A History of the Credit Market in Central Europe by Pavla Slavkov;

Author:Pavla Slavkov; [Slavkov;, Pavla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780367404185
Publisher: TaylorFrancis
Published: 2020-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Social background

In the course of the analysed century, a total of 1,647 participants in credit turnover appeared in Old Warsaw, with an annual average frequency of 27 persons in the 15th century and 34 in the 16th century. The nature of the participation of most persons was characterized by one-time presence in all credit registers and one-sidedness when they acted only as a creditor or debtor. One-time participation concerned 81% of lenders and 73% of borrowers. On the other hand, unilateral actions were taken by as much as 90% of all registered persons. These figures and analyses of the personalities of the parties to the transaction prove the horizontality of the market which, in turn, is considered a testimony to its positive condition and the wide circulation of capital. In other words, apart from a large group of single debtors, there was an equally large group of single creditors who, having a certain cash surplus, undertook to invest in the market. What is very important in this context is the lack of dependence of many borrowers on a narrow group of those operating with serious capital, for example the wealthiest merchants (in such a case it would be a less favourable vertical structure). Only 9% of all people appeared on both sides of the market. The most active (more than tenfold presence) and proportionally smallest (less than 2% of all creditors and 1% of debtors) part of this group was formed by elites. However, their share was neither even nor equal. We see unevenness in the participation of only a part of the representatives of the wealthiest families, many wealthy merchants appeared in just a few contracts. On the other hand, inequality is expressed in different strategies adopted by the elites, some specialized in the role of creditors, another group mainly collected capital, while others operated on both sides of the market. In both cases, there is no uniform model of elite credit activity, characterized by clear differentiation.

The professional landscape of the medieval city was a real mosaic of various professions and specializations. Guild crafts were undoubtedly the most numerous but the leading position in terms of wealth was occupied by merchants; therefore, it is worth a closer look at the activity of both groups. The craftsmen of Old Warsaw comprised several main branches: construction, wood, metal, leather, food, services, and textiles, while the greatest wealth was achieved by goldsmiths and leather professions, which was also greatly influenced by the water-transported trade to Prussia. In the years 1427–1525 a total of 70 trades were recorded and the number of craftsmen increased five times (Koczorowska 1972). In the period covered by the analysis, 423 craftsmen taking part in the Old Town credit market (26% of the total number of people) were recorded. Artifices appeared in 596 cases with a total value exceeding 340,000 groszes. In total, their activity, against the background of general indicators describing the loan turnover, covered 41% of the number and 25% of the total value of all credit records.

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