1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910779837303321

Autore

Gelderblom Oscar

Titolo

Cities of commerce [[electronic resource] ] : the institutional foundations of international trade in the Low Countries, 1250-1650 / / Oscar Gelderblom

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Princeton, : Princeton University Press, 2013

ISBN

0-691-16820-2

1-4008-4859-8

Edizione

[Course Book]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (286 p.)

Collana

The Princeton economic history of the Western world

Classificazione

NW 2395

Disciplina

382.09492

Soggetti

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Economic History

Benelux countries Commerce History To 1500

Benelux countries Commerce History 16th century

Benelux countries Commerce History 17th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction -- Commercial cities -- The organization of exchange -- Crossing borders -- Conflict resolution -- The protection of trade -- Dealing with losses -- Conclusion.

Sommario/riassunto

Cities of Commerce develops a model of institutional change in European commerce based on urban rivalry. Cities continuously competed with each other by adapting commercial, legal, and financial institutions to the evolving needs of merchants. Oscar Gelderblom traces the successive rise of Bruges, Antwerp, and Amsterdam to commercial primacy between 1250 and 1650, showing how dominant cities feared being displaced by challengers while lesser cities sought to keep up by cultivating policies favorable to trade. He argues that it was this competitive urban network that promoted open-access institutions in the Low Countries, and emphasizes the central role played by the urban power holders--the magistrates--in fostering these inclusive institutional arrangements. Gelderblom describes how the city fathers resisted the predatory or reckless actions of their territorial rulers, and how their nonrestrictive approach to commercial life succeeded in attracting merchants from all over Europe. Cities of



Commerce intervenes in an important debate on the growth of trade in Europe before the Industrial Revolution. Challenging influential theories that attribute this commercial expansion to the political strength of merchants, this book demonstrates how urban rivalry fostered the creation of open-access institutions in international trade.