Chapter Or do you prefer cash? Pensions in kind in pre-modern Germany and the Low Countries

In the later Middle Ages and early modern period, many European hospitals developed into commercial retirement homes that allowed investors to pay for lifelong food and lodging. Their clients consisted mainly of elderly citizens who decided to spend their final years enjoying a pension, often living...

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Päätekijät: Pelzl, Ludwig, Zuijderduijn, Jaco
Aineistotyyppi: Online
Kieli:englanti
Julkaistu: Firenze University Press 2025
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Linkit:ONIX_20241220_9791221503470_215
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author Pelzl, Ludwig
Zuijderduijn, Jaco
author_browse Pelzl, Ludwig
Zuijderduijn, Jaco
author_facet Pelzl, Ludwig
Zuijderduijn, Jaco
author_sort Pelzl, Ludwig
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description In the later Middle Ages and early modern period, many European hospitals developed into commercial retirement homes that allowed investors to pay for lifelong food and lodging. Their clients consisted mainly of elderly citizens who decided to spend their final years enjoying a pension, often living by themselves or occasionally with a spouse. Corrodies can best be understood as life annuities in kind: food and lodging were provided until the corrodian – or the longest-living spouse of a couple – passed away. Demand was so great that institutions are known to have had waiting lists or to raffle seats among potential investors. We claim that corrodies allowed investors who were looking to secure their livelihood to mitigate the risks that came with financial instruments that paid in currency. Our paper contributes to a historiography that claims that payments in kind should not be considered ‘backwards’ but rather as techniques that offered protection against the whims of the market.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1505842025-07-21T15:44:15Z Chapter Or do you prefer cash? Pensions in kind in pre-modern Germany and the Low Countries Pelzl, Ludwig Zuijderduijn, Jaco Corrodians pensions annuities payments in kind retirement homes 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 the later Middle Ages and early modern period, many European hospitals developed into commercial retirement homes that allowed investors to pay for lifelong food and lodging. Their clients consisted mainly of elderly citizens who decided to spend their final years enjoying a pension, often living by themselves or occasionally with a spouse. Corrodies can best be understood as life annuities in kind: food and lodging were provided until the corrodian – or the longest-living spouse of a couple – passed away. Demand was so great that institutions are known to have had waiting lists or to raffle seats among potential investors. We claim that corrodies allowed investors who were looking to secure their livelihood to mitigate the risks that came with financial instruments that paid in currency. Our paper contributes to a historiography that claims that payments in kind should not be considered ‘backwards’ but rather as techniques that offered protection against the whims of the market. 2025-01-28T06:54:15Z 2025-01-28T06:54:15Z 2024-12-20T12:35:34Z 2024 chapter ONIX_20241220_9791221503470_215 2975-1195 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/96420 9791221503470 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/150584 eng Datini Studies in Economic History open access image/jpeg Attribution 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/96420/1/41428.pdf Firenze University Press 10.36253/979-12-215-0347-0.15 10.36253/979-12-215-0347-0.15 2ec4474d-93b1-4cfa-b313-9c6019b51b1a 9791221503470 19 Florence open access
spellingShingle Corrodians
pensions
annuities
payments in kind
retirement homes
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
Pelzl, Ludwig
Zuijderduijn, Jaco
Chapter Or do you prefer cash? Pensions in kind in pre-modern Germany and the Low Countries
title Chapter Or do you prefer cash? Pensions in kind in pre-modern Germany and the Low Countries
title_full Chapter Or do you prefer cash? Pensions in kind in pre-modern Germany and the Low Countries
title_fullStr Chapter Or do you prefer cash? Pensions in kind in pre-modern Germany and the Low Countries
title_full_unstemmed Chapter Or do you prefer cash? Pensions in kind in pre-modern Germany and the Low Countries
title_short Chapter Or do you prefer cash? Pensions in kind in pre-modern Germany and the Low Countries
title_sort chapter or do you prefer cash pensions in kind in pre modern germany and the low countries
topic Corrodians
pensions
annuities
payments in kind
retirement homes
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 Corrodians
pensions
annuities
payments in kind
retirement homes
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_215
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