PD Dr. Mathias Franc Kluge, M.A.

E-Mail: mathias.kluge@philhist.uni-augsburg.de

Telefon: ++49 (0)821 598 5768

Sprechzeit: Vereinbarung per E-Mail

Raum: 5003

The project "Indebted Kings: Money, Politics and the Treasury of the Kingdom" researches the functionality and impact of operating with credit (monetary loans) in the context of the political hierarchy of the 15th century. The starting point is the emergence of new political mechanisms which allowed financial needs to grow far beyond the supply of money available. They made the 15th century the century of indebted kings. Europe’s crowns were acquired with loans and pledged to secure loans. The city, together with its merchants and Jews, became the new setting and enabler for a form of monarchical policy whose functionality was significantly dependent on credit relationships. As a result, the kingdom’s treasury played a central role. Unlike previous research which was undertaken with respect to economic and administrative history and aimed to see how successfully the kingdom operated based on debt and credit, the cultural history research study is more function and effect oriented. The aim is to find out the role money played in the everyday politics of the kingdom by examining the political and functional mechanisms of cash requirement and the use of both, metallic money and credit. By doing so, the stories of those who needed money or lost it under political pressure are brought to attention. The project illuminates the dark side of the financially demanding politics of kingdoms, not by researching the handling of money from economic principles, but by instead determining the context of political and ceremonials purposes. Instead of focusing on the balance sheet, we will look at how the money necessary for the kingdom’s rising expenses was procured through a credit network which relied heavily on the public and Jews. This meant money was attained by any means possible, including forced loans and credit that did not have the slightest chance of ever being paid back. Therefore, the question of why the monarchy seemed to possess almost unlimited creditworthiness is one that needs to be clarified.