IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cup/reveco/v34y2016i03p351-382_00.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Philip Ii Against The Cortes And The Credit Freeze Of 1575-1577

Author

Listed:
  • Álvarez-Nogal, Carlos
  • Chamley, Christophe

Abstract

Numerous archival documents show how the suspension of payments by Philip II, in September 1575, on the contracts with Genoese bankers (asientos) induced a freeze of the domestic credit market in Castile through the bankers’ intermediation for asientos and the credit interconnections. Commercial fairs stopped, banks failed and trade suffered while the king granted legal protection to the Genoese bankers. The evidence strikingly confirms that by his strategy, Philip II was able to remove the de facto ceiling on the domestic debt (juros) imposed by the fixed revenue commitment of the Castilian cities in the Cortes. The agreement with the bankers was signed in December 1577 immediately after the cities had agreed to the doubling of their commitment.

Suggested Citation

  • Álvarez-Nogal, Carlos & Chamley, Christophe, 2016. "Philip Ii Against The Cortes And The Credit Freeze Of 1575-1577," Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(3), pages 351-382, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:reveco:v:34:y:2016:i:03:p:351-382_00
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0212610915000373/type/journal_article
    File Function: link to article abstract page
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carlos Álvarez-Nogal & Christophe Chamley, 2014. "Debt policy under constraints: Philip II, the Cortes, and Genoese bankers," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 67(1), pages 192-213, February.
    2. Stephen Quinn, 2008. "Securitization of Sovereign Debt: Corporations as a Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism in Britain, 1694-1750," Working Papers 200701, Texas Christian University, Department of Economics.
    3. Regina Grafe, 2012. "Distant Tyranny: Markets, Power, and Backwardness in Spain, 1650-1800," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9625.
    4. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-00941859 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Drelichman, Mauricio & Voth, Hans-Joachim, 2010. "The Sustainable Debts of Philip II: A Reconstruction of Castile's Fiscal Position, 1566–1596," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 70(4), pages 813-842, December.
    6. James Conklin, 1998. "The Theory of Sovereign Debt and Spain under Philip II," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(3), pages 483-513, June.
    7. Townsend, Robert M., 1979. "Optimal contracts and competitive markets with costly state verification," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 265-293, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pamfili Antipa & Vincent Bignon, 2018. "Whither Economic History? Between Narratives and Quantification," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(3), pages 17-36.
    2. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/3333juqsbl8k6qn6kl3c2nkjtt is not listed on IDEAS
    3. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/3333juqsbl8k6qn6kl3c2nkjtt is not listed on IDEAS
    4. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/3333juqsbl8k6qn6kl3c2nkjtt is not listed on IDEAS
    5. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/3333juqsbl8k6qn6kl3c2nkjtt is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Kris James Mitchener & Christoph Trebesch, 2021. "Sovereign Debt in the 21st Century," NBER Working Papers 28598, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/4ithmorhr18kq90pu8cm6fv3ad is not listed on IDEAS
    8. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4ithmorhr18kq90pu8cm6fv3ad is not listed on IDEAS
    9. De Magalhaes, Leandro & Giovannoni, Francesco, 2022. "War and the rise of parliaments," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    10. Carlos Álvarez-Nogal & Leandro Prados De La Escosura & Carlos Santiago-Caballero, 2016. "Spanish agriculture in the little divergence1,2," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 20(4), pages 452-477.
    11. Mitchener, Kris & Trebesch, Christoph, 2021. "Sovereign Debt in the 21st Century: Looking Backward, Looking Forward," CEPR Discussion Papers 15935, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. repec:cte:whrepe:wp15-07 is not listed on IDEAS

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Drelichman, Mauricio & Voth, Hans-Joachim, 2015. "Duplication without Constraints: Alvarez Nogal and Chamley’s Analysis of Debt Policy under Philip II," Economics working papers mauricio_drelichman-2015-, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 02 Sep 2015.
    2. Mauricio Drelichman & Hans-Joachim Voth, 2016. "Duplication without constraints: Álvarez-Nogal and Chamley's analysis of debt policy under Philip II," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 69(3), pages 999-1006, August.
    3. Chamley, Christophe, 2011. "Debt policy under constraints between Philip II, the Cortes and Genoese bankers," IFCS - Working Papers in Economic History.WH wp11-06, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Instituto Figuerola.
    4. Freire Costa, Leonor & Münch Miranda, Susana & Nogues-Marco, Pilar, 2021. "Early modern financial development in the Iberian peninsula," Working Papers unige:147492, University of Geneva, Paul Bairoch Institute of Economic History.
    5. Carlos Álvarez-Nogal & Christophe Chamley, 2014. "Debt policy under constraints: Philip II, the Cortes, and Genoese bankers," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 67(1), pages 192-213, February.
    6. Leticia Arroyo Abad & Nuno Palma, 2020. "The Fruits of El Dorado: The Global Impact of American Precious Metals," Working Papers 0179, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    7. Víctor M. Gómez‐Blanco, 2024. "A safe asset in early modern Castile, 1543–1714," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 77(1), pages 212-243, February.
    8. repec:cte:whrepe:wp15-07 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Drelichman, Mauricio & Voth, Hans-Joachim, 2011. "Serial defaults, serial profits: Returns to sovereign lending in Habsburg Spain, 1566-1600," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 1-19, January.
    10. Leonor Freire Costa & Susana Münch Miranda, 2023. "Reputational recovery under political instability: Public debt in Portugal, 1641–83," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(3), pages 871-891, August.
    11. Mauricio Drelichman & Hans‐Joachim Voth, 2011. "Lending to the Borrower from Hell: Debt and Default in the Age of Philip II," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(557), pages 1205-1227, December.
    12. Mitchener, Kris & Trebesch, Christoph, 2021. "Sovereign Debt in the 21st Century: Looking Backward, Looking Forward," CEPR Discussion Papers 15935, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Johnson, Noel D. & Koyama, Mark, 2017. "States and economic growth: Capacity and constraints," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 1-20.
    14. António Henriques & Nuno Palma, 2023. "Comparative European Institutions and the Little Divergence, 1385–1800," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 259-294, June.
    15. Nicola Gennaioli & Hans-Joachim Voth, 2015. "State Capacity and Military Conflict," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 82(4), pages 1409-1448.
    16. Mauricio Drelichman & Joachim Voth, 2007. "Lending to the borrower from hell: Debt and default in the age of Philip II, 1556-1598," Economics Working Papers 1164, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Nov 2009.
    17. Serrano Hernández, Sergio Tonatiuh, 2023. "Debt policy in Spanish America during the seventeenth century," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    18. Javier L. Arnaut, 2017. "Was Colonialism Fiscally Sustainable? An Empirical Examination of the Colonial Finances of Spanish America," Documentos de Trabajo (DT-AEHE) 1703, Asociación Española de Historia Económica.
    19. Maurizio Drelichman & Joachim Voth, 2011. "Risk sharing with the monarch: Excusable defaults and contingent debt in the age of Philip II, 1556-1598," Economics Working Papers 1284, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Oct 2013.
    20. Carlos álvarez-Nogal & Christophe Chamley, 2015. "Equity short-term finance under Philip II, with an option to long-term funded debt," Working Papers 0079, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    21. Adrian R. Bell & Chris Brooks & Tony K. Moore, 2014. "The credit relationship between Henry III and merchants of Douai and Ypres, 1247–70," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 67(1), pages 123-145, February.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H63 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt
    • F34 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Lending and Debt Problems
    • N23 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N43 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: Pre-1913

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cup:reveco:v:34:y:2016:i:03:p:351-382_00. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Kirk Stebbing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cambridge.org/rhe .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.