Before the “Inner Worldly Asceticism” : ecclesiastical accounting, government and economic rationality (13th-15th centuries)[Antes del ascetismo intramundano : contabilidades eclesiásticas, gobierno y racionalidad económica (siglos XIII-XV)]

The hypothesis put forward in this article is that accounting practices constituted a technique of asceticism and government within religious communities in the late Middle Ages, which inspired merchants to develop an ascetic conception of their own accounting practice and profession. This requires a fresh look at the reasons for the legitimacy and rationality that the use of registers and figures conferred on economic transactions and those who carried them out. To do this, we examine the registers of fifteen institutions in Provence and Italy, eight chapters of canons, a Cluniac priory and six convents of the mendicant orders, as well as manuals and writings of merchants. The different ways in which the accounting instrument is used and the uses to which it is put within the Church coincide with the different forms of religious life, economy of salvation and devotional practices offered by these institutions. The comparative analysis of the methods of auditing the accounts sheds light on the governmental and ascetic functions of accounting entries in Dominican and especially Franciscan convents, where the practices of rendering accounts are more regular and occupy a very important place in the government of communities and orders, as well as in the daily observance of the rule of poverty. These functions derive from a very long normative, theological and practical tradition dating back to the early days of Christianity and monasticism where material and divine accountability, obedience, fidelity and good administration have been assimilated to each other. A reading of the manuals and writings of merchants reveals that these conceptions were adopted by them. This allows us to appreciate in a new light the functions of the ciphering of commercial exchanges and the rationalities underlying these practices.