Stedelijke macht tussen overvloed en stagnatie
How did local financial systems develop in the late-medieval Low Countries? Who had a say in the design of fiscal policies and what influence did this have on the economy and social relations? Did more participation and control by citizens lead to the willingness to pay more taxes? These are but a few questions which this study seeks to answer.In general it is presumed that the Hanseatic towns in Guelders (Eastern Netherlands) reached the zenith of its economic power during the fourteenth century, and that a process of prolonged stagnation hit the urban economies since mid-fifteenth century, due to the continuous military conflicts between Guelders and the rulers of the Burgundian-Habsburg Low Countries.
In this study, by analysing the urban finances of two case studies (Arnhem and Zutphen) the correlations between politics, economy and the development of local public finances in the late-medieval duchy of Guelders are revealed. In these processes, socio-political relations, not only within urban society between town government and its citizens, but also the power relations between the dukes of Guelders and the individual towns, were of great importance. This study shows that – despite relatively strong institutional continuity – the political and economic transformations that took place during the period between roughly 1350 and 1550 had a profound impact on the financial stability of Guelders towns. This also had its consequences for the position of the urban political elites.
Urban power between affluence and stagnation provides new building blocks for the comparative study of the economic, financial and institutional history of regions in the Low Countries. It also seeks to contribute to our understanding on long-term effects of government actions on the socio-economic fabric of societies.