Credit practices and networks in the medieval Italian city: the memoriale of Dr Iacopo di Coluccino of Lucca

Abstract

ABSTRACT A memoriale, or memorandum book, kept by the Lucchese doctor, Iacopo di Coluccino (1373–1416), offers insight into informal credit practices of wealthy citizens and credit networks among ordinary people in late fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Italy, in ways not evident from studies of moneylenders’ books, notarial registers or court records. Maestro Iacopo provided small amounts of credit as cash, goods or sales on credit without taking collateral or, in many cases, relying on notaries. This was possible because his credit network was confined to acquaintances and tenants, and because loans to the latter who faced difficulty had a co-operative nature. He sometimes brought legal proceedings against solvent clients to enforce debt collection. His credit network co-existed and overlapped with those of other wealthy citizens, local banks and pawnshops, and through his clients’ borrowing practices, he was deeply and extensively implicated in the urban and rural economy.