Why did London become the main money market? Monetary Policy, Arbitrage and European Money Market Integration in 18th century

How did the leading capital market start to attract international bullion? Why did London become the main money market? Monetary regulations, including the charges for minting money and the restrictions on bullion exchange, have played the key role in defining the direction of the flow of international bullion. Countries that abolished minting charges and permitted the free movement of bullion were able to attract international bullion, and countries that applied minting taxes suffered an outflow of bullion. In these cases monetary authorities tried to limit bullion movement through prohibitions on domestic bullion exchange at a free price, and tariffs and quantitative restrictions on bullion exports. The paper illustrates the logic of international monetary flow in the 18th century, using empirical evidence for England, France and Spain. The first section defines and measures monetary policy, and the second section introduces minting charges into the arbitrage equation in order to explain the logic of bullion flow between the pairs of nations England-France, England-Spain and France-Spain. The conclusion emphasises the importance of monetary policy in the creation of leading money markets.

Chemical characterization of majolica from 14th-18th century production centers on the Iberian Peninsula: a preliminary neutron activation study

Majolica pottery is one of the most characteristic tableware produced during the Medieval and Renaissance periods. Majolica technology was introduced to the Iberian Peninsula by Islamic artisans during Medieval times, and its production and popularity rapidly spread throughout Spain and eventually to other locations in Europe and the Americas. The prestige and importance of Spanish majolica was very high. Consequently, this ware was imported profusely to the Americas during the Spanish Colonial period. Nowadays, Majolica pottery serves as an important horizon marker at Spanish colonial sites. A preliminary study of Spanish-produced majolica was conducted on a set of 246 samples from the 12 primary majolica production centers on the Iberian Peninsula. The samples were analyzed by neutron activation analysis (NAA), and the resulting data were interpreted using an array of multivariate statistical procedures. Our results show a clear discrimination between different production centers. In some cases, our data allow one to distinguish amongst shards coming from the same production location suggesting different workshops or group of workshops were responsible for production of this pre-industrial pottery.

La escenificación del poder: el marqués de Castelldosrius, primer virrey Borbón del Perú (1707-1710)

The change in dynasty brought with it a series of transformations to Peruvian viceroyalty political culture. Analysis is made of the government of the Marquis of Castelldosrius (1707-1710) who, in his eagerness to increase a meagre patrimony, was to attenuate his conflicts with the Creole sectors and the Consulate, with a style of politics that was characterised by courtly and cultural uses that included traditions that were in vogue in the courts of Louis XIV and in his native Catalonia

El Segle de Pierre Vilar

Tot i que els interessos de Pierre Vilar, en el curs de la seva llarga vida professional, van ser molt més amplis, em penso que no és cap exageració afirmar que el segle XVIII fou el seu segle. En tot cas, el que segur que no és exagerat és dir que els investigadors catalans sobre el segle XVIII han estat aquells sobre qui la influència de l’obra de Vilar més s’ha fet sentir. Aquest fet és fàcil d’explicar. En primer lloc, perquè va ser la documentació del segle XVIII la que Pierre Vilar va explorar i treballar de primera mà en els arxius i la que va alimentar el miler de pàgines dels volums tercer i quart –segon i tercer si pensem en l’edició francesa original– de la seva voluminosa tesi doctoral. En segon lloc, perquè en aquest segle Vilar va cercar-hi els fonaments de les societats contemporànies. De fet, i no podia ser d’altra manera tenint en compte el mètode d’anàlisi històrica de Pierre Vilar, la recerca empírica sobre el segle XVIII català va fer-li plantejar el “problema” històric dels “fonaments econòmics de les estructures nacionals”

La poesia catalana a l'Acadèmia abans de la Renaixença

Sobre les actituds dels acadèmics en relació la poesia catalana i la història de la Reial Acadèmia de Bones Lletres al setcents

Una sessió pública de l'Acadèmia de Barcelona al 1731

Article que es refereix a la sessió de l'Acadèmia celebrada al 1731 a partir de tota una sèrie de notícies disperses

Agustí Eura i les muses catalanes a l’Acadèmia de Barcelona

Sobre la vinculació de Fra Eura (Barcelona 1684-Orense 1763) amb la Reial Acadèmia de Bones Lletres, on hi va ingressar als 48 anys. Fra Eura va intervenir de manera intensa durant menys de dos anys en les activitats acadèmiques, tant en les literàries com en les organitzatives i també destaca per la seva la tasca en favor de l'ús de la llengua catalana per a la poesia acadèmica

Lectores de Saavedra Fajardo en la Alemania ilustrada: Leipzig y la traducción alemana de 'Locuras de Europa'

Se analiza la recepción de Diego de Saavedra Fajardo en la Alemania ilustrada del siglo XVIII, donde se imprimieron y tradujeron algunas obras de este autor. A través del análisis del prólogo que precede la edición alemana de Locuras de Europa, conoceremos el universo editorial que impulsó su aparición en Leipzig y la conyuntura histórico-política que lo propició

Una casa, una història: patrimoni arquitectònic i humà d'una casa de la Selva del Camp

Treball de recerca realitzat per una alumna d'ensenyament secundari i guardonat amb un Premi CIRIT per fomentar l'esperit científic del Jovent l'any 2009. El treball té com a objecte de recerca un habitatge del municipi de la Selva del Camp. Aquest, es centra tant en els aspectes artístics i decoratius, com en l’anàlisi de l’evolució patrimonial i l’ús social de l’edifici entre els segles XVIII-XX. En la recerca s’ha analitzat, per una banda, el procés de transformació de l’edifici des de l’any 1749 i els elements artístics que encara s’hi conserven com pintures neoclàssiques, treballs de ferro forjat, etc., els quals fan que sigui una de les cases més emblemàtiques del Carrer Major de la Selva. D’altra banda, s’ha indagat en les diferents generacions que, des de mitjan segle XVIII, n’han tingut la propietat i el paper que aquestes famílies han jugat dins la societat selvatana. La casa, en aquests anys, ha pertanyut a dues famílies i al Sindicat Agrícola. La primera, els Fortuny, terratinents i amb càrrecs al govern municipal; l'altra, els Carnicer, comerciants d'avellanes dels quals jo en sóc descendent. De 1910 a 1920 la casa fou al seu del Sindicat Agrícola i a partir de textos de Puig i Ferreter s’ha pogut descriure l’ambient que s'hi vivia i les activitats que s’hi duien a terme. Alhora, el fet d’analitzar les diferents funcions que l’edifici ha tingut al llarg d’aquests anys (residència familiar, corredoria de comerç, premsa d’oli, seu del Centre Republicà o del Sindicat Agrícola) ha permès explicar la història de la vila de la Selva a partir de la d’aquest edifici.

Guerra, pàtria i estadística: el despertar polític dels hisendats gironins (1795-1800)

Sobre l'emergència i presa de consciència d'una classe dirigent a la societat gironina de finals del segle XVIII

The Sustainable Debts of Philip II: A Reconstruction of Spain's Fiscal Position, 1560-1598

The defaults of Philip II have attained mythical status as the origin of sovereign debt crises. Four times during his reign the king failed to honor his debts and had to renegotiate borrowing contracts. In this paper, we reassess the fiscal position of Habsburg Spain. New archival evidence allows us to derive comprehensive estimates of debt and revenue. These show that primary surpluses were sufficient to make the king's debt sustainable in most scenarios. Spain's debt burden was manageable up to the 1580s, and its fiscal position only deteriorated for good after the defeat of the "Invincible Armada." We also estimate fiscal policy reaction functions, and show that Spain under the Habsburgs was at least as "responsible" as the US in the 20th century or as Britain in the 18th century. Our results suggest that the outcome of uncertain events such as wars may influence on a history of default more than strict adherence to fiscal rules.

Debt sustainability in historical perspective: The role of fiscal repression

This article examines the debt history of two contenders for European hegemony: 16th-centurySpain and 18th-century Britain. We analyze their fiscal behavior using measures of overborrowingand fiscal policy functions. Our results suggest that stringency was not key for Britain ssuccess in avoiding default. Instead, fiscal repression allowed the United Kingdom to borrowat below-market rates, thereby outspending its continental rivals.

Why England? Demand, growth and inequality during the Industrial Revolution

Why was England first? And why Europe? We present a probabilistic model that builds on big-push models by Murphy, Shleifer and Vishny (1989), combined with hierarchical preferences. The interaction of exogenous demographic factors (in particular the English low-pressure variant of the European marriage pattern)and redistributive institutions such as the old Poor Law combined to make an Industrial Revolution more likely. Essentially, industrialization is the result of having a critical mass of consumers that is rich enough to afford (potentially) mass-produced goods. Our model is then calibrated to match the main characteristics of the English economy in 1750 and the observed transition until 1850.This allows us to address explicitly one of the key features of the British IndustrialRevolution unearthed by economic historians over the last three decades the slowness of productivity and output change. In our calibration, we find that the probability of Britain industrializing is 5 times larger than France s. Contrary to the recent argument by Pomeranz, China in the 18th century had essentially no chance to industrialize at all. This difference is decomposed into a demographic and a policy component, with the former being far more important than the latter.

Entrepreneurial structure of the mercantile company in pre-industrial Catalonia

The mercantile company was the basic form of enterprise in pre-industrial Catalonia. The aim of this paper is to study the formation and development of the mercantile companies in Barcelona whose end was the wholesale and retail sale of textiles in the botigues de teles (textile retail shops) throughout the eighteenth century. These firms were officially registered before a notary and their deeds reveal how these establishments were administered and managed.The study covers a sample of 121 mercantile companies, and the articles and documentation that were put into effect by 32 notaries who were active in Barcelona in the 18th century have been consulted in their entirety. From an initial selection of documentation, a total of 228 deeds registering companies have been found, 107 of which (47%) relate to the creation of companies whose various activities were centred in taverns, textile manufacturing, braiding.... While the 121 companies, which make up our sample and which account for 53% of the deeds registered with the notaries mentioned above, focused exclusively on the management of textile retail shops located in the commercial heart of the city. Thus one point of interest that the documentation reveals is that the majority of the mercantile companies registered by Barcelona notaries throughout the 18th century were establishments which traded in textiles. The first part of the article focuses on the structural characteristics of these enterprises, the number and socio-professional status of the partners and the extent of each partner s involvement in the administration and management. The second part of the article examines the capital investment made by each partner, their rights and obligations agreed on, the sharing out of profits and possible losses and the duration of the companies. The final aim of the paper is to highlight the evolution of these companies through one specific case.