The city, the duke and their banker
The Rapondi family and the formation of the Burgundian state (1384-1430)
By (author) Bart Lambert
During the second half of the fourteenth and the first half of the fifteenth century, it was particularly hazardous for medieval merchants to invest in government finance. The ‘certainty of uncertainty’ involved in dealing with princes proved disastrous for innumerable businesses, whether they were modest one-man firms or colossal ‘super companies’. Yet, in this same period, the Rapondi, a family active in Bruges but originating from the Italian city of Lucca, achieved a career of more than thirty years in the money-lending business, ending with encomiums of princely praise instead of a bankruptcy. This book explains this remarkable achievement, not with a conventional focus on the individuals who agreed the loans and made up the bills, but by linking their work to the phenomenon that dominated the social and political scene of the Low Countries at the time: the formation of the Burgundian state. In the context of the politics of centralization conducted by the Burgundian dukes and the resistance of the Flemish cities the success story of the Rapondi can be understood. The Duke, the City and their Banker analyses how the firm first engaged in this interaction, how it was able to maintain its position while others failed and how these relations came to an end. While the emphasis of the book lies on the Rapondis’ activities in Bruges, the meeting-place of international trade and finance in the fourteenth and fifteenth century, it also offers new insights into other important episodes of this fascinating period, including the Great Western Schism that divided the papacy, the continuing hostilities between England and France and the internal French conflict between Bourguignons and Armagnacs. In doing so, The Duke, the City and their Banker shows how an Italian merchant family was able to shape late medieval economic and political history. The master’s thesis on which this book is based was awarded with the Dexia Prize for History 2005
- By (author) Bart Lambert
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Earning Dignity
Labour Conditions and Relations during the Century of the Black Death in Marseille
Volume 38
Councils, Conflicts, Correspondence
Urban Diplomacy in Reval (Tallinn) and Lübeck (c. 1470–1570)
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Des villes en revolte
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Gouverner la ville au bas Moyen Age
Les elites dirigeantes de la ville de Namur au XVe siecle
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La Justice dans une ville du Nord du Royaume de France au Moyen Age
Etude sur la pratique judiciaire a Saint-Quentin (fin XIe-debut XVe siecle)
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Civilites et incivilites urbaines
Urbanite, rituels et ceremonies dans la ville du XVIIe siecle
Volume 62
Le chatiment des villes dans les espaces mediterraneens (Antiquite, Moyen Age, Epoque moderne)
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De Bono Communi
The Discourse and Practice of the Common Good in the European City (13th-16th c.) / Discours et pratique du Bien Commun dans les villes d'Europe (XIIIe au XVIe siecle)
Volume 22
Le pouvoir en ville
Gestion urbaine et pratiques politiques a Geneve (fin XIIIe - debut XVIe siecles)
Volume 25
The Rise of Cities Revisited
Reflections on Adriaan Verhulst's Vision of Urban Genesis and Developments in the Medieval Low Countries
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Technologies of Learning
Apprenticeship in Antwerp from the 15th Century to the End of the Ancien Regime
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Woven into the Urban Fabric
Cloth Manufacture and Economic Development in the Flemish West-Quarter (1300-1600)
Volume 54
Emotions in the Heart of the City (14th-16th century) / Les emotions au coeur de la ville (XIVe-XVIe siecle)
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Volume 5
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Des amities ciblees
Concours de tir et diplomatie urbaine dans le Saint-Empire, XVe-XVIe siecle
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The Power of Space in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe
The cities of Italy, Northern France and the Low Countries
Volume 30
Epitomes of Evil
Representations of Executioners in Northern France and the Low Countries in the Late Middle Ages
Volume 8
Usuriers publics et banquiers du Prince
Le role economique des financiers piemontais dans les villes du duche de Brabant (XIIIe-XIVe siecle)
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