Informal Credit in the Mediterranean Area

293 Pages·2016·2.6 MB·English

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t Informal Credit
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The informal credit market is nowadays an important part of the ie
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financial system of the developing countries. It plays a decisive role ra
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in channeling credit to small and poor borrowers in both urban and e
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rural areas. It also constitutes an important source of working capi- A XVI-XIX Centuries
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tal of all sizes and serves generally to ameliorate inefficiencies in the e
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allocation of formal credit sector. The thesis is absolutely valid also
during modern age. Along the whole modern age, informal credit
has actually been the most widespread financial method. On the
contrary, credit practiced by counters and merchants bankers, espe-
Edited by Antonino Giuffrida, Roberto Rossi, Gaetano Sabatini
cially by means of letters of exchange, was mainly aimed at
satisfying crowns, governments, municipal finances, big towns
supplies needs. This is the reason why every commercial and manu-
facturing activity had to resort to un-institutional forms of credit,
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consisting in a wide range of traditional customs, law institutions d
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and organizations, granting Europe the necessary financial basis ed
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from which to develop its own primary and secondary sectors. y

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Antonino Giuffrida is Associate Professor of Modern History at iu
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University of Palermo (Italy) fr
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Roberto Rossi is Associate Professor of Economic History at University , R
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Gaetano Sabatini is Full Professor of Economic History at University o R
of Roma Tre (Italy) os
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€ 18,00
Economic History
Frameworks
Economic History Frameworks
ISSN (a stampa): 2465-0994
ISSN (online): 2499-0140
Direzione: Roberto Rossi - Gaetano Sabatini
Comitato scientifico:
Lili-Annè Aldman (University of Gothenburg), Francesco
Dandolo (Università degli Studi di Napoli ‘Federico II’),
Giuseppe De Luca (Università degli Studi di Milano),
Massimo Fornasari (Università degli Studi di Bologna),
Luca Mocarelli (Università di Milano Bicocca), Jean-Philippe
Priotti (Université Lille Nord de France), Alex Sánchez Suárez
(Universidad de Barcelona)
N.1 Gennaio 2016
Informal credit in the mediterranean area (XVI-XIX centuries)
A cura di Antonino Giuffrida, Roberto Rossi and Gaetano
Sabatini
Revisione testo inglese: Jay Lingham
© Copyright 2016 New Digital Frontiers srl
Viale delle Scienze, Edificio 16 (c/o ARCA)
90128 Palermo
www.newdigitalfrontiers.com
ISBN (a stampa): 978-88-99487-07-2
ISBN (online): 978-88-99487-10-2
Le opere pubblicate sono sottoposte a processo di peer-review
a doppio cieco
In copertina Gaspar van Wittel, Vista del porto di Napoli (1700 c.a.)
Informal credit in the
Mediterranean area
(XVI-XIX CenturIes)
Edited By
Antonino Giuffrida, Roberto Rossi and Gaetano Sabatini

In memory of Paola Vismara

Contents
General Introduction
General Introduction XI
Antonino Giuffrida, Roberto Rossi and Gaetano Sabatini
Informal credit in the Mediterranean area
Heads or tails – different sides of coins and credits in
1800s Gotheburg 21
Lili-Annè Aldman and Per Hallén
Financing the woollen industry during the sixteenth
and seventeenth century: cases from the Republic of Venice 45
Andrea Caracausi and Edoardo Demo
Disciplining credit: lending to the poor, lending to the
affluent in early modern Bologna 63
Mauro Carboni
Managing credits in commercial companies: the case
of a Milanese company in the Iberian Peninsula during
the sixteenth century 75
Benedetta Crivelli
Credit and institutions. The activities of the Congrega
Apostolica in Brescia during the Ancien Régime 93
Marco Dotti
Loan on ledges in the absence of pawnshops: the castil-
ian case in the XVI and XVII centuries 111
Elena María García Guerra
An informal credit network aimed at the captives’ re-
demption in modern age Sicily 129
Antonino Giuffrida and Roberto Rossi
The maritime loan as a form of small shipping credit
(17th to 18th centuries): the case of Liguria 145
Luca Lo Basso
Southern Italy informal credit and markets during the
modern age: the alla voce contract 175
Aldo Montaudo
Legal disputes of Monti di Pietà: the conflict over the
right of Episcopal visits 201
Daniele Palermo
Wheat supply, market and trade in Rome during the
18th century 225
Renata Sabene
The modern Church and the ethic of credit 243
Paola Vismara
Bibliography 261
General Introduction