This article explores the role of the Monti di Pietà in late medieval Italy and Early Modern Germany as instrument of self-help of the working poor. Claiming that microcredits provided by urban pawnbroking institutions helped to mitigate phases of illiquidity and possible insolvency, it can be shown that they were part of the strategies of survival applied by a clientele consisting mostly of craftsmen, day-laborers and small shop-keepers. These social groups used their material belongings – mostly humble household objects and clothes – to convert them into small-scale credit in times of crisis. The second part of the article thematizes the introduction of the Monti in two German cities that were major trading hubs: Augsburg and Nuremberg showing the successful adaption of the Italian model of welfare north of the Alps.
University of Graz, Austria - ORCID: 0009-0006-2185-7013
Chapter Title
Dealing with economic precarity through microcredit. The Monti di Pietà in late medieval and early modern Italy and Germany
Authors
Tanja Skambraks
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0963-2.06
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2026
Copyright Information
© 2026 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
Gestione del rischio, insolvenza e bancarotta nel mondo premoderno (secc. XIII-XVIII) / Risk management, insolvency, and bankruptcy in the pre-modern world (13th-18th centuries)
Editors
Angela Orlandi
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
568
Publication Year
2026
Copyright Information
© 2026 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0963-2
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0962-5
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0963-2
eISBN (xml)
979-12-215-0964-9
Series Title
Datini Studies in Economic History
Series ISSN
2975-1241
Series E-ISSN
2975-1195