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Household Debt in Early Modern Germany: Evidence from Personal Inventories

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2012

SHEILAGH OGILVIE ,
MARKUS KÜPKER  and
JANINE MAEGRAITH
SHEILAGH OGILVIE*
Affiliation:
Professor of Economic History, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 9DD, United Kingdom. E-mail: [email protected].
MARKUS KÜPKER*
Affiliation:
Research Associate, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 9DD, United Kingdom. E-mail: [email protected].
JANINE MAEGRAITH*
Affiliation:
Research Associate, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 9DD, United Kingdom. E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

The “less-developed” interior of early modern Europe, especially the rural economy, is often regarded as financially comatose. This article investigates this view using a rich data set of marriage and death inventories for seventeenth-century Germany. It first analyzes the characteristics of debts, examining borrowing purposes, familial links, communal ties, and documentary instruments. It then explores how borrowing varied with gender, age, marital status, occupation, date, and asset portfolio. It finds that ordinary people, even in a “less-developed” economy in rural central Europe, sought to invest profitably, smooth consumption, bridge low liquidity, and hold savings in financial form.

Type
ARTICLES
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 72 , Issue 1 , 12 March 2012 , pp. 134 - 167
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 2012

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