Analysis of the Roman financial system highlights how Roman public debt in the pre-industrial period, unlike that in most other European settings at the time, was used for productive purposes. For example, Smith pointed out how England’s public debt helped to pay for the country’s costly wars, and Braudel described the continuous use of debt finance to bolster imperial Spain during the reigns of Philip II and Charles V, whereas papal Rome used financial tools primarily to maintain the public food supply. This article also corrects certain important details about the Roman financial system in the literature, such as when the central government’s stable system of debt was estabilished.
Analysis of the Roman financial system highlights how Roman public debt in the pre-industrial period, unlike that in most other European settings at the time, was used for productive purposes. For example, Smith pointed out how England’s public debt helped to pay for the country’s costly wars, and Braudel described the continuous use of debt finance to bolster imperial Spain during the reigns of Philip II and Charles V, whereas papal Rome used financial tools primarily to maintain the public food supply. This article also corrects certain important details about the Roman financial system in the literature, such as when the central government’s stable system of debt was estabilished.
Public Debt in the Papal States, Sixteenth to Eighteenth Century / Strangio, Donatella. - In: JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY HISTORY. - ISSN 0022-1953. - ELETTRONICO. - 43:4(2013), pp. 511-537. [10.1162/jinh_a_00460]
Public Debt in the Papal States, Sixteenth to Eighteenth Century
STRANGIO, Donatella
2013
Abstract
Analysis of the Roman financial system highlights how Roman public debt in the pre-industrial period, unlike that in most other European settings at the time, was used for productive purposes. For example, Smith pointed out how England’s public debt helped to pay for the country’s costly wars, and Braudel described the continuous use of debt finance to bolster imperial Spain during the reigns of Philip II and Charles V, whereas papal Rome used financial tools primarily to maintain the public food supply. This article also corrects certain important details about the Roman financial system in the literature, such as when the central government’s stable system of debt was estabilished.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
