More than Merchant Bankers: Second-Class Financial Intermediation in Eighteenth-Century Amsterdam

In the eighteenth century, the Amsterdam capital market became the central place for major European powers to borrow money. Well-established merchant banking houses offered their services to act as intermediaries. This was the market of High Finance for foreign sovereign debt. We know less about the lower segments of the Amsterdam capital market, where smaller public debtors turned to, such as the Dutch provinces. This paper analyzes how the Dutch province of Friesland operated on the Amsterdam capital market. By focusing on the venues and their proprietors, the chapter demonstrates an evolution in payment methods, in the eighteenth century. Inns formed the central place in the first half of the eighteenth century, from where the Friesland tax receivers arranged payments. In the second half of the century, the financial agent, Johannes Menkema, became more important. He also expanded the financial services he performed for Friesland. Menkema held no formal function, neither as a notary nor as an official city broker, yet he did present himself as a banker. In addition to Friesland, he also serviced other smaller Dutch and German states and cities. This chapter thus highlights the importance of personal transactions hosted by innkeepers and unofficial financial intermediaries besides bankers, brokers, and notaries.