Towards the Institutionalisation of Credit

The chapters in this volume have shown the continuing importance of informal credit relations and non-bank financial intermediation in Europe from the middle ages to modern times. The advent of jointstock banking owed more to the demands of sovereign states for more reliable forms of war finance than it did to the needs of mercantile communities, which were already well-served by a varied range of lenders. Industrialization and the diminishing importance of guilds may have facilitated institutionalization of credit, but alternative sources of finance have remained significant throughout the period and have re-asserted themselves in recent years. These chapters serve to illustrate the varied geographical, chronological, methodological, and intellectual reach of the New Financial History, a global movement which is particularly strong in Britain, America, France, Spain, and especially Italy.