Economy & Finance in the 13th century

46 sourced entries, 1203 CE to 1299 CE, oldest first. Also see Economy & Finance across every century or everything else in the 13th century.

• 1203First evidence that the Temple in London is extending loans to John, King of England. The sums remain small, but are often used for critical operations, such as the ransoming of the king's soldiers captured by the French.source
• 1204Landshut, Bavaria, is Founded.source
• 1205William of Wrotham, Lord Warden of the Stannaries, oversees a reform of English currency. In keeping with other high-ranking bureaucrats of his time, this is just one of Wrotham's many offices. He is also "keeper of ports", the forerunner of the First Lord of the Admiralty, supervisor of the mints of Canterbury and London, ward of the vacant Diocese of Bath and Wells and archdeacon of Taunton.source
• 1207The first documentary evidence of forced loans in Venice. This technique becomes the staple of public finance in Europe, until the 16th century.source
• 1209In Tuscany, the banking firm known as the Gran Tavola ("Great Table") is formed; most of the partners are members of the Bonsignori family.source
• 1209King Philip II of France ("Augustus") grants a "conduit" to merchants, going to the Champagne fairs (a trade fair organized in different towns of the County of Champagne), guaranteeing the safety of their travel – as any attempt made against them – is now to be considered a crime of lèse-majesté (an offense against the king). The decision increases again the appeal of the fairs to merchants from Italy and the Low Countries.source
• 1218The city of Rheims emits the first recorded public life annuity in Medieval Europe. This type of instrument had been mostly issued by religious institutions. The emission by Rheims is the first evidence of a consolidation of public debt that is to become common in the Langue d'Oïl, the Low Countries and Germany.source
• 1223September 29 – King James I of Aragon halts the minting of new coins for the next seven years in order to prevent the devaluation of the kingdom's medium of exchange.source
• 1223November 1 – King Louis VIII of France issues an ordinance prohibiting the kingdom's officials from registering debts owed to Jewish moneylenders, and limiting the lenders to a recovery of the principal amount owed, without interest.source
• 1228The city of Tournai emits its first recorded life annuity, thus confirming a trend of consolidation of public debts started ten years earlier, in Reims.source
• 1228The first evidence is uncovered of the use of the Knights Templar as cashiers by King Henry III of England, to safely transfer important sums to the continent, using letters of exchange. This shows that large transfers could take place across Europe, even before the emergence of important networks of Italian merchant-bankers.source
• 1232The northern French city of Troyes issues its first recorded life annuities, confirming the trend of consolidation of local public debts initiated in 1218, by the neighboring city of Reims.source
• 1248November 24–25 – In the middle of the night a mass on the north side of Mont Granier suddenly collapses, in one of the largest historical rock slope failures.source
• 1250The Sienese bankers belonging to the firm known as the Gran Tavola, under the steering of the Bonsignori Brothers, become the main financiers of the Papacy.source
• 1250The Flemish town of Douai emits the first recorded redeemable annuities in medieval Europe, confirming a trend of consolidation of local public debt started in 1218, in Rheims.source
• 1250World climate transitions from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age.source
• 1254The Rhenish League, a confederation of trading cities, is established in the Rhineland, Western Germany. The league (or Städtebund) comprises 59 cities.source
• 1254As part of an offensive against usury in north-western Europe, Innocent IV relieves the city of Beauvais from its obligations to its creditors.source
• 1255Orlando Bonsignori, an Italian minor merchant, forms a consortium called the Gran Tavola ("Great Table"), which becomes the most powerful bank in western Europe. He becomes the exclusive banker for the deposits of the income of the Papal States.source
• 1257Henry III of England orders the production of a pure gold penny coin with a value of twenty pence. Unfortunately, the bullion value of the coins is about 20% higher than the nominal face value, leading to poor circulation, as coins are melted down by individuals for their gold content.source
• 1258The Republic of Genoa starts imposing forced loans, known as luoghi, onto its taxpayers; they are a common resource of medieval public finance.source
• 1259Lannathai, a kingdom in the north of Thailand, is founded by King Mangrai.source
• 1262The Venice Senate starts consolidating all of the Republic's outstanding debt into a single fund, later known as the Monte Vecchio. The holders of the newly created prestiti are promised a 5% annual coupon. These claims can be sold, and quickly (before 1320) give rise to the first recorded secondary market for financial assets, in Medieval Europe.source
• 1263The Lord Edward, son and heir of Henry III of England, seizes £10,000 which had been deposited to the trust of the Knights Templar in London by foreign merchants and English magnates.source
• 1263The Bonsignori firm gains the full market of the transfer of fiscal revenue from the papal estates to Rome.source
• 1266In France, the gold écu (or crown) and silver grosh coins are minted for the first time during the reign of Louis IX.source
• 1273Alfonso X creates and grants privileges to the Mesta to promote the wool industry, protecting livestock owners and their animals in the Crown of Castile.source
• 1275In Ghent, the first instance is recorded of emission of life annuities by a town in the Low Countries; this event confirms a trend of consolidation of local public debt in northwestern Europe, initiated in 1218 by Reims.source
• 1276Henry of Ghent (or Henricus) becomes the last major theologian openly to consider annuities as a usurious contract. The end of the debate allows for the expansion of the budding practice of renten emission, to become a staple of public finance in northwestern Europe.source
• 1278Giles of Lessines writes his De usuris. He estimates that some credit contracts need not to be usurious, as "future things are not estimated to be of such value as those collected in the instant". The prevalence of this view in the usury debate allows for the development of the financial industry in Roman Catholic Europe.source
• 1281Guy of Dampierre, count of Flanders, licenses the first Lombard merchants to open a changing business in his realm.source
• 1281Osman I, founder of the Ottoman Empire, becomes bey of the Söğüt tribe in central Anatolia after the death of his father, Ertuğrul Ghazi. Osman's accession to power is not peaceful, as he has to fight his relatives before he gets hold of the clan's leadership. One of Osman's major rivals is his uncle Dündar Bey, who rebels against him.source
• 1282The form for the Trial of the Pyx in England, during which it is confirmed that newly minted coins conform to required standards, is established.source
• 1282First evidence of the existence of consolidated public debt in Bruges, confirming the expansion of use of annuities, to fund government expenditure to the Low Countries.source
• 1283The German city of Goslar starts making efforts to redeem its already issued annuities, a sure indication of financial difficulty, and maybe an early sign of the 13th century crisis.source
• 1284The Republic of Venice begins coining the ducat, a gold coin that is to become the standard of European coinage, for the following 600 years.source
• 1285The County of Champagne is integrated into the kingdom of France; the region loses its haven characteristics for foreign merchants, and the Fairs of Troyes quickly dwindle into economic insignificance.source
• 1285The first record is made of an emission of life annuities, by the city of Lübeck. It is the first instance of issue of public debt in Germany, and it confirms a trend of consolidation of local public debt over north-western Europe (see 1228).source
• 1287The Italian city of Siena exacts a forced loan from its taxpayers for the first time, a common feature of medieval public finance.source
• 1288June 16 – Petrus, bishop of Västerås, buys 1/8 of the Stora Kopparberg copper mine in Falun, Sweden. During the reign of King Magnus Ladulås, nobles and foreign merchants from Lübeck take interests in the mining area.source
• 1288The Flemish city of Ghent seeks rights to start redeeming its already issued annuities. It is a clear indication of financial difficulty, and maybe an early sign of the crisis of the 13th Century.source
• 1289In Siena, twenty-three partners, including five members of the Bonsignori family, re-create the Gran Tavola, formerly the most successful European bank, which had ceased its operations after the death of its creator and manager, Orlando Bonsignori, in 1273.source
• 1291Four towns of the County of Holland (Dordrecht, Haarlem, Leiden and Alkmaar) and two of the County of Zeeland (Middelburg and Zierikzee) agree collectively to secure a loan by their sovereign, Count Floris V. This gives important securities to the lenders, and allows Floris to access the same low interest rates as the cities’ governments.source
• 1291Venetian glass manufacture is concentrated on the island of Murano (located in the Venetian Lagoon), to prevent fires in Venice itself.source
• 1298The foreign creditors of the Sienese Gran Tavola Bank start demanding their deposits back, thus accelerating the liquidity crisis faced by the firm.source
• 1299King Edward I of England is recorded as borrowing from Italian merchants. He obtains a loan of 2,000 pollard marks, from agents of the Frescobaldi Firm in London.source