Credit Networks in The Preindustrial World

This open access book examines the formation and sustainability of private credit networks in past societies, gathering a global range of case studies from Europe and the Americas. The book represents a fi rst attempt to coordinate the work of different scholars working on credit networks and aims to explore the possibilities offered by social network analysis for the study of past fi nancial markets and networks. Each contribution offers new perspectives for the comprehension of past fi nancial networks, with a broad chronological and geographical scope. The chapters are arranged thematically and study both rural and urban networks, each employing a network perspective to facilitate an increased understanding of the relational dynamics of preindustrial credit transactions. This book models the various ways that SNA can be utilized by economic and fi nancial historians, as well as discusses its limitations and ways in which it can be combined with qualitative archival research. The book is of interest to a broad audience of scholars in the fi elds of economic, fi nancial and social history. Elise M. Dermineur is an associate professor of Economic History at Stockholm University. She specializes in fi nancial history and gender history. She is the author of several books and articles, including Gender and Politics in EighteenthCentury Sweden, a political biography of the Swedish queen Lovisa Ulrika (1720– 1782), a collection of essays titled Women and Credit in Preindustrial Europe, and the monograph Before Banks, The Making of Credit and Debt in Preindustrial France Matteo Pompermaier is an assistant professor at the Department of Economics and Management at the University of Brescia. He specializes in the history of fi nance, with a particular focus on preindustrial credit markets. He authored a monograph on the 18th-century Venetian credit market and several scientifi c articles.