.13-15 Century Early European Banking Research

Choosing the early banking of Europe from thirteenth-century to fifteenth-century as our subject, this dissertation mainly reviews the social context from which medieval banking came and its collective characters, and makes a tentative study about the relationship between these characters and the unique environment of medieval society. On the basis of these studies, the dissertation tries to illuminate the mutual connection between medieval banking this newly rising financial and economic power and the traditional political system such as the church, feudal rulers and the city states in Italy in order to expound what unique influence medieval banking and bankers exert during its transformation from traditional medieval system to modern system.. Contrarily, this treatise studies the influence which the vast social change from medieval to modern society and the general economic movement in late medieval society exert. It also elucidates how these collective characters of medieval banking limit its ability to adapting the new changing environment. To be concrete, the outline of this dissertation is arranged as follows:Chapter 1 explains the social background from which medieval banking came. The complex and confused monetary system and the international character of the fair business together provide the necessary condition for the emergence of money-changer this professional merchant. The development of the fair, the maturity of international monetary market and the progress of bookkeeping technique lead to the enlargement of money-changers' business function and scope. As a result of this development, the money-changers ultimately evolve into bankers.Chapter 2 deals with the relationship between the managerial character of medieval banking and the unique environment of medieval society. The familial management of medieval banking and its diversified and international business activity are all the product of familial thinking manner in medieval society, the venture of medieval merchants and its international character of trade.Chapter 3 explains the relationship among the bankers, kings, the church and the cities. On one hand, they borrow money from the bankers to overcome their difficulties. On the other hand, through the positive involvement in the political loan, the bankers obtain some monopoly return and in the meantime enhance their social status.On the basis of chapter 3, Chapter 4 explicates the influence of the transformation process and the changing of the wholly economic environment to medieval banking: its excess involvement in political loan leads to its decline. In the meantime, the deterioration of economic status in late medieval society makes the defects of medieval banking gradually expose and leads to the decline of banking. The public banking was tentatively constructed throughout Europe.