Management and governance of the kingdom’s finances. Financial literacy as useful knowledge in late-medieval Aragon (1365–1515)
From Firenze University Press Book: The knowledge economy: innovation, productivity and economic growth, 13th to 18th century
Sandra de la Torre Gonzalo, University of Zaragoza
This paper’s primary research question is to examine to what extent changes in mechanisms and instruments of financial management proceeding from trading knowledge improved the efficiency of late-medieval polities (van Zanden et al. 2012). To do so, we will examine a territorial state experience in medieval Iberia. The Kingdom of Aragon was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon, a singular political entity (Barton 2021). In the mid-14th century, a greater level of sophistication in the administration of public finance all over the Crown was accompanied by the birth of supra local polities. Aragon designed its own autonomous fiscal system which was integrated into the management of the kingdom’s finances. When the newly established permanent representative institution of the realm (known as the Diputación del Reino) made its first steps, it needed financial accounts to keep track of revenues and to access credit, which led to the refinement of documentary practice and monitoring methods. This study highlights the agency of accounting-trained individuals who shaped the functioning of financial institutions, using their trading knowledge to improve the efficiency of the latter in a number of ways, from budgeting to tax collecting (Silvestri 2020). The chief sources used here are parliamentary proceedings and the account books produced for financial auditing purposes. Thus, particular attention has been paid to the impact of the increasing prominence of financial numeracy on institutional accountability and governance.
- Quod omnes tangit: the birth of territorial taxation in the Kingdom of Aragon
In accordance with the classical legal maxim quod omnes tangit ab omnibus comprobetur, the representatives of the king of Aragon’s realms were consulted increasingly often at political assemblies called Cortes.4 All of the orders contributed in all the states of the realm, but not with the same criteria. Representatives of nobles, clergy and royal towns constituted separated orders (called braços or arms in Catalan and Aragonese languages), of which there were four in the case of Aragon (aristocrats and petty nobility were separated). Frequent discussions occurred regarding the methods for collecting the extraordinary contribution and distributing it between the braços. The application of the agreed general taxation was temporary because it was intended to prevent it from becoming permanent. It was also free from intervention by the king, his lieutenant or his officials, with each braço having its own treasurer responsible for the collection and management of their corresponding part of the subsidies. These aids were granted voluntarily by the Cortes, which meant that the conditions were laid down in an agreement (some were even provided in the form of loans).5 This arrangement was peculiar to these territories as opposed to the neighbouring Crown of Castile (Ladero 1999). Nevertheless, the monarchs resorted to private credit or appealed directly to the royal towns (de la Torre 2018a; García 2006). The context of this great transformation (Sánchez, Furió and Sesma 2008) is a long war between the two major Iberian states in the late Middle Ages (Lafuente 2018; Kagay 2016). The king of Aragon’s requests during the War of the Two Pedros (1356–1369) were promptly answered due to the urgent defensive needs of the territories (Ferrer 2004). The critical situation at that time discouraged the use of traditional forms of taxation, and the representatives of Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia found an alternative that exploited a new source of fiscal income with little impact on individual economies. The general gathering of Cortes in 1362–1363 promoted a common project that sought to guarantee the funding of the major defence expenditures. The representatives of the three territories designed a new customs duty of universal application with no exemptions, which carried the name of generalidades (referring to its general scope). As a consequence, legislation was changed to overcome the traditional division by braços. The political role of the commissions of the Cortes was strengthened and new representative bodies were fostered: the period 1362–1363 is considered to be the birth of the diputaciones, although their formalisation as permanent institutions occurred later. The three (in Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia) shared the central concept of the General as a union of interests that brought together all of the inhabitants in each of the three territories, but they differed widely in their attributions and functioning (Sesma 1977; Muñoz 1987; Sánchez de Movellán 2004).
DOI: 10.36253/979–12–215–0092–9.21
Read Full Text: https://books.fupress.it/chapter/management-and-governance-of-the-kingdoms-finances-financial-literacy-as-useful-knowledge-in-late-me/13617
