[PDF] [PDF] Merchants and the Origins of Capitalism - Harvard Business School

[PDF] The Rise of Europe in The High Middle Ages: Reactions to Urban

Commercial: intra-European land trade and European maritime powers In the early 14th century, Venice was one of the richest cities in Europe At first 

[PDF] Epidemic Trade - European Historical Economics Society

trade and the spread of the disease: the typology of virus which spread across Europe during the 14th century is a typical case of a bubonic plague (yersinia 

[PDF] Chapter 26: Rise of Trade and Towns, 500 AD - 1400 AD

The growth of trade led to the rise of the first large trading centers of the later Middle Ages They were located on the important sea routes that connected western 

[PDF] Merchants and the Origins of Capitalism - Harvard Business School

the basis of available records from Lübeck and Genoa in the second half of the fourteenth century, that the total value of the Hanseatic trade then represented as  

[PDF] 151/2 shirt size in cm

[PDF] 153 rue saint martin 75003 paris

[PDF] 15th century europe events

[PDF] 15th century europe religion

[PDF] 15th century european armor

[PDF] 15th century european art

[PDF] 15th century european clothing

[PDF] 15th century european exploration

[PDF] 15th century european map

[PDF] 16rue chapon 93300 aubervilliers france

[PDF] 17 sustainable development goals and 169 targets pdf

[PDF] 17 sustainable development goals and 169 targets ppt

[PDF] 17 sustainable development goals and definition

[PDF] 17 sustainable development goals and meaning

[PDF] 17 sustainable development goals and targets

Working Paper 18-021

Working Paper 18-021

Copyright © 2017

by Sophus A. Reinert and Robert Fredona Working papers are in draft form. This working paper is distributed for purposes of comment and discussion only. It may

not be reproduced without permission of the copyright holder. Copies of working papers are available from the author.

1

MerchantsandtheOriginsofCapitalism

SophusA.ReinertandRobertFredona

contracts whathecalledthe"sedentary 2

Italy,boretheclearmarksofGras's

such"sedentary presentedthecaseforsucharevolution (morebroadlyunderstood)evenearlier. Themedieval"commercialrevolution" - nottobeconfusedwithEarlyModern it(e.g.Roseveare1991) - sawtheinvention, diffusion,orearliestperfectionofholding 3 transformationof work.This preͲIndustrialglobalcapitalism.

THECOMMERCEOFTHEMEDITERRANEAN

beenenrichedinthisway,therebyshattering theunityoftheRomanMediterraneanasa 4 wealthͲgeneratingprovinces 1291,
expansioninthefifteenthcentury - theIndianOceaninthe1490s(Chaunu1995) - themasteryofglobaltrade,fromaEuropean perspective, begantheprocessofcreatingmaritime zoneforEuropeanmerchantactivity. where 5 includingeconomic locusoflongͲdistance andultimatelysouthernEngland(Brunet bysmallmerchant EasternMediterranean - placeslikeGenoaandVenice,withcommandingpositionsonthe TyrrhenianandAdriaticSeas,andcitiesalongtheItaliancoastlikeAmalfi - thathadthefirst 6 Venice,Genoa,andPisahadalreadyestablishedextensivenetworksofsuchcolonies - often theArabic neighborhoodsorcitydistricts,asat

Constantinople - allalongtheMediterraneanbasin.

traders(Constable2003).The THE

COMMERCEOFEUROPE

Ages.Originallylocalorregional

7 banditsandwolvesto werethoseofFlandersand geographicalposition - thereFlemishclothdealers,bearingwoolandlinenclothfrom the thegoodsofItalyandtheMediterraneantrade - andbecauseoftheprotectionprovidedthem disputeresolution,inspiredconfidencein used suchthatcreditcouldreliablybeextendedat onefairanddebtpaidbackatanother(Bautier 8

Italy(andthustheWestͲEasttrade)

had tradeandestablishcoloniesthere;andbythe andaroundtheNorthandBalticSeas - stretchingfromLondonandBergentoBrugesand LübeckandontoNovgorodinRussia - allowedmerchantsfromNorthernGermanyto easternBalticand 9 regionseast(HammelͲ fifteenth

COMMERCIALINNOVATIONS

dicambioordipagamento,a century,andinuse - largelyunchanged - untiltheeighteenth.Cashlessexchangeshad butthebillof suchbills 10 companieswereabletomakeextensive

ItalygivethePopeprofitsfrom

andthoseinneedofit. appearslargely contractsthat 11 hademergedandmerchants,originallyin

Tuscany,hadturnedinsuranceintoamatterof

mathematizationof avoidcatastrophicloss.Between1390and 12 ofthenecessarycapitalforthecommercialseavoyage;anactiveinvestor - atraveling commercialexpertise - putsup activitiesmustalways earlycreationofapublicdebtto capturein calledacompagnia,relatedtoourown word"company",anditsmemberscompagni. personor 13 underlargely lackofa alsocreated - unlikethemoderncorporation - unlimitedpersonalliabilityinthepartners,even liability(Melis1991). managerinsteadofatrader,and was,notcoincidentally,thesame:ragione, fromtheLatinratio,acount,anaccounting,a significantsize - 14 withahomeoffice,distantbranches(filiali),directors,partners,agents,andemployees - theSieneseSalimbenecompany,tocomplex usingthesoͲcalled"doubleentry"(

MERCANTILECULTUREANDARTEFACTS

literacyrateofaround80percent 15 behindbyearlyRenaissancemerchants - menlikeVillanihimself,whowasafactor(business thefirstdecadeofthefourteenth century(Luzzati1969) - andbythesuperͲabundanceofbusinessrecordsleftbehindbytheir and

2001).

giventhecultureoutof "marchandsconteurs", recorded 16 (Branca1986:1Ͳ99).Moreaproposofthe geographyofthelongͲdistancemerchant'sworld,inwhichinformationusefultomerchants - traderoutes;distances;localcurrencies, dutiesandtariffs;carriagecosts - wascompileddirectlyorsecondͲhandfromcorrespondents fromtheItaliancolonyof kilometersaway(Evans1936). evenfragmentary.Morecomplete 17 last75years manuscriptsthroughwhichitispossible totracethebusinesses - predominantlywool manufacturingandexport - ofonebranchofFlorence'sMedicifamily.Themostimportant

Raffaello(d.1555),andhis

Constantinople)andtoBursa(at

andtheOttomancities nopartners 18 similarinterestsintheLevanttrade. 1 withHarvardBusinessSchool'sfirstdean

EdwinF.Gay(Brun1930).Datini,whoachieved

MerchantofPrato(1957),leftbehindasuperabundanceofrecords - over600accountbooks, exchange - thatisunparalleled hereturnedto multinationaltradingcompaniesofthe 19 pettymerchantsofPratointhesameperiod,who keptonlyrudimentaryaccounts,dealtwith devoutandleft ofhiscontemporaries, the"spirit"ofcapitalismdidnot calculationofprofitfirst becamewidespread(Lehmann1993).Althoughthelargerquestionof"spirit" - acultural ratherthanempiricalone - remainsmoot,capitalismasitdevelopedinthemedievalWestdid prohibitionandthejustpricedoctrine. 20 theThird regularlysubjectedtorhetorical innovativedoctrines (Spicciani minimal.Similarly, price(DeRoover1958).Thatsaid,certainessentialstaplegoods,likegrain - subjectto 21
unpredictablecropfailures,andthuslifeordeathmattersforrulersandtheirsubjects - were localmerchantsandindustriesincluding

VENICE:MERCHANTSANDTHESTATE

intervention, andfortifying andthestartofOttomanencroachment, 22
dustastheforemostmediumofexchangeforhighpaymentsinEurope,theVenetianDucat - firstmintedin1285 - wasrapidlyusedandcopiedthroughouttheEasternMediterraneanand, thepremiergoldcoinofEurope(Laneand thestartofthethirteenthcentury - when,in1204,DogeEnricoDandolodiverted theFourth CrusadetosackConstantinople - itconspicuouslyrivaledorequaledtheEasternEmpiredueto expansionintheTerraferma,speduponly intheseventeenthcentury,whenNorthwestern sidesteppingthe mercantileemulation(Reinert2011). tradewereintimately 23
locallyorfrom as interestsoftheVenetianpatriciate

THESCALEOFMERCANTILEENTERPRISES

24
overtheMediterraneanworld - Pisa,Venice,Naples,Barletta,Sicily,Sardinia,Mallorca,Tunis, Cyprus,andRhodes - andemployed90salariedagents.Bycomparison,thepapacyinAvignon,

1988).

25
prowess - Ͳinsulatingthecentralcompanyfromlosses,incentivizingbranchmanagersto increaseprofits,requiringtheregularpresentationoffinancialstatements - andthatitsfailure,

CONCLUSION

26
MiddleAges,buthissearchforcauses - fromthecultivationofryetothecentralizationofthe Papalchurch - largelyoverlooksthepatentcauseofEurope'sdistinctlatemedievalprosperity, be,firstofall,tospeakofmerchants. Renaissance,wehaveshownhowthemerchant - Gras's"sedentarymerchant",freedfromthe medieval"commercialrevolution" - emergedasatrulyglobalfigure.Then,asnow,merchants 27
developmentoftheWest. orRenaissance - toseeacitylikeBrugesorlikeVenice - was,wemaysaywithcrystalline 28

WORKSCITED

Variorum).

(Rome:ÉcoleFrançaisedeRome). (Baltimore:JohnsHopkinsUniversity

Press).

Bec,Christian(1967),

(Paris:LaHaye).

Tipografiamarittima).

Najemy(ed.),Italyinthe

(Milan:Rusconi).

Braudel,Fernand

(1972),The

Reynolds(NewYork:Harper).

14Ͳ19.

secc.XIII-XVIII(Florence:LeMonnier). (London:Thamesand

Hudson).

29

PressesuniversitairesdeFrance).

Press).

(Cambridge,MA:HarvardUniversityPress).

EcoleFrançaisedeRome).

De

Colin).

JournalofEconomicHistory18,418Ͳ438.

MA:HarvardUniversityPress).

UniversityPress),42Ͳ118.

OrganizationofaSixteenth

ofChicagoPress). 30
ofChicagoPress).

DeRoover,Raymond(1974c),"TheStoryofthe

AlbertiCompanyofFlorence,1302Ͳ1348,as

Press).

Datini)

CarolinaPress).

Medieval

AcademyofAmerica).

314.

Fusaro,Maria

Gras,N(orman)S.B.(1939),Business

York:Crofts).

Press).

31

EconomicHistory14(1985):5Ͳ55

HopkinsUniversityPress).

MediciManuscriptsatBaker

History(NewHaven:

YaleUniversityPress).

History(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress).

Firenzedeltardo

EconomyFortyYearsLater(London:Anthem).

Kellenbenz,Hermann(1990),Die

FuggerinSpanienundPortugalbis1560:Ein

(Baltimore:Johns

Hopkins).

Press).

32

Press).

(NewYork:ZoneBooks). (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress).

Lewit,

OxfordUniversityPress).

UniversityPress).

PostanandEdwardMiller,(eds.),Cambridge

EconomicHistoryofEurope,vol.2(Cambridge:

CambridgeUniversityPress).

CambridgeUniversityPress).

IllustrativeDocuments(NewYork:Norton).

OECD).

33

Ashgate).

Prato(Siena:Montedei

Paschi).

IstitutoNazionaledelleAssicurazione).

(Florence:LeMonnier).

Monnier).

Economy,forthcomingfromPalgrave.

UniversityofChicagoPress).

Nicol,DonaldM.(1988),Byzantium

(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress).

FirenzeUniversityPress).

34

Sociology111,1463Ͳ1568.

EmergenceofOrganizationsandMarkets

(Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress). (Cambridge,MA:HarvardUniversityPress).

ModernBritainanditsEmpire

(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress).

York:BasicBooks).

Humblot).

secoliXIIIͲXV(Rome:Jouvence).

HammelͲ

PortaAlba).

UniversityPress).

EugenioGarin(RomeͲBari:Laterza).

balkaniques23,112Ͳ116. bassomedioevo:Leedizioni

867Ͳ880.

35

VanDoosselaere,Quentin(2009),

Cambridge

UniversityPress)

(Munich:Beck).

Zeno,Riniero(ed.)(1936),Documentiper

(Turin:Lattes). 1 36
quotesdbs_dbs21.pdfusesText_27