Briggs / Zuijderduijn Land and Credit

Mortgages in the Medieval and Early Modern European Countryside
1. Auflage 2018
ISBN: 978-3-319-66209-1
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 350 Seiten

Reihe: Progress in Mathematics

This volume investigates the use of mortgages in the European countryside between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries. A mortgage allowed a loan to be secured with land or other property, and the practice has been linked to the transformation of the agrarian economy that paved the way for modern economic growth. Historians have viewed the mortgage both positively and negatively: on the one hand, it provided borrowers with opportunities for investment in agriculture; but equally, it exposed them to the risk of losing their mortgaged property. The case studies presented in this volume reveal the variety of forms that the mortgage took, and show how an intricate balance was struck between the interests of the borrower looking for funds, and those of the lender looking for security. It is argued that the character of mortgage law, and the nature of rights in land in operation in any given the place and period, determined the degree to which mortgages were employed. Over time, developments in these factors allowed increasing numbers of peasants to use mortgages more freely, and with a decreasing risk of expropriation. This volume will be appealing to academics and researchers interested in financial history, credit and debt.  



Chris Briggs, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in Medieval British Social and Economic History at the University of Cambridge, UK, and affiliated to Selwyn College, Cambridge. Dr Briggs is the author of a number of studies of credit and debt in the medieval economy, including Credit and village society in fourteenth century England (2009). Jaco Zuijderduijn, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Economic History at Lund University, Sweden. He publishes widely on the financial history of the later Middle Ages, with a particular focus on how individuals made use of financial markets. He is the author of Medieval capital markets. Markets for 'renten', state formation and private investment in Holland (1300-1550) (2009). 

Autoren/Hrsg.

Briggs, Chris

Zuijderduijn, Jaco

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Acknowledgements;6
2;Contents;7
3;Editors and Contributors;9
4;Abbreviations;13
5;List of Figures;14
6;List of Tables;16
7;Chapter 1 Introduction: Mortgages and Annuities in Historical Perspective;18
7.1;1.1 Mortgage Contracts and Mortgage Law: Security, but for Whom?;20
7.2;1.2 Mortgage Credit: Winners and Losers;24
7.3;1.3 Beyond Europe: Mortgages and Development;29
7.4;1.4 Contents of the Volume;30
7.5;Bibliography;32
8;Chapter 2 Mortgages and the English Peasantry c.1250–c.1350;34
8.1;2.1 Introduction;34
8.2;2.2 A Wider Search for Mortgages;39
8.3;2.3 Why Were Mortgages Rare Overall?;48
8.3.1;2.3.1 Usury;49
8.3.2;2.3.2 Property Rights;50
8.3.3;2.3.3 Were the Mortgage Terms Too Disadvantageous to Borrower/Mortgagor?;52
8.4;2.4 Did the Scarcity of the Mortgage Have a Negative Impact on the Rural Credit Market?;54
8.5;2.5 Conclusion;57
8.6;References;59
9;Chapter 3 Mortgages Raised by Rural English Copyhold Tenants 1605–1735;63
9.1;3.1 Introduction;63
9.2;3.2 Dimensions of the Mortgage Borrowing;67
9.3;3.3 Profiles of the Copyhold Borrowers and Their Possible Motivation for Using Mortgages;73
9.4;3.4 Borrower Case Studies;80
9.4.1;3.4.1 John Moore: Purchase and Refurbishment;80
9.4.2;3.4.2 William Wyatt: Regular Borrowing for Investment;80
9.4.3;3.4.3 Thomas Wyatt: Legacies and Inherited Debt;81
9.4.4;3.4.4 John Collins: Financial Difficulties;81
9.5;3.5 The Mortgage Lenders;82
9.6;3.6 Relationships Between Borrower and Lender;87
9.7;3.7 Lender Case Studies;90
9.7.1;3.7.1 Abigail Rothwell Widow: Lender of £260 to John Godwin of Crawley;90
9.7.2;3.7.2 Susanna Mitchell, Spinster of Hinton Ampner: Lender to Her Brother;91
9.7.3;3.7.3 Simon Hatch, Yeoman of Droxford: Lender to Three Meonstoke Borrowers;92
9.8;3.8 Conclusions;92
9.9;References;95
10;Chapter 4 Mortgages and the Kentish Yeoman in the Seventeenth Century;97
10.1;4.1 Introduction;97
10.2;4.2 The Nature of the Market;100
10.2.1;4.2.1 Growth of the Market;102
10.2.2;4.2.2 Borrowers and Lenders;104
10.2.3;4.2.3 Intermediaries;111
10.3;4.3 Terms and Conditions;112
10.3.1;4.3.1 Interest;112
10.3.2;4.3.2 Term;114
10.3.3;4.3.3 Possession;115
10.4;4.4 Conveyancing;116
10.4.1;4.4.1 Type of Mortgage Conveyance;116
10.4.1.1;Mortgage in Fee and Mortgage by Demise;116
10.4.1.2;Other Types of Mortgage Deed;119
10.4.1.3;Remortgages and Assignments;119
10.4.2;4.4.2 Enrolment and Registration;120
10.5;4.5 Outcomes;121
10.5.1;4.5.1 Forfeiture, Foreclosure and Sale;121
10.5.2;4.5.2 Redemption;123
10.5.2.1;The Right of Redemption;123
10.5.2.2;The Equity of Redemption;123
10.5.3;4.5.3 Remedies and Dispute Resolution;124
10.6;4.6 Conclusions;125
10.7;References;129
11;Chapter 5 Why the Equity of Redemption?;132
11.1;5.1 Introduction;132
11.2;5.2 The Purpose of Mortgages;135
11.2.1;5.2.1 Acquisition of Property;135
11.2.2;5.2.2 Obtaining Otherwise Unavailable Credit;138
11.3;5.3 Relation of Property and Debt Values;141
11.4;5.4 Ancient Inheritance;143
11.5;5.5 Relationships Between Mortgagors and Mortgagees;146
11.6;5.6 Mortgagees’ Desire for the Property;149
11.7;5.7 Variance of Mortgage Terms;150
11.7.1;5.7.1 Continuation upon Interest;150
11.7.2;5.7.2 Late Redemption Beyond Chancery;153
11.8;5.8 Conclusion;155
11.9;References;161
12;Chapter 6 Credit and Land: The Jews of Zaragoza 1383–1400;164
12.1;6.1 Introduction;164
12.2;6.2 Loan Guarantees and Pledges—Theory and Practice;165
12.3;6.3 Jewish Lending and Developments in the Credit Market;167
12.3.1;6.3.1 Background—c.1250–1350;167
12.3.2;6.3.2 Previous Studies of Jewish Lending;169
12.3.3;6.3.3 Security;172
12.3.4;6.3.4 Developments in the Credit Markets During the Fourteenth Century;174
12.4;6.4 The Jews of Zaragoza, 1383–1400;177
12.4.1;6.4.1 The Lenders;177
12.4.2;6.4.2 Scope of Economic Activities;178
12.4.3;6.4.3 Loan Deeds;179
12.4.4;6.4.4 Analysis of Loans;179
12.4.5;6.4.5 Borrowers;181
12.4.6;6.4.6 Security Underpinning Loans;183
12.4.7;6.4.7 The Terms of Land Pledges;186
12.4.8;6.4.8 Relationship to the Wider Property Business;188
12.5;6.5 Conclusions;189
12.6;References;192
13;Chapter 7 Not Only Land: Mortgage Credit in Central-Northern Italy in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries;195
13.1;7.1 Introduction: The Land Rush in Sixteenth-Century Northern Italy;195
13.2;7.2 The New Success of an Old Credit Instrument;200
13.3;7.3 The Versatile Nature of Censi Consignativi: From a Defensive Instrument to a Driving Force;205
13.4;7.4 Concluding Remarks;211
13.5;References;215
14;Chapter 8 Rural Credit Markets in Eighteenth-Century France: Contracts, Guarantees and Land;219
14.1;8.1 Introduction;219
14.2;8.2 Rural Credit Markets in Early Modern France;220
14.2.1;8.2.1 Circuits of Credit;220
14.2.2;8.2.2 The Main Credit Instruments;222
14.3;8.3 A Rural Credit Market in the Eighteenth-Century France;224
14.3.1;8.3.1 A Local Credit Market;224
14.3.2;8.3.2 Obligations in the Seigneurie of Delle;226
14.3.3;8.3.3 Annuities Versus Obligations?;229
14.3.4;8.3.4 Parish Vestries and Annuities;231
14.4;8.4 Changes and Challenges in the Second Half of the Eighteenth Century;233
14.4.1;8.4.1 The Ultimate Need for a Guarantee;233
14.4.2;8.4.2 Changes in the Second Half of the Eighteenth Century;237
14.5;8.5 Conclusion;240
14.6;References;242
15;Chapter 9 The Use of Perpetual Annuities in Rural Brabant in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries;246
15.1;9.1 Introduction: The Role of Credit in the Rural Economy of Brabant;246
15.2;9.2 The Problem of Sources;250
15.3;9.3 The Surroundings of Antwerp;251
15.4;9.4 The Campine Area;252
15.5;9.5 West of Brussels: The Villages of the Manor of Kruikenburg;253
15.5.1;9.5.1 Land and Credit Markets;254
15.6;9.6 Conclusion;260
15.7;Appendix;262
15.8;References;263
16;Chapter 10 Proactive Peasants? The Role of Annuities in a Late Medieval Communal Society: The Campine Area, Low Countries;266
16.1;10.1 Introduction;266
16.2;10.2 The Campine Area: Characteristics of a Communal Peasant Region in the Heart of Urbanity;269
16.3;10.3 Annuities: The Institutional Context;272
16.4;10.4 General Credit Market Trends;276
16.5;10.5 The Role of Factor Markets: The Absence of Accumulation;278
16.6;10.6 The Absence of Urban Domination;283
16.7;10.7 The Role of Factor Markets: Part of a Peasant Strategy;285
16.8;10.8 Conclusion;288
16.9;References;290
17;Chapter 11 The Other Fundamental Problem of Exchange: Mortgages, Defaults and Debtor Protection in Sixteenth-Century Holland;294
17.1;11.1 Introduction: The Other Fundamental Problem of Exchange;294
17.2;11.2 Borrowing on Collateral;297
17.3;11.3 A Fine Balance: Debtor Protection in Holland;301
17.4;11.4 Conclusion;313
17.5;References;317
18;Chapter 12 Afterword: Mortgages as Mediation Between Kin and Capital;321
18.1;12.1 England;326
18.2;12.2 Civil Law Areas;329
18.3;References;335
19;Index;338