Economy & Finance in the 15th century

20 sourced entries, 1400 CE to 1497 CE, oldest first. Also see Economy & Finance across every century or everything else in the 15th century.

• 1400Newcastle upon Tyne is created a county corporate, by Henry IV of England.source
• 1401May 31 – Laurence Allerthorp becomes the new Lord High Treasurer of England, succeeding Sir John Norbury.source
• 1407April 23 – The Banco di San Giorgio is founded by the government of the Republic of Genoa in Italy.source
• 1421John III of Dampierre, Marquis of Namur, sells his estates to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy.source
• 1425February 12 – Discrimination against the Caquins of Brittany is increased as the Duke of Brittany, Jean V, forbids the Caquins from engaging in trade.source
• 1425By this year, paper currency in China is worth only 0.025% to 0.014% of its original value in the 14th century; this, and the counterfeiting of copper coin currency, will lead to a dramatic shift to using silver as the common medium of exchange in China.source
• 1433In Ming Dynasty China, cotton is listed as a permanent item of trade, on the tax registers of Songjiang prefecture.source
• 1436In Ming dynasty China, a significant portion of the southern grain tax is commuted to payments in silver, known as the Gold Floral Silver (jinhuayin). This comes about due to officials' and military generals' increasing demands to be paid in silver instead of grain, as commercial transactions draw more silver into nationwide circulation. Some counties have trouble transporting all the required grain to meet their tax quotas, so it makes sense to pay the government in silver, a medium of exchange that is already abundant amongst landowners, through their own private commercial affairs.source
• 1438Just two years after the Ming dynasty court of China allowed landowners paying the grain tax to pay their tax in silver instead, the Ming court now decides to close all silver mines and prohibit all private silver mining in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces. This is a concerted effort to halt the increase of silver circulating into the market. The illegal mining of silver is now an offense punishable by death; although it becomes a dangerous affair, the high demand for silver also makes it very lucrative, and so many chose to defy the government and continue to mine.source
• 1439September 24 - King Erik XIII of Sweden is declared deposed in Sweden while Karl Knutsson Bonde continues to serve as Regent of Sweden. Erik remains King of Norway.source
• 1450January 19 – King James II of Scotland gives royal assent to numerous acts passed by the Scottish Parliament in 1449, including the Leases Act 1449 ("Of takis of landis for termes and takis of wedset (mortgaged) landis eftir the oute quyting of the lande"), the Coinage Act, the Parties Summoned to King's Council Act and the Statute Law Revision Act ("Persons chosyn of the thre estatis til examyn the actis of parliamentis and general counsallis").source
• 1457January 21 – Jan IV, Duke of Oświęcim, sells the duchy to the Kingdom of Poland.source
• 1463August 1 – The Importation Act 1463, given royal assent on April 29 by King Edward IV goes into effect, setting a minimum price for imported grain at 6 shillings, 8 pence per unit. The legislation had been passed to encourage the purpose of farmers raising grain in England.source
• 1465The Kazakh Khanate is founded by Kerei Khan and Janibek Khan.source
• 1467October 17 – King James III of Scotland gives royal assent to numerous laws passed by the Scottish Parliament in its six day session at Edinburgh, including the Ferries Act requiring the ramps of ferry boats be improved to support the weight of horses being shipped ("That briggis of buirdis be maide at ferryis for the eis of schipping of hors") and three acts relating to coins and currency.source
• 1472October 6 – King Edward IV of England gives royal assent to the Statute of Westminster 1472 which requires, effective immediately, a tax of four bow staves per every tun (252 wine gallons) of cargo brought in by a ship to an English port. The Statute is passed to remedy a shortage of yew wood, from which longbows are made, following the issuing of an edict in 1470 requiring compulsory training for soldiers to use the longbow.source
• 1486March 1 – King James III of Scotland gives royal assent to acts passed by the Scottish Parliament, including the Tallow Act, the Hides Act and the Currency Act.source
• 1488Rathbornes Candles is established in Dublin; the company is still trading in the 21st century.source
• 1494November 9 – The Medici Bank becomes insolvent and the House of Medici is expelled from Florence.source
• 1497June 13 – Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, issue the ordinance of Medina del Campo, creating a money system based on the copper maravedí, creating the peso of 34 maravedis. In the next three centuries, this system will dominate international payments. It will be used in almost all parts of the Americas and large parts of Asia. It is the basis for a number of modern currencies, including the U.S. dollar.source