Chapter Honour, social capital and alternative currencies: the “leisting” custom in the cities of the Late Medieval Low Countries and Rhineland
In this paper we analyse a specific legal clause inserted in debt contracts in the late Medieval Low Countries: the ‘leistinge’ custom. It implied personal sureties, i.e., vassals or councillors of the debtor (and sometimes himself) who had to go sojourning in an inn for an unspecified period, and t...
Αποθηκεύτηκε σε:
| Κύριοι συγγραφείς: | , |
|---|---|
| Μορφή: | Online |
| Γλώσσα: | Αγγλικά |
| Έκδοση: |
Firenze University Press
2025
|
| Θέματα: | |
| Διαθέσιμο Online: | ONIX_20241220_9791221503470_216 |
| Ετικέτες: |
Δεν υπάρχουν, Καταχωρήστε ετικέτα πρώτοι!
|
| _version_ | 1869516149125808128 |
|---|---|
| author | de Meulemeester, Jean-Luc Kusman, Pierre-David |
| author_browse | Kusman, Pierre-David de Meulemeester, Jean-Luc |
| author_facet | de Meulemeester, Jean-Luc Kusman, Pierre-David |
| author_sort | de Meulemeester, Jean-Luc |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | In this paper we analyse a specific legal clause inserted in debt contracts in the late Medieval Low Countries: the ‘leistinge’ custom. It implied personal sureties, i.e., vassals or councillors of the debtor (and sometimes himself) who had to go sojourning in an inn for an unspecified period, and there live, eat and drink conspicuously (“as good pledges should do”). This legal mechanism often implied high aristocratic debtors with, in a first stage, ecclesial creditors (as abbeys) and Italian financiers. We show how the innkeeper played an instrumental role in this framework. In Brussels, the technique fostered undoubtedly the use of alternative currencies by noble pledges to circumvent the lack of cash money or the intricacy of exchange rates. Later, this credit technique also spread among local merchants and well-off burghers as debtors and creditors, especially in Northern Low Countries as exemplified by our example of Kampen. In the latter city, this legal tool could well have been favoured by town authorities as an indirect regulation of the property market, avoiding therefore too much speculation on the urban plots during periods of expansion and works of public concern. The efficiency of this custom remains somewhat open to debate, the long-time span of its use suggesting a relative efficacy, whereas its sudden suppression (as in Kampen) hints at some abuses. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-149582 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Firenze University Press |
| publisherStr | Firenze University Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1495822025-07-21T15:45:13Z Chapter Honour, social capital and alternative currencies: the “leisting” custom in the cities of the Late Medieval Low Countries and Rhineland de Meulemeester, Jean-Luc Kusman, Pierre-David Hospitality economy Debt-enforcement mechanisms Conditional hostages Moral economy and credit practices Reputation based-mechanisms thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history In this paper we analyse a specific legal clause inserted in debt contracts in the late Medieval Low Countries: the ‘leistinge’ custom. It implied personal sureties, i.e., vassals or councillors of the debtor (and sometimes himself) who had to go sojourning in an inn for an unspecified period, and there live, eat and drink conspicuously (“as good pledges should do”). This legal mechanism often implied high aristocratic debtors with, in a first stage, ecclesial creditors (as abbeys) and Italian financiers. We show how the innkeeper played an instrumental role in this framework. In Brussels, the technique fostered undoubtedly the use of alternative currencies by noble pledges to circumvent the lack of cash money or the intricacy of exchange rates. Later, this credit technique also spread among local merchants and well-off burghers as debtors and creditors, especially in Northern Low Countries as exemplified by our example of Kampen. In the latter city, this legal tool could well have been favoured by town authorities as an indirect regulation of the property market, avoiding therefore too much speculation on the urban plots during periods of expansion and works of public concern. The efficiency of this custom remains somewhat open to debate, the long-time span of its use suggesting a relative efficacy, whereas its sudden suppression (as in Kampen) hints at some abuses. 2025-01-11T07:10:46Z 2025-01-11T07:10:46Z 2024-12-20T12:35:37Z 2024 chapter ONIX_20241220_9791221503470_216 2975-1195 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/96421 9791221503470 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/149582 eng Datini Studies in Economic History open access image/jpeg Attribution 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/96421/1/41429.pdf Firenze University Press 10.36253/979-12-215-0347-0.16 10.36253/979-12-215-0347-0.16 2ec4474d-93b1-4cfa-b313-9c6019b51b1a 9791221503470 34 Florence open access |
| spellingShingle | Hospitality economy Debt-enforcement mechanisms Conditional hostages Moral economy and credit practices Reputation based-mechanisms thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history de Meulemeester, Jean-Luc Kusman, Pierre-David Chapter Honour, social capital and alternative currencies: the “leisting” custom in the cities of the Late Medieval Low Countries and Rhineland |
| title | Chapter Honour, social capital and alternative currencies: the “leisting” custom in the cities of the Late Medieval Low Countries and Rhineland |
| title_full | Chapter Honour, social capital and alternative currencies: the “leisting” custom in the cities of the Late Medieval Low Countries and Rhineland |
| title_fullStr | Chapter Honour, social capital and alternative currencies: the “leisting” custom in the cities of the Late Medieval Low Countries and Rhineland |
| title_full_unstemmed | Chapter Honour, social capital and alternative currencies: the “leisting” custom in the cities of the Late Medieval Low Countries and Rhineland |
| title_short | Chapter Honour, social capital and alternative currencies: the “leisting” custom in the cities of the Late Medieval Low Countries and Rhineland |
| title_sort | chapter honour social capital and alternative currencies the leisting custom in the cities of the late medieval low countries and rhineland |
| topic | Hospitality economy Debt-enforcement mechanisms Conditional hostages Moral economy and credit practices Reputation based-mechanisms thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history |
| topic_facet | Hospitality economy Debt-enforcement mechanisms Conditional hostages Moral economy and credit practices Reputation based-mechanisms thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history |
| url | ONIX_20241220_9791221503470_216 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT demeulemeesterjeanluc chapterhonoursocialcapitalandalternativecurrenciestheleistingcustominthecitiesofthelatemedievallowcountriesandrhineland AT kusmanpierredavid chapterhonoursocialcapitalandalternativecurrenciestheleistingcustominthecitiesofthelatemedievallowcountriesandrhineland |