![]() | Legal Plunder: Households and Debt Collection in Late Medieval Europe Subjects: Debt -- Italy -- Lucca -- History -- To 1500; Collecting of accounts -- Italy -- Lucca -- History -- To 1500; Material culture -- Italy -- Lucca -- History -- To 1500; Debt -- France -- Marseille -- History -- To 1500; Collecting of accounts -- France --; As Europe began to grow rich during the Middle Ages, its wealth materialized in the well-made clothes, linens, and wares of ordinary households. Such items were indicators of one's station in life in a society accustomed to reading visible signs of rank. In a world without banking, household goods became valuable commodities that often substituted for hard currency. Pawnbrokers and resellers sprang up, helping to push these goods into circulation. Simultaneously, a harshly coercive legal system developed to ensure that debtors paid their due. Smail Daniel Lord : Daniel Lord Smail is Professor of History at Harvard University. |
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