito evidenti: la dominante presenza delle strutture private, che negli ultimi venti anni hanno raddoppiato i posti letto (dal 19 al 40% del totale) e si sono specializzate nelle aree di maggior profitto lasciando al pubblico quelle più rischiose; l’assoluta centralità degli ospedali (data la strategia di privatizzazione del sistema) con il conseguente depotenziamento dei presidi pubblici sul territorio caratteristici del periodo precedente; il graduale spostamento del finanziamento pubblico verso i privati; e la progressiva aziendalizzazione delle strutture pubbliche del sistema
sanitario, sempre più centri amministrativi e sempre meno erogatori di servizi. La storia però ci mostra, proprio a Milano, l’esistenza di un altro modello – fondato al contrario sull’interazione virtuosa tra sostegno privato e scopi pubblici – che ha saputo fare dell’Ospedale Maggiore (noto anche come Ca’ Granda) durante la sua lunga vita uno dei nosocomi più importanti e accreditati del Paese e del mondo. Se la fase rinascimentale, a partire dalla fondazione sforzesca nel 1456, è stata studiata ed è entrata a far parte a pieno titolo della golden age cinquecentesca degli ospedali italiani, la sua evoluzione dopo
l’Unità resta ancora da ricostruire, soprattutto in relazione alle dinamiche di finanziamento. Le sue cospicue rendite patrimoniali, costruite da secoli di generose donazioni dei Milanesi (che al 1906 assommavano a quasi 270 milioni di lire e che fanno oggi della Fondazione Patrimonio Ca’ Granda il più grande proprietario fondiario italiano),3 si dimostrarono infatti via via insufficienti a sostenere una domanda di assistenza sempre più allargata, a causa dell’industrializzazione, e sempre più costosa, a causa delle nuove tecnologie diagnostiche e curative. Anche se le contribuzioni dei privati continuarono a svolgere un ruolo cruciale, dai primi del Novecento l’economia dell’ospedale dovette così confrontarsi con fonti e soluzioni di finanziamento diverse, legate alla laicizzazione della beneficienza introdotta dalla legislazione crispina che veniva a precisare il concorso degli enti pubblici. I problemi e le tensioni che
si svilupparono da allora intorno alla responsabilità delle spese ospedaliere tra il nosocomio, i comuni foresi e la grande municipalità milanese riecheggiano appieno la «questione ospedaliera» che investì l’Italia giolittiana e che restò sostanzialmente irrisolta. Pur all’interno di queste difficoltà e di lunghe controversie, la Ca’ Granda riuscì comunque a perseguire l’obiettivo di estendere efficacemente l’assistenza sanitaria e di raggiungere risultati clinici di assoluto rilievo, tanto che nel 1920, in una conferenza alla Medical Society di Portland, il medico statunitense Ulysses Moore affermò che ‘né in America né in Francia, né in Inghilterra c’è un ospedale che per la sua grandiosità, per la sua organizzazione … e per le sue specializzazioni’ superi l’Ospedale Maggiore di Milano.4
Questo saggio si propone quindi di analizzare le modalità di finanziamento della Ca’ Granda tra l’età liberale e la fine degli anni Trenta, illustrandone la struttura, le trasformazioni, i punti di forza e le criticità. Il modello di welfare civico milanese – in cui l’impegno dei cittadini nell’assistenza è un imperativo etico ancor prima che una forma di legittimazione, e un impiego sociale della ricchezza ancor prima che un’elargizione di favori – si misura in questa fase con l’avvento della società industriale e con l’espansione dello stato sociale, che pongono nuove istanze e ibridano il paradigma originario con proposte e soluzioni che richiamano il dibattito nazionale sulla ripartizione degli oneri economici dell’assistenza sanitaria alle classi povere tra gli enti di beneficienza e gli enti pubblici; argomento, quello della storia economica degli ospedali italiani in età liberale e infrabellica, che finora ha ricevuto poca o nessuna attenzione ed è rimasto quindi assente anche dal dibattito storiografico internazionale (Donzé, Fernández Pérez, 2019; Fernández Pérez, 2021). Il primo paragrafo è perciò dedicato all’illustrazione delle fonti originali che hanno consentito questo studio, il secondo alla ricostruzione dei fatti stilizzati dell’Ospedale Maggiore dal 1861 al 1938 sullo sfondo della legislazione nazionale, il terzo all’esame delle entrate e del loro andamento, il quarto all’analisi delle spese e della loro composizione, mentre il quarto, a mo’ di conclusione, analizza la dinamica dei bilanci, come si fece fronte ai disavanzi, i problemi che ne emersero e le risposte politico-istituzionali.
sanitario, sempre più centri amministrativi e sempre meno erogatori di servizi. La storia però ci mostra, proprio a Milano, l’esistenza di un altro modello – fondato al contrario sull’interazione virtuosa tra sostegno privato e scopi pubblici – che ha saputo fare dell’Ospedale Maggiore (noto anche come Ca’ Granda) durante la sua lunga vita uno dei nosocomi più importanti e accreditati del Paese e del mondo. Se la fase rinascimentale, a partire dalla fondazione sforzesca nel 1456, è stata studiata ed è entrata a far parte a pieno titolo della golden age cinquecentesca degli ospedali italiani, la sua evoluzione dopo
l’Unità resta ancora da ricostruire, soprattutto in relazione alle dinamiche di finanziamento. Le sue cospicue rendite patrimoniali, costruite da secoli di generose donazioni dei Milanesi (che al 1906 assommavano a quasi 270 milioni di lire e che fanno oggi della Fondazione Patrimonio Ca’ Granda il più grande proprietario fondiario italiano),3 si dimostrarono infatti via via insufficienti a sostenere una domanda di assistenza sempre più allargata, a causa dell’industrializzazione, e sempre più costosa, a causa delle nuove tecnologie diagnostiche e curative. Anche se le contribuzioni dei privati continuarono a svolgere un ruolo cruciale, dai primi del Novecento l’economia dell’ospedale dovette così confrontarsi con fonti e soluzioni di finanziamento diverse, legate alla laicizzazione della beneficienza introdotta dalla legislazione crispina che veniva a precisare il concorso degli enti pubblici. I problemi e le tensioni che
si svilupparono da allora intorno alla responsabilità delle spese ospedaliere tra il nosocomio, i comuni foresi e la grande municipalità milanese riecheggiano appieno la «questione ospedaliera» che investì l’Italia giolittiana e che restò sostanzialmente irrisolta. Pur all’interno di queste difficoltà e di lunghe controversie, la Ca’ Granda riuscì comunque a perseguire l’obiettivo di estendere efficacemente l’assistenza sanitaria e di raggiungere risultati clinici di assoluto rilievo, tanto che nel 1920, in una conferenza alla Medical Society di Portland, il medico statunitense Ulysses Moore affermò che ‘né in America né in Francia, né in Inghilterra c’è un ospedale che per la sua grandiosità, per la sua organizzazione … e per le sue specializzazioni’ superi l’Ospedale Maggiore di Milano.4
Questo saggio si propone quindi di analizzare le modalità di finanziamento della Ca’ Granda tra l’età liberale e la fine degli anni Trenta, illustrandone la struttura, le trasformazioni, i punti di forza e le criticità. Il modello di welfare civico milanese – in cui l’impegno dei cittadini nell’assistenza è un imperativo etico ancor prima che una forma di legittimazione, e un impiego sociale della ricchezza ancor prima che un’elargizione di favori – si misura in questa fase con l’avvento della società industriale e con l’espansione dello stato sociale, che pongono nuove istanze e ibridano il paradigma originario con proposte e soluzioni che richiamano il dibattito nazionale sulla ripartizione degli oneri economici dell’assistenza sanitaria alle classi povere tra gli enti di beneficienza e gli enti pubblici; argomento, quello della storia economica degli ospedali italiani in età liberale e infrabellica, che finora ha ricevuto poca o nessuna attenzione ed è rimasto quindi assente anche dal dibattito storiografico internazionale (Donzé, Fernández Pérez, 2019; Fernández Pérez, 2021). Il primo paragrafo è perciò dedicato all’illustrazione delle fonti originali che hanno consentito questo studio, il secondo alla ricostruzione dei fatti stilizzati dell’Ospedale Maggiore dal 1861 al 1938 sullo sfondo della legislazione nazionale, il terzo all’esame delle entrate e del loro andamento, il quarto all’analisi delle spese e della loro composizione, mentre il quarto, a mo’ di conclusione, analizza la dinamica dei bilanci, come si fece fronte ai disavanzi, i problemi che ne emersero e le risposte politico-istituzionali.
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This article analyses the private capital market in Verona in the seventeenth century. The city, which was one of the most affected by the plague of 1630, that had halved the population and de-structured the economic and financial system,... more
This article analyses the private capital market in Verona in the seventeenth century. The city, which was one of the most affected by the plague of 1630, that had halved the population and de-structured the economic and financial system, was slowly recovering in the second half of the century. Despite the general state of asphyxia that characterized the main productive sectors, money ex-changes between individuals show that the private credit market was lively, strong and able to expand. These elements acted as driving forces for the revival of the city in the following century. Notaries were pivotal in this informal credit market: not mere scriveners, they operated as inter-mediaries in lending relations, mat-ching debtors and creditors, namely supply and demand of money.
Questo saggio analizza il mercato dei capitali privati intermediato dai notai a Verona nel Seicento. La città, una tra le più colpite della Terraferma veneta dall’epidemia di peste del 1630 che ne aveva dimezzato la popolazione e destrutturato il sistema produttivo, stava attraversando nella seconda metà del XVII secolo una fase di lenta ripresa. Nonostante lo stato di asfissia che interessò il mercato del credito, gli scambi di denaro tra privati testimoniano una vivacità e una forza espansiva che agirono da fattori propulsivi per la rinascita economica. Fulcro di questo mercato furono i notai che insieme all’attività di certificazione degli atti, svolsero anche la funzione di intermediari finanziari, mettendo in contatto mutuanti e mutuatari, quindi domanda e offerta di denaro.
Questo saggio analizza il mercato dei capitali privati intermediato dai notai a Verona nel Seicento. La città, una tra le più colpite della Terraferma veneta dall’epidemia di peste del 1630 che ne aveva dimezzato la popolazione e destrutturato il sistema produttivo, stava attraversando nella seconda metà del XVII secolo una fase di lenta ripresa. Nonostante lo stato di asfissia che interessò il mercato del credito, gli scambi di denaro tra privati testimoniano una vivacità e una forza espansiva che agirono da fattori propulsivi per la rinascita economica. Fulcro di questo mercato furono i notai che insieme all’attività di certificazione degli atti, svolsero anche la funzione di intermediari finanziari, mettendo in contatto mutuanti e mutuatari, quindi domanda e offerta di denaro.
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Questo saggio analizza il mercato dei capitali privati intermediato dai notai a Verona nel Seicento. La città, una tra le più colpite della Terraferma veneta dall’epidemia di peste del 1630 che ne aveva dimezzato la popolazione e... more
Questo saggio analizza il mercato dei capitali privati intermediato dai notai a Verona nel Seicento. La città, una tra le più colpite della Terraferma veneta dall’epidemia di peste del 1630 che ne aveva dimezzato la popolazione e destrutturato il sistema produttivo, stava attraversando nella seconda metà del XVII secolo una fase di lenta ripresa. Nonostante lo stato di asfissia che interessò il mercato del credito, gli scambi di denaro tra privati testimoniano una vi- vacità e una forza espansiva che agirono da fattori propulsivi per la rinascita economica. Fulcro di questo mercato furono i notai che insieme all’attività di certificazione degli atti, svolsero anche la funzione di intermediari finanziari, mettendo in contatto mutuanti e mutuatari, quindi domanda e offerta di denaro.
This article analyses the private capital market in Verona in the seventeenth century. The city, which was one of the most affected by the plague of 1630, that had halved the population and de- structured the economic and financial system, was slowly recovering in the second half of the century. Despite the general state of asphyxia that characterized the main productive sectors, money ex- changes between individuals show that the private credit market was lively, strong and able to expand. These elements acted as driving forces for the revival of the city in the following century. Notaries were pivotal in this informal credit market: not mere scriveners, they operated as inter- mediaries in lending relations, mat-ching debtors and creditors, namely supply and demand of money.
This article analyses the private capital market in Verona in the seventeenth century. The city, which was one of the most affected by the plague of 1630, that had halved the population and de- structured the economic and financial system, was slowly recovering in the second half of the century. Despite the general state of asphyxia that characterized the main productive sectors, money ex- changes between individuals show that the private credit market was lively, strong and able to expand. These elements acted as driving forces for the revival of the city in the following century. Notaries were pivotal in this informal credit market: not mere scriveners, they operated as inter- mediaries in lending relations, mat-ching debtors and creditors, namely supply and demand of money.
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This article analyzes the private capital market in Verona in the second half of the seventeenth century, drawing upon notaries’ loan contracts. In a period in which formal credit institutions such as joint stock banks still did not exist... more
This article analyzes the private capital market in Verona in the second half of the seventeenth century, drawing upon notaries’ loan contracts. In a period in which formal credit institutions such as joint stock banks still did not exist the role of notaries proved crucial in non-istitutionalized credit networks. While a share of the contracts were distributed among citizens belonging to the same social class,most of the loans were drawn up between individuals coming from heterogeneous groups. The capital, which was mainly provided by the urban elite, including nobles, patricians and a dynamic and emerging bourgeoisie, aimed to finance a vast range of needs, from everyday expenses, to extraordinary ones, from the purchase of a plot of land, or a house, to the provision of a dowry. Yet, part of these financial resources aimed to support activities which gave new impetus to the Veronese economy that in the seventeenth century was gradually recovering from a period of stagnation. In effect, some capital was invested in agrarian activities, such as, for instance, the creation of new and profitable paddy fields, as well as in urban activities, like the starting up of new businesses and shops. All in all, the notaries, widely spread in the city and the countryside, helped the Veronese credit market function efficiently because of their role as depositories of publica fides and of financial intermediaries, paving the way to a future economic modernization.
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This paper investigates the informal credit market in Trentino in the second half of the eighteenth century by drawing upon notaries' loan contracts. The analysis focuses on four benchmark years: 1750, 1760, 1770, and 1780. More than... more
This paper investigates the informal credit market in Trentino in the second half of the eighteenth century by drawing upon notaries' loan contracts. The analysis focuses on four benchmark years: 1750, 1760, 1770, and 1780. More than 10,000 contracts from the period were examined, including 1,200 credit transactions registered in two different cities, Trent and Rovereto. The research aims to analyze dynamics and trends, as well as the mechanisms that characterize the two credit markets, specifically who the borrowers and the lenders were, what capital was borrowed for, and at what price. The findings show stark differences between the two cities' financial markets. In Trent, whose population amounted to some 9,000, credit activity accounted for 7.7% of all notarial transactions, whereas in nearby Rovereto, with about half that population, credit contracts represented twice as much, 15% of business. Likewise, capital flow reflects the different nature and dynamism of the two ...
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This chapter focuses on how infrastructure provision was financed and managed in early modern Europe. It describes the emergence of two main patterns in the eighteenth century where England radically diverged from the rest of the continent... more
This chapter focuses on how infrastructure provision was financed and managed in early modern Europe. It describes the emergence of two main patterns in the eighteenth century where England radically diverged from the rest of the continent in terms of infrastructure financing. Section 2 concentrates on the progressive centralizing process that took place in Continental Europe. This centralization, due mainly to political absolutism, led to the funding of a wide range of infrastructure by the treasury. New long-distance routes were planned and financed by the state, which employed some of the revenues from taxes and also public debt. However, minor and secondary routes, bridges, and ditches remained the responsibility of local authorities, Section 3 focuses on the infrastructure financing model that developed in England. The political, economic, and institutional revolution that had affected the country since the second half of the seventeenth century encouraged private intervention. The rise ofthe new turnpikes and the emergenceof trustees, who were committed to finance and manage roads and bridges, soon proved more efficient than local justices, marking the passage from public to private enterprises. Trustees along with the private water supply service subsequently developed into more organized bodies, the first joint-stock companies, which would be the driving force of the canal mania between the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century.
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This paper aims to analyse the expenditure and consumption of a noble family from Trentino, the Bossi Fedrigotti, in the nineteenth century. The origin and evolution of the family assets are traced from the fifteenth to the nineteenth... more
This paper aims to analyse the expenditure and consumption of a noble family from Trentino, the Bossi Fedrigotti, in the nineteenth century. The origin and evolution of the family assets are traced from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century as they shifted from transport to trade, from trade to finance, and finally from finance to agriculture. The research is based on the household budgets and investigates the type, composition and variations in expenditures during two benchmark decades, 1835-44 and 1855-64. The relatively small share of expenses for food as compared to leisure, cultural activities, charity and conspicuous consumption reflects the family’s quest for social status and reputation, leading to the obtainment of a noble title in the eighteenth century. The Bossi Fedrigotti represented a pillar in the economic system of Rovereto, which they actively supported through a variety of economic and non-economic actions, helping the city to prosper and advance.
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The article analyses the expenditures and living standard of a nineteenth-century Habsburg family, the Bossi Fedrigotti. drawing upon the household budgets and the documents of their private archives, this study investigates the type,... more
The article analyses the expenditures and living standard of a nineteenth-century Habsburg family, the Bossi Fedrigotti. drawing upon the household budgets and the documents of their private archives, this study investigates the type, composition, and variation in expenditures during two benchmark decades, 1835-1844 and 1855-1864. the relatively small share of expenses for food as compared to leisure, cultural activities, charity and conspicuous consumption reflects the household’s quest for social status and reputation befitting the noble title obtained in the previous century. the Fedrigotti also represented a pillar in the economic system of Rovereto where they lived, which they actively supported through a variety of economic and non-economic actions, helping the city to prosper and advance.
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The second half of the sixteenth century was a period of economic expansion that matched favourably the increasing financial demands on the Italian states, especially Milan and Genoa, stemming from their involvement in the geopolitical... more
The second half of the sixteenth century was a period of economic expansion that matched favourably the increasing financial demands on the Italian states, especially Milan and Genoa, stemming from their involvement in the geopolitical strategy of the Spanish Empire. The interplay of economics and politics fostered several financial innovations that—though at different levels—notably increased the collection of monies and tied financial capital to their processes of state-building. The innovations included the progressive substitution of bond issues for compulsory loans, the rise of a lively demand for state securities due to the earmarking of future tax income for interest payment, their easy transferability and their tax-free status. All these innovations constituted a kind of financial proto-revolution. Eventually, the emergence of the Besançon fairs (settled in Piacenza), operating under the Genoese as an international credit market with its own currency of account according to a mechanism that avoided the charge of usury, represented the other new crucial element of the sixteenth century. This kind of ‘off shore’ capital market was essential then for providing Spain with the increasing amount of financial resources raised from the savings of the urban and rural societies. In the more dynamic productive areas of Italy, public finance, private credit and economic production ended up with a meaningful complementarity based essentially on the usefulness of sovereign debt as collateral for private financial ventures. In northern Italy public debt represented also a powerful instrument to link the different social classes of the state and the subject territories to the central polities by engaging the local ruling elites and the territorial bodies in a mechanism of income redistribution.
At the turn of the seventeenth century, a general spirit aimed at making
money profitable without leaving it idle was progressively spreading
not only among regular practitioners but also among wealthy citizens
who found the investment of money convenient, especially because it
was tax-free.
At the turn of the seventeenth century, a general spirit aimed at making
money profitable without leaving it idle was progressively spreading
not only among regular practitioners but also among wealthy citizens
who found the investment of money convenient, especially because it
was tax-free.
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The three centuries that link the end of the Middle Ages to the first industrial revolution mark a broad and deep change in the evolution of Western Europe. The conquest of the New World, the Reformation, the scientific revolution, the... more
The three centuries that link the end of the Middle Ages to the first industrial revolution mark a broad and deep change in the evolution of Western Europe. The conquest of the New World, the Reformation, the scientific revolution, the birth and apogee of the modern state: these were all factors that accelerated the historical process. The growth of the population (which between the sixteenth and eighteenth century increased from 57 to over 81 million) and commercial exchanges, along with the flourishing of cities and the progressive specialization in manufacturing, gave strong impetus to the increase in infrastructure. Transport and travel systems in particular attracted new interest also from the great monarchies, who saw an extensive and well-connected transport network as a precondition for unifying and controlling the country. This chapter focuses on how infrastructure provision was financed and managed in early modern Europe. It describes the emergence of two main patterns in the eighteenth century where England radically diverged from the rest of the continent in terms of infrastructure financing. Section 2.2 concentrates on the progressive centralizing process that took place in Continental Europe. This centralization, due mainly to political absolutism, led to the funding of a wide range of infrastructure by the treasury. New long-distance routes were planned and financed by the state, which employed some of the revenues from taxes and also public debt. However, minor and secondary routes, bridges, and ditches remained the responsibility of local authorities, OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – REVISES, 24/10/2015, SPi
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This article analyzes the private capital market in Verona in the second half of the seventeenth century, drawing upon notaries’ loan contracts. In a period in which formal credit institutions such as joint stock banks still did not exist... more
This article analyzes the private capital market in Verona in the second half of the seventeenth century, drawing upon notaries’ loan contracts. In a period in which formal credit institutions such as joint stock banks still did not exist the role of notaries proved crucial in non-istitutionalized credit networks. While a share of the contracts were distributed among citizens belonging to the same social class,most of the loans were drawn up between individuals coming from heterogeneous groups. The capital, which was mainly provided by the urban elite, including nobles, patricians and a dynamic and emerging bourgeoisie, aimed to finance a vast range of needs, from everyday expenses, to extraordinary ones, from the purchase of a plot of land, or a house, to the provision of a dowry. Yet, part of these financial resources aimed to support activities which gave new impetus to the Veronese economy that in the seventeenth century was gradually recovering from a period of stagnation. In effect, some capital was invested in agrarian activities, such as, for instance, the creation of new and profitable paddy fields, as well as in urban activities, like the starting up of new businesses and shops. All in all, the notaries, widely spread in the city and the countryside, helped the Veronese credit market function efficiently because of their role as depositories of publica fides and of financial intermediaries, paving the way to a future economic modernization.
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This paper investigates the informal credit market in Trentino in the second half of the eighteenth century by drawing upon notaries’ loan contracts. The analysis focuses on four benchmark years: 1750, 1760, 1770, and 1780. More than... more
This paper investigates the informal credit market in Trentino in the second half of the eighteenth century by drawing upon notaries’ loan contracts. The analysis focuses on four benchmark years: 1750, 1760, 1770, and 1780. More than 10,000 contracts from the period were examined, including 1,200 credit transactions registered in two different cities, Trent and Rovereto. The research aims to analyze dynamics and trends, as well as the mechanisms that characterize the two credit markets, specifically who the borrowers and the lenders were, what capital was borrowed for, and at what price. The findings show stark differences between the two cities’ financial markets. In Trent, whose population amounted to some 9,000, credit activity accounted for 7.7% of all notarial transactions, whereas in nearby Rovereto, with about half that population, credit contracts represented twice as much, 15% of business. Likewise, capital flow reflects the different nature and dynamism of the two towns. In Trent, loans were mainly to finance agriculture and the urban economy (craftsmen, retailers). In Rovereto, where capital flow was nearly three times that of Trent, went largely to sustain agriculture and the flourishing international silk trade. The political and institutional frameworks around the two towns were indeed quite different. Trent, as the capital of the Prince-Bishopric, was chiefly an administrative town and apparently impervious to innovation. But Rovereto, part of the Habsburg Monarchy, was a well-integrated node in an international trade network of rapidly expanding silk manufacturing, whose growth was fostered by the vivid and effective credit market.
This book explores the development of credit markets to mobilize large amounts of capital in the medieval and early modern period. The financial dealings of craftsmen, farmers and townsmen actually represent the credit transactions of... more
This book explores the development of credit markets to mobilize large amounts of capital in the medieval and early modern period. The financial dealings of craftsmen, farmers and townsmen actually represent the credit transactions of almost the entire historical population and are therefore of special importance. The studies presented in this book focus on the credit dealings in different regions (England, Tirol, Northern Italy, Germany, Low Countries). The contributions in the book discuss how the development of the people involved, and the transformation of institutions during the Middle Ages and early modern period, affected access to capital markets and the practice of money lending.
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The book explores the evolution of credit and financing in Europe from the Middle Ages to Modern Times. It engages with the distinct political, economic and institutional frameworks of the examined areas (England, Italy, France, Germany,... more
The book explores the evolution of credit and financing in Europe from the Middle Ages to Modern Times. It engages with the distinct political, economic and institutional frameworks of the examined areas (England, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Netherlands and Turkey) and discusses how these affected the credit market.
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This paper aims to analyse the expenditure and consumption of a noble family from Trentino, the Bossi Fedrigotti, in the nineteenth century. The origin and evolution of the family assets are traced from the fifteenth to the nineteenth... more
This paper aims to analyse the expenditure and consumption of a noble family from Trentino, the Bossi Fedrigotti, in the nineteenth century. The origin and evolution of the family assets are traced from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century as they shifted from transport to trade, from trade to finance, and finally from finance to agriculture. The research is based on the household budgets and investigates the type, composition and variations in expenditures during two benchmark decades, 1835-44 and 1855-64. The relatively small share of expenses for food as compared to leisure, cultural activities, charity and conspicuous consumption reflects the family’s quest for social status and reputation, leading to the obtainment of a noble title in the eighteenth century. The Bossi Fedrigotti represented a pillar in the economic system of Rovereto, which they actively supported through a variety of economic and non-economic actions, helping the city to prosper and advance.