If you were the lender, what could possibly make you trust repayment?

These bargains were not modern Treasury securities wearing medieval clothing. Calling every royal loan a modern sovereign bond hides major differences...

The bargaining power of lenders depended on courts, rulers, collateral and the political ability to enforce repayment. A royal signature was only as u...

Loans, revenue assignments and merchant partnerships helped bridge timing gaps between expenditures and expected receipts. Merchants had leverage prec...

How much of a currency's influence comes from metal content, imperial reputation or the networks that already use it?

A prestigious currency did not mean the empire controlled every market in which its coins were accepted. Currency prestige is not the same thing as di...

Coin quality and monetary practice changed across Byzantine history; the solidus should not be imagined as unchanged forever. The idea that one coin s...

Reliability makes transactions easier, though it never replaces relationships and credit. A recognizable coin could facilitate exchange, though mercha...

Was Venetian finance the engine of power or the price of defending it?

Naval power offered protection and commercial opportunities, but prolonged warfare could strain the very trade that supported it. Protecting trade by ...

The connection between government debt and household wealth is easy to overlook. Claims on public debt could circulate among investors, linking state ...

Government borrowing and compulsory lending arrangements helped fund public commitments as commercial revenues fluctuated. Borrowing could keep ships ...