1. Probability and Life Contingencies, 1650–1750: The First One Hundred Years

Coming at the end of the Renaissance period and some 100 years after the Reformation, the mid-seventeenth century is generally regarded by historians as part of the early modern epoch. We should not, however, infer from this label that for Britain it was a time of stability in its political institutions or sophistication in its financial institutions. England spent the middle of the seventeenth century at war with the Netherlands, Scotland, Ireland and itself. The country recovered quickly from the tyranny of Cromwell’s Commonwealth; the arrival of King William III from the Netherlands in 1689 brought peace with the Netherlands but still more wars in Europe, this time with France. In the second half of the seventeenth century, England lagged behind some of northern Europe, and most notably the Netherlands, in the sophistication of its financial systems. King William imported Dutch practices in the raising of long-term government funding, and his costly wars had much use for them.