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1. Begriff W. sind – anders als Wechselstuben, wie sie bereits im spätma. Oberdeutschland bestanden – öffentliche Giro- und Depositenbanken, die in der Regel von Städten gegründet wurden, um als Clearing-Stelle mit einem multilateralen Abrechnungssystem den anwachsenden bargeldlosen Zahlungsverkehr besser regulieren zu können. Zugleich stabilisierten W. durch die Einführung einer Rechen-Währung (Bankwährung) die jeweils bestehenden Geld- und Währungsverhältnisse und trugen ggf. auch zur Sanierung des kommunalen Haushalts bei. W. erm…

1. Gattungsgeschichte und TypenH. zählen zu den wichtigsten Quellen für die Geschichte des Handels. Seit der im Italien des 12./13. Jh.s einsetzenden Kommerziellen Revolution sind zwei Hauptgattungen zu unterscheiden.(1) Mit der Herausbildung einer wie auch immer gearteten Buchführung entstanden Geschäftsbücher im engeren Sinne, die erfolgte kaufmännische Transaktionen (einschließlich der damit im Zusammenhang stehenden Korrespondenz) dokumentierten. Im Laufe der Jahrhunderte und v. a. im Zuge der Durchsetzung der doppelten Buchführ…

1. AllgemeinEin J. (auch Kirmes genannt) war eine Marktveranstaltung mit regionalem Einzugsbereich, die einmal oder mehrmals im Jahr stattfand und sich dadurch vom Wochenmarkt [9. 147, 149], aber auch von der überregional bis international ausgerichteten Messe unterschied. Der J., der auf einem festgelegten Marktplatz stattfand und z. T. auch über einen eigenen Marktbezirk, z. T. sogar über eine eigene Architektur verfügte, besaß (wie eine Messe) einen Bezug zu einem kirchlichen Fest – einem Christus-, Marien- oder Heiligen-Fest – und wurde in größeren zeitliche…

1. Denotation Unlike bureaux de change, which already existed in Upper Germany in the late Middle Ages, exchange banks were public clearing- and deposit banks, usually established by a town to function as a clearinghouse with a multilateral system of accounting, in order to better regulate the increasingly common practice of cashless payment transactions. At the same time, by means of the introduction of a currency of accounting (bank currency), exchange banks stabilized the existing cash and curr…

1. Definition“Long-distance” or “international” trade (for the Middle Ages and the first part of the early modern period a somewhat anachronistic term) constituted a central anchor of economic activity both within Europe and between Europe and extra-European economic zones. In contrast to local and regional trade, not to mention pedlary, long-distance trade covered great distances and provided for movement of goods and money between distant regions of Europe and increasingly – beginning in the 16th century – between Europe and regions outside Europe (overseas trade).Long-dis…

1. TypesTrading books are among the most important sources for the history of trade. Ever since the Commercial Revolution that began in Italy in the 12th and 13th centuries, there were two primary types:1) The development of bookkeeping, of whatever kind, created account books in the narrower sense, which documented mercantile transactions (including the correspondence that accompanied them). Over the centuries, and especially when double-entry bookkeeping (Bookkeeping, double-entry) was implemented in the 14th and 15th cent…

1. DefinitionExternal trade, in contrast to internal trade, is the portion of trade that imports (Import) or exports (Export) goods across the borders of a country or imports goods in order to export them again as quickly as possible, sometimes further processed or refined (re-export). In this sense, every territory of the early modern Holy Roman Empire that traded with its neighbors engaged in external trade. When external trade was essentially entrepot trade (Staple), that is, when the great ma…

The dispatching of goods in the early modern period was always regarded as an integral part of trade, although a distinction may be made between “normal” carriage, simple traffic and transport between two places, and long-distance dispatch (Ger. Speditionshandel or Transithandel).Dispatch as part of the business of trade was not generally operated professionally (cf. Professionalization 4.2.). Waggoners, in Alpine districts pack drivers, on larger rivers bargees or raftsmen, were often peasants and tenants, who took on paid transport…

1. Definition and medieval background foire fiera fiesta forum feria MesseWorship Ite, missa estmarket Messe JahrmarktFair, annual Messenmerchantscurrencypayment transactionsEndorsementMarket rights[3]Trade, Long-distancetrademerchants Trade fairs usually helped to connect economic regions at different stages of development and contributed to economic accommodation between them. If both economic areas had attained similar levels of development, the trade fairs that brought them together lost their function and sign…

1. Legal status, membersThe German Customs Union was legally not quite a solid confederation of states (States, confederation of), but it clearly represented more than a simple trade agreement dealing with a central aspect of the economy – customs duties and, in the broader sense, external trade (Trade, external). Functionally, therefore, it can be considered a predecessor of today’s international organizations. In the Customs Union Treaty of March 22, 1833 to January 1, 1834, the states …

Trading customs (German Handelsusancen, from Italian  usanza or uso, “custom,” “usage”) are customary agreements or commercial practices between merchants that relate to various segments of trade transactions. They arose beginning in the high Middle Ages to meet various needs and requirements and were maintained by tradition – for example, the manner in which the price of wheat was recorded.Trading customs varied, sometimes substantially, at individual commercial centers (Trade fairs or towns). It was absolutely necessary for a merchant to be fami…

1. Introduction An annual fair (German Jahrmarkt), also called kermis, was a market with a regional catchment area, held once or several times a year and thereby distinguished both from the weekly market [9. 147, 149] and from the trade fair, whose focus was wider, even international. Like the trade fair (German  Messe), the annual fair - which took place at a designated marketplace and sometimes had its own specific market area, even its own buildings - was associated with a church festival (dedicated to Christ, Mary, or a saint) and took p…

1. BasicsAn outgrowth of a storage right in a natural trading center (Trade), the right of staple had already become a mandatory requirement by the high Midde Ages: traveling merchants were required to “staple” (i.e. store) their goods at a specific place – often a river crossing or a crossroads – for a specific length of time and offer them for sale to the local population. This could be accompanied by the obligation to sell the goods at that place and no other – a privilege that the Hanseatic L…

Regional trade comprises commercial activities occurring, geographically speaking, between the two poles of the essentially local confines of the retail trade and the long-distance trade over substantial distances (Trade, Long-distance). It therefore denotes the trade within a single economic region, or between two or more regions, as often limited by the available (preindustrial) transportation possibilities (Traffic and transport). Merchants often specialized in regional trade when …

Traditionally a counting-house has been understood as the scriptorium or shop (in modern language, the office) of medieval and early modern merchants. The term goes back to French  comptoir (“counter,” from Latin  computare, “count,” “calculate”), which suggests an original reference to a table or desk used for writing or trading. The counting-house became a central feature of commercial activity in the high Middle Ages, when merchants no longer traveled with their merchandise but settled in one place. With increasing literac…

1. Bookkeeping in Antiquity and the Middle Ages Bookkeeping or accounting is probably almost as old as commercial activity itself. In Sumerian Mesopotamia (3rd millennium BCE), commercial transactions were already being recorded on clay tablets. This simple method of bookkeeping, in use since antiquity, served to document completed transactions as a reminder for the trader and as evidence in legal disputes. The Roman Corpus iuris civilis, for example, required the accounts of merchants to be presented publicly in court in case of disputes.Such documentation became especial…

1. Definition and formsThe term  interest (French  intérêt; see  Interest), in earlier Latin sources often called  interesse, contrasts with German  Zins – from Latin  census, “valuation (of wealth),” “tribute.” Until well into the 18th century, it meant compensation for both the loan of money or movables (Loan for consumption [mutuum]) and the use of land or immovables (lease or rent interest, ground rent, rent charge; see Peasant property rights; Services, peasant), later it normally meant only the former (see also…

The term commercial revolution was introduced by Raymond de Roover in 1942 [2]; it is used in studies of economic history for epochal changes relating to the history of trade, when commercial innovations were concentrated in a short space of time, thus triggering an advance in the long-term development of trade. De Roover set the commercial revolution of the Middle Ages in the 13th century, while modern scholars prefer to speak of a period from the late 12th century to the 14th. During the medieval commer…

1. DefinitionImport is the portion of external trade (Trade, external) that involves the transfer of goods from a foreign economic area into one’s own and the related services (warehousing, dispatch, etc.); it is thus complementary to export.Markus A. Denzel2. RestrictionsAn import ban or embargo is a government decree prohibiting (for example) the import of raw materials, foodstuffs, manufactured goods, or luxuries. Such bans have been common since antiquity, especially vis-à-vis hostile nations, but it was not until the era of mercantilism that they became an…

1. Definition and functionAn endorsement is a signature written on the back (Italian, in dosso or in dorso) of a bill of exchange that entitles a person not previously involved in the bill to present it for payment. The endorsement effectively transferred the demand for payment derived from the bill to another person, which the signature written  in dosso confirmed. By means of endorsement, bills of exchange became a circulable form of paper currency. Like the bill of exchange itself (at the latest since the early 15th century), the endorsement devel…