Charles V and His Bankers –– Fiscal Crisis and Institutions
ABSTRACT
The object of this conference was the development of political institutions in different parts of Charles V's empire as a response to his fiscal needs. Taxation, public finances, and political representation evolved, pressed by his needs to raise current revenues, and to mortgage future revenues to fund his military campaigns. Conferees also learned how fractional reserve banking and inflationary creation of credit on top of bullion brought from Spanish America took form during the sixteenth century.
READING LIST
Conference Readings
Gelabert, Juan. The Rise of the Fiscal State in Europe c. 1200-1815. Edited by Richard Bonney. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Bernal, Antonio-Miguel. España, Proyecto Inacabado: Los Costes/Beneficios del Imperio. Madrid: Fundación Carolina, 2005.
Carande, Ramón. Carlos V y Sus Banqueros. Barcelona: Crítica, 2004.
Häberlein, Mark. The Fuggers of Augsburg: Pursuing Wealth and Honor in Renaissance Germany. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012.
Porter, Bruce D. War and the Rise of the State: The Military Foundations of Modern Politics. New York: The Free Press, 1994.
Tracy, James D. Emperor Charles V, Impresario of War: Campaign Strategy, International Finance, and Domestic Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.