Government and Merchant Finance in Anglo-Gascon Trade, 1300 1500

Provides a plethora of quantitative primary source evidence that is neither previously published nor analyzedCompiles a more extensive dataset of Gascon commodity prices (wine, wheat, precious metals) than has previously been available
Showcases exchange rates between the pound sterling and local money of Bordeaux, unused fifteenth century ducal mint records, and from Bordeaux's customs books over 3,500 records of commercial transactionsExpands on subjects such as merchant credit, capital investment, and risk management

Offers a fresh perspective on the link between trade and government finance in the Late Middle Ages Showcases new evidence for the importance of medieval commodity markets: their relationship to the movement of money and exchange rates Expands on subjects such as merchant credit and partnerships, as well as taxation and public debt

Auteur

Robert Blackmore is an economic historian specialising in trade and finance in the Late Middle Ages. He was awarded his PhD in 2018 by the University of Southampton, UK, for his doctoral thesis 'The Political Economy of the Anglo-Gascon Wine Trade, c.1348-c.1453'.

Texte du rabat

The Late Middle Ages (c.1300 c.1500) saw the development of many of the key economic institutions of the modern unitary nation-state in Europe. After the commercial revolution of the thirteenth century, taxes on trade became increasingly significant contributors to government finances, and as such there were ever greater efforts to control the flow of goods and money. This book presents a case study of the commercial and financial links between the kingdom of England and the duchy of Aquitaine across the late-medieval period, with a special emphasis on the role of the English Plantagenet government that had ruled both in a political union since 1154. It establishes a strong connection between fluctuations in commodity markets, large monetary flows and unstable financial markets, most notably in trade credit and equity partnerships. It shows how the economic relationship deteriorated under the many exogenous shocks of the period, the wars, plagues and famines, as well as politically motivated regulatory intervention. Despite frequent efforts to innovate in response, both merchants and governments experienced a series of protracted financial crises that presaged the break-up of the union of kingdom and duchy in 1453, with the latter s conquest by the French crown. Of particular interest to scholars of the late-medieval European economy, this book will also appeal to those researching wider economic or financial history.

Contenu

1. Introduction.- 2. The Politics of Markets.- 3. Commodities and Prices.- 4. Money and Trade.- 5. Mercantile Finance.- 6. Public Finance.- 7. Conclusion.