This article explores the rise and fall of the Swiss-German trading firm Specht & Gonzenbach in early 18th-century Lyon. It examines how the company strategically expanded its operations, connecting markets from Germany and Italy to the Levant and the Atlantic. Drawing on theories of risk and business from the fields of sociology and business history, the study highlights how reflected decision-making within a strong network-structure shaped the firm’s trajectory. By reconstructing its modus operandi, the article demonstrates how Specht & Gonzenbach embodied a form of rational, calculated risk-taking that promoted the expansion of early modern trade. Its failure due to quarantine measures, paradoxically, confirms the firm’s historical significance as a pioneer of global commerce.
FernUniversität Hagen, Germany - ORCID: 0000-0003-0534-5991
Chapter Title
Expansion of business range and prudent risk taking. Specht et Gonzebat in Lyon in the early eighteenth century
Authors
Magnus Ressel
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0963-2.26
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