Microcredit and Monetary Circulation in the Fourteenth Century

Luciano Maffi () and Antonio Olivieri ()
Additional contact information
Luciano Maffi: University of Parma
Antonio Olivieri: University of Turin

Chapter Chapter 3 in Monetary and Non-Monetary Payment Systems, 2026, pp 51-78 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract This chapter explores the functioning of microcredit and payment systems in late medieval Italy by analysing how monetary obligations, often expressed in units of account, were fulfilled through a variety of non-monetary means. Drawing on notarial sources and legal documents, the authors examine the flexible, negotiated character of value transfers in a society where the use of coined money was both limited and unevenly distributed. Particular attention is paid to the role of legal instruments, intermediaries, and institutional conventions in ensuring the circulation of value and the settlement of debts. The analysis is grounded in the case of fourteenth-century Vercelli, where credit obligations recorded in money of account were frequently discharged through in-kind payments, including goods, services, and labour. In this context, notaries and local officials played a crucial role in mediating exchanges and validating transactions. The case illustrates how microcredit operated within a broader ecosystem of social trust, institutional mediation, and hybrid monetary practices, highlighting the embeddedness of credit relations in the economic and legal culture of late medieval Lombardy.

Keywords: Microcredit; Monetary circulation; In-kind payments; Vercelli; Late medieval Italy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:psitcp:978-3-032-11810-3_3

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9783032118103

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-11810-3_3

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Palgrave Studies in the History of Finance from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().