Section: Information / Money
Variable: Debt And Credit Structure (All coded records)
Commercial/market practices that take physical form, e.g. a contract on parchment (not just verbal agreements).  
Debt And Credit Structure
#  Polity  Coded Value Tags Year(s) Edit Desc
1 Bagan unknown Suspected 1044 CE 1199 CE
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2 Bagan present Inferred 1200 CE 1249 CE
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3 Bagan present Confident 1250 CE 1287 CE
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4 Austria - Habsburg Dynasty II present Confident 1867 CE 1918 CE
“Since the founding of an Austrian national bank in 1816, the empire had monopolized the bank’s resources for its own borrowing needs, making it impossible for the bank to meet the credit needs of any but a few other wealthy private clients. The ser vices of some international banking families (Rothschild, Sina, Arnstein Eskeles) were available to Austrian borrowers during this period, but in the 1850s Austria’s finance ministers addressed the problem of capital shortages by creating new banks that could make much larger amounts of credit available to private borrowers.” [1] “The debt of the Austrian State to the Austro-Hungarian Bank in direct loans made by the bank to the State amounted at the end of 1919 to 25,088 millions of kronen", while the debts owed to other the other creditor countries were "2,696 millions of German Reichsmarks; 42.9 millions of Dutch florins; 20.6 millions of Danish kroner; 7.9 millions of Swedish kroner; 3.6 millions of Bulgarian levas.” [2]

[1]: (Judson 2016: 231-232) Judson, Pieter M. 2016. The Habsburg Empire: A New History. Cambridge, USA; London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BN5TQZBW

[2]: (Mises: “Finance and Banking in the Austrian Empire and the Republic of Austria,”) Mises, Ludwig. “Finance and Banking in the Austrian Empire and the Republic of Austria,” Econlib, accessed September 21, 2022, https://www.econlib.org/library/Mises/msEnc.html. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BWXZTETZ.


5 Soviet Union present Confident Expert 1923 CE 1991 CE
The state controlled and directed financial resources, including the allocation of credit. Internationally, the Soviet Union engaged in borrowing and lending activities aligned with its ideological and geopolitical objectives. The management of both domestic and international debt and credit was a key aspect of the Soviet Union’s economic strategy, reflecting its socialist economic model. [1]

[1]: Garvy, George. Money, Financial Flows, and Credit in the Soviet Union. Studies in international economic relations. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1977. Zotero link: RP6W84MG


6 Songhai Empire unknown Confident -
-
7 Sukhotai unknown Suspected -
-
8 Tahert unknown Suspected -
-
9 Third Scythian Kingdom unknown Suspected -
-
10 Yueban unknown Suspected -
-
11 Zirids unknown Suspected -
-
12 Lombard Kingdom absent Inferred -
These structures have not been mentioned in the sources consulted.
13 Anglo-Saxon England I absent Inferred -
No evidence of debt and credit structures referred to in the sources consulted.
14 Dutch Empire present Confident -
"Though Amsterdam could not profit from the spin-off wealth of the high bureaucracy, its financial power was based on the fact that the merchants of the southern Netherlands came there to establish commercial houses and financial institutions. Amsterdam housed the most important Chamber of the semi-state East India Company, whose dividends averaged 37.5 percent in 1605-1612. A Chamber of Assurance was founded here in 1598, a new bourse in 1608, and a Bank of Exchange in 1609, followed by a Bank of Loans (Bank van Leening) in 1614. These institutions cooperated closely and reinforced each other, the city magistrates controlling them and thus providing a link of information and support. Also, private banking emerged. [...] The other cities had their financial institutions, though not as extensive as Amsterdam. Most had their own Bank van Leening, their own bankers, and of course the receiver of taxes who functioned at times as a banker." [1]

[1]: (t’Hart 1989: 677-678) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/B9DVQGBS/collection.


15 Whydah present Confident -
“One feature of the operation of the Atlantic trade which is often overlooked is that credit was not extended only by Europeans to Africans, but often in the opposite direction as well. An English merchant who traded at Whydah in the early eighteenth century before its conquest by Dahomey in 1727, noted that the Whydah traders were happy to grant him credit “for ten days together” when the state of the sea prevented the landing of goods from his ship—though he found the King of Dahomey’s traders after the conquest much less tolerant of such delays.” [1] “These accounts seem to imply that such credit was essentially shortterm—being cleared within a few days, or at least at the end of a ship’s trading—but other evidence shows that it could be extended by Africans to Europeans over longer periods. In 1697 the Dutchman Bosman, having got his slaves on board his ship but unable to land the goods to pay for them due to a storm lasting for several days, mooted the idea of dispatching the ship without paying for its slaves. He found the King and “other Great Men” of Whydah quite happy to have him promise “that they receive payment at the arrival of other ships” (though in the event the weather improved, and Bosman was able to pay them in the normal way).” [2] “Although there is far less evidence in regard to the strictly domestic economy, clearly credit was extended in purely intra-African transactions, as well as in the trade with Europeans. The principal evidence for this relates to the practice of enslaving and selling insolvent debtors, referred to in contemporary European sources from the late seventeenth century onwards. Although generally cast in the language of slavery, such references should probably be interpreted as relating to the pawning of a debtor (or one or more of his household) as security for a debt; in principle, such pawns were distinct from slaves, and were protected from sale into the trans-Atlantic trade, though it is evident that this prohibition was often violated in practice.” [3]

[1]: Austin, Gareth, et al. “Credit, Currencies, and Culture: African Financial Institutions in Historical Perspective.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 34, no. 1, 2001, p. 144: 27. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SPXH2IUW/collection

[2]: Austin, Gareth, et al. “Credit, Currencies, and Culture: African Financial Institutions in Historical Perspective.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 34, no. 1, 2001, p. 144: 27-28. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SPXH2IUW/collection

[3]: Austin, Gareth, et al. “Credit, Currencies, and Culture: African Financial Institutions in Historical Perspective.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 34, no. 1, 2001, p. 144: 30-31. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SPXH2IUW/collection


16 Kanem-Borno present Confident -
“One partnership in the 1790s united a trader operating at Buna and Kong, in the middle Volta basin, with another at Katsina, and the latter even had commercial ties in Borno. This is one of the earliest known examples of a practice which appears to have been common among many nineteenth- century merchants in such places as Zinder and Kano. Finally, brokerage firms in Kano, which handled the sale of various salts, provided banking facilities for their clients. These firms, some of which are still in operation after at least two hundred years of business, stored cowries obtained through salt sales while their Borno clients travelled to neighbouring towns to purchase goods. These reserves provided the salt brokers (Hausa: fatoma) with the ability to guarantee short term credit in the transactions which they managed. In some instances, too, the firms extended goods on credit to distributors who sold salt in the streets and villages.” [1]

[1]: Lovejoy, P. E. (1974). Interregional Monetary Flows in the Precolonial Trade of Nigeria. The Journal of African History, 15(4), 563–585: 582. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/58ASG655/collection


17 Sokoto Caliphate present Inferred -
“Institutions in states such as Dahomey, Sokoto, and in frontier zones, were more vulnerable to change. In his contribution to the present volume, Webb argues that practices and monies on the borderlands of major political-financial systems were considerably more ephemeral than some anthropological writing might imply. He goes so far as to suggest that new money goods (such as cowry shells, guinée cloth, and glassware) only remained in monetized circuits for a limited period before being converted to some other use. Merchant relations depended on personal trust, and credit appears to have been practiced mainly through advances of goods, due to the volatility of currency values.” [1] “By the nineteenth century, such promissory notes were evidently common in the Islamic interior of West Africa. The British explorer Clapperton, for example, was able in Kano in 1826 to settle a liability by writing a “bill of exchange” (apparently drawn on the British Consulate in Tripoli) for $500; and in Sokoto the following year his assistant Lander received in exchange for goods an “order” for 245,000 cowries drawn upon a merchant of Kano.” [2]

[1]: Stiansen, Endre, and Jane I. Guyer, editors. Credit, Currencies, and Culture: African Financial Institutions in Historical Perspective. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, 1999: 15-16. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/A9F557EW/collection

[2]: Stiansen, Endre, and Jane I. Guyer, editors. Credit, Currencies, and Culture: African Financial Institutions in Historical Perspective. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, 1999: 34-35. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/A9F557EW/collection


18 West Burkina Faso Red II and III absent Inferred -
The following suggests not only that cattle were no longer used as articles of exchange, but also the existence of system of exchange based on labor rather than physical currency. "By the middle of Red II this material symbol of inequality, cattle, ceased to be commonly kept, despite the emergence of a drier environment more suitable for animal husbandry in the second millennium A.D. Historically, cattle served as social capital in many non-centralized Voltaic societies, enabling marriages and funerary celebrations, and representing wealth. Consequently, the rejection of cattle, in addition to limiting the accumulation of wealth, may also indicate the beginning of matrimonial compensation in agricultural labor, typical of modern autonomous village societies." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 30)


19 West Burkina Faso Red IV absent Inferred -
The following suggests not only that cattle were no longer used as articles of exchange, but also the existence of system of exchange based on labor rather than physical currency. "By the middle of Red II this material symbol of inequality, cattle, ceased to be commonly kept, despite the emergence of a drier environment more suitable for animal husbandry in the second millennium A.D. Historically, cattle served as social capital in many non-centralized Voltaic societies, enabling marriages and funerary celebrations, and representing wealth. Consequently, the rejection of cattle, in addition to limiting the accumulation of wealth, may also indicate the beginning of matrimonial compensation in agricultural labor, typical of modern autonomous village societies." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 30)


20 Early United Mexican States present Confident -
“Urban consumers (particularly women who made up a majority of householders in late colonial Mexico City) relied upon the pulperías for making ends meet. Although the conde de Regla established the Monte de Piedad in 1775 to provide cheaper credit to the middling and more affluent society short on cash, the pulpería and private pawning remained an essential part of urban household survival strategies into the nineteenth century.” [1] “Mexico City’s bazaar-like arcade, aptly labeled the world’s first mall, featured purpose-built shops with stalls that displayed and stored merchants’ wares, all under the supervision of municipal authorities and the merchants’ guilds (the consulado or the gremio de los chinos). Merchants would not only sell goods, but also function as investment bankers, frequently receiving deposits of significant sums. By the first decade of national independence in the 1820s, the merchants of the Mexico City parián, the Parián, represented the epicenter of the country’s commercial transactions, holding deposits for investors, warehousing and distributing goods, and extending credit to wholesalers in other locales” [1] “During the Porfiriato the Mexican economy finally began to escape from the financial underdevelopment trap in which it had been stuck for most of the century. A crucial element for this process was the state-orchestrated merger in 1884 of the two largest banks to create the Banco Nacional de México (Banamex)… By modifying the commercial codes (1884, 1889), as well as the national banking law (1897), the government allowed a regulated increase in the number of banks, but maintained the highly concentrated nature of the banking sector. Indeed, 35 banks were created between 1864 and 1908, but by 1911 Banamex and Banco de Londres y México held more than 60% of the total assets of the domestic banking system (Haber, 2006). The concentration of the banking system, and the lack of effective regulations to oversee its practices, allowed for vast expansion of related lending (auto-préstamos), that is, long-term loans and credits to bank directors, their relatives, and their business groups… ” [2]

[1]: (Bunker and Macias-Gonzalez 2011: 58) Bunker, Steven B. and Macías-González, Víctor M. 2011. “Consumption and Material Culture from Pre-Contact through the Porfiriato,” in A Companion to Mexican History and Culture, ed. William H. Beezley. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. pp54–82. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SDIQ5VE7

[2]: (Moreno-Brid and Ros 2009: 52-53) Moreno-Brid, Juan Carlos and Ros, Jaime. 2009. Development and Growth in the Mexican Economy: A Historical Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/PZXKGTTV


21 Tudor and Early Stuart England present Confident -
The monarch could raise money through parliament and his supporters though they were almost constantly in debt in some form or another. By 1700 a credit facility for bonds and bills of exchange had been established. [1] Goldsmith lenders and banks were well established in the seventeenth century. “Later, the Crown also offered lenders self-liquidating annuities for a number of lives or for 99 years, and sold tickets to public lotteries. They also charged corporate bodies like the East India Company and, in the next reign, the South Sea Company vast sums in return for the privilege of being allowed to exist. The greatest example of this fund-raising strategy, and Montagu’s crowning inspiration, as the charter for the Bank of England, established in 1694. In return for an immediate loan of £1.2 million, the Bank was allowed to sell stock in itself, receive deposits, make loans, and even print notes against the security of its loan to the government. In future years, the Bank of England would be the Crown’s greatest jewel: its largest single lender, its principal banker, and the manager of this funded national debt which Montagu initiated.” [2]

[1]: (Bucholz et al 2013: 195) Bucholz, Robert, Newton Key, and R.O. Bucholz. 2013. Early Modern England 1485-1714: A Narrative History. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=1166775. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XQGJH96U

[2]: (Bucholz et al 2013: 326) Bucholz, Robert, Newton Key, and R.O. Bucholz. 2013. Early Modern England 1485-1714: A Narrative History. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=1166775. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XQGJH96U


22 Alaouite Dynasty I present Confident -
“On the economic side, he [Mawlây Rashïd] lent traders considerable sums to develop their businesses and thus create prosperity for all the people. He ordered a reform of the coinage which took the form of devaluing the mouzouna from 48 fais to 24 fais.” [1]

[1]: (Ogot 1992: 211) Ogot, B. A. 1992. ed., General History of Africa: Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century., vol. V, VII vols. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/24QPFDVP


23 Napoleonic France present Confident -
The Bank of France. By the mid-nineteenth century even rural communities had access to money-lending services. [1] [2]

[1]: Clapham 1955: 126. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2QKQJQM3.

[2]: Crook 2002: 107. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/29D9EQQE


24 Holy Roman Empire - Ottonian-Salian Dynasty present Confident -
Monarchs often borrowed money to finance wars. In Italy wealthy citizens would extend credit services to other lords and some peasants. Landlords often gave credit to their tenants [1]

[1]: Wilson 2016: 518, 544 . https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N5M9R9XA


25 Austria - Habsburg Dynasty II Transitional (Absent -> Present) Confident -
Banks; private creditors. “Once he came to the throne, Joseph built upon the great successes of Eugène and Marlborough to provide strong leadership for the dynasty’s war aims. He helped shore up the monarchy’s precarious finances by founding the Vienna City Bank in 1706.” [1] “Since the founding of an Austrian national bank in 1816, the empire had monopolized the bank’s resources for its own borrowing needs, making it impossible for the bank to meet the credit needs of any but a few other wealthy private clients. The services of some international banking families (Rothschild, Sina, Arnstein Eskeles) were available to Austrian borrowers during this period, but in the 1850s Austria’s finance ministers addressed the problem of capital shortages by creating new banks that could make much larger amounts of credit available to private borrowers.” [2]

[1]: (Curtis 2013: 199) Curtis, Benjamin. 2013. The Habsburgs: The History of a Dynasty. London; New York: Bloomsbury. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TRKUBP92

[2]: (Judson 2016: 231-232) Judson, Pieter M. 2016. The Habsburg Empire: A New History. Cambridge, USA; London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BN5TQZBW


26 Khwarezmid Empire unknown Suspected -
This has not been mentioned in the sources consulted.
27 Hohokam Culture unknown Suspected -
-
28 Golden Horde unknown Suspected -
The sources consulted have not mention credit and debit structures.
29 Saffarid Caliphate unknown Suspected -
Credit and debit structures have not been mentioned in the sources consulted.
30 British Empire IIIIIIIIII present Confident -
Banks had been established since the late seventeenth century. There were also an increasing number of commercial, mercantile and private creditors in the UK and across the Empire. [1]

[1]: (Marshall 2006: 62-63, 296, 384, 423, 432) Marshall, P. J. ed. 2006. The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume II The Eighteenth Century. Vol. 2, 5 vols. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HGG2PPQQ


31 Kingdom of Hawaii - Post-Kamehameha Period present Confident -
“The harbor improvements were carried on in spite of very serious financial difficulties which embarrassed the government for many years after 1854. In an effort to relieve the strain already being felt, the legislature in 1855 passed a loan act authorizing the government to borrow a sum not exceeding $150,000. But the government could obtain only a small part of this amount and therefore had to keep expenditures within the narrowest possible limits. No public works were undertaken except those deemed to be of vital importance; improvement of Honolulu harbor fell within this category.” [1]

[1]: (Kuykendall 1938: 22) Kuykendall, Ralph Simpson. 1938. The Hawaiian Kingdom. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii. http://archive.org/details/hawaiiankingdom0002kuyk. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QJ4Z7AAB


32 Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty II present Confident Expert -
State Debt for War Financing: The Russian Empire incurred significant state debt to finance various wars, including the Napoleonic Wars and World War I. This debt was managed through the issuance of government bonds and taking loans from domestic and foreign sources. [1]

Banking System Development: The establishment of the State Bank of the Russian Empire in 1860 and the emergence of commercial banks marked the development of a formal banking system, which facilitated credit for industrial and commercial ventures. [2]





Reliance on Foreign Loans: The empire heavily relied on foreign loans, especially from Western European countries, for financing industrialization and infrastructure projects, making the economy susceptible to external economic influences. [1]



Modern Credit Instruments: Various credit instruments, including promissory notes and government bonds, were used. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw more sophisticated credit use, particularly in the business sector. [2]

[1]: Sontag, John P. “Tsarist Debts and Tsarist Foreign Policy.” Slavic Review 27, no. 4 (1968): 529–541. Accessed December 19, 2023. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2494436. Zotero link: 8X5IIK87

[2]: “История Банка России,” accessed December 19, 2023, https://www.cbr.ru/about_br/history/. Zotero link: A2HGJZX9


33 British East India Company present Confident -
-
34 Qin Empire present Inferred -
-
35 Southern Song present Confident -
-
36 Eastern Zhou uncoded Undecided -
-
37 Imamate of Oman and Muscat present Confident -
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38 Portuguese Empire - Early Modern present Confident -
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39 Grand Principality of Moscow, Rurikid Dynasty present Confident -
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40 Kievan Rus present Confident -
-
41 Bito Dynasty absent Confident -
-
42 Cwezi Dynasty absent Inferred -
-
43 Sena Dynasty present Inferred -
-
44 Avar Khaganate unknown Suspected -
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45 Axum II uncoded Undecided -
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46 Axum III uncoded Undecided -
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47 Banu Ghaniya unknown Suspected -
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48 Chaulukya Dynasty present Confident -
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49 Chu Kingdom - Spring and Autumn Period uncoded Undecided -
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50 Chu Kingdom - Warring States Period uncoded Undecided -
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51 Crimean Khanate unknown Suspected -
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52 Early Greater Coclé absent Confident -
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53 Early Nyoro absent Inferred -
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54 Jayarid Khanate absent Confident -
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55 Kangju unknown Suspected -
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56 Kazan Khanate unknown Suspected -
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57 Kingdom of Congo unknown Suspected -
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58 Kingdom of Georgia II unknown Suspected -
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59 Kingdom of Sicily - Hohenstaufen and Angevin dynasties present Confident -
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60 La Mula-Sarigua absent Confident -
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61 Late Greater Coclé absent Confident -
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62 Makuria Kingdom I unknown Suspected -
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63 Makuria Kingdom II unknown Suspected -
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64 Makuria Kingdom III unknown Suspected -
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65 Malacca Sultanate unknown Suspected -
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66 Malacca Sultanate unknown Suspected -
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67 Middle Greater Coclé absent Confident -
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68 Monagrillo absent Confident -
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69 Monte Alban V Early Postclassic absent Confident -
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70 Monte Alban V Late Postclassic absent Confident -
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71 Novgorod Land present Confident -
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72 Ottoman Empire Late Period absent Confident -
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73 Plantagenet England present Confident -
The crown often took out loans from wealthy private companies or individuals. This was sometimes guaranteed against the royal crowns and other jewels. It is estimated the Edward III’s campaigns in the Low Countries left him with a sum of around £100,000 to merchants and moneylenders, and £200,000 to his supporters. [1]

[1]: (Prestwich 2005: 272) Prestwich, Michael. 2005. Plantagenet England 1225-1360. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XTBKFDCI


74 Russian Principate present Confident -
-
75 Kingdom of Bohemia - Luxembourgian and Jagiellonian Dynasty present Confident -
“Jews worked for the most part in commerce and finance, and, as in Europe in general, they met with significant problems in the Czech state. On the one hand they were welcomed for usury and pawn-broking (i.e., activities that were forbidden to Christians), but at the same time they were hated for their wealth and different faith, which was apparent in their features, clothing and religious rituals. Jews of course paid large amounts to the royal coffers, which helped run the royal court and its investments, but they also contributed to the towns.” [1]

[1]: (Pánek and Oldřich 2009: 141) Pánek, Jaroslav and Oldřich, Tůma. 2009. A History of the Czech Lands. University of Chicago Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4NAX9KBJ


76 Us Reconstruction-Progressive present Confident -
Banks were present across the polity period since the preceding period.
77 Antebellum US present Confident -
Banks were present across the polity period.
78 British Empire I present Confident -
The Bank of England was established in 1694. There were also an increasing number of commercial, mercantile and private creditors in the UK and across the Empire. [1]

[1]: (Marshall 2006: 62-63, 296, 384, 423, 432) Marshall, P. J. ed. 2006. The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume II The Eighteenth Century. Vol. 2, 5 vols. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HGG2PPQQ