{"id":35907,"date":"2017-04-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/actualidad\/te-interesa\/aeb-informa\/merchants-and-bankers\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T09:46:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T07:46:46","slug":"merchants-and-bankers","status":"publish","type":"blog-aeb","link":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/actualidad\/te-interesa\/aeb-informa\/merchants-and-bankers\/","title":{"rendered":"Merchants and Bankers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It is always a pleasure to reread the delightful monograph <em>Merchants and Bankers of the Middle Ages<\/em> by the eminent and prolific French medievalist Jacques Le Goff, who passed away in 2014. Published as part of the famous <em>Que sais-je?<\/em> collection more than 60 years ago, in 1956, Le Goff was commissioned to write a short monograph on trade in the Middle Ages, which he synthesized for posterity into a concept, or in his own words, a new social category: the merchant-banker. With a masterly pen, he portrayed the world of the first emergence of capitalism and the role, perhaps the leading role, that merchants\u2014the original bankers\u2014played in Europe&#8217;s economic growth, especially in urban areas, and in its cultural flourishing since at least the 13th century. With great didactic skill, he explains the possible birth and widespread use of the bill of exchange, insurance, and double-entry bookkeeping\u2014improvements in methods and techniques that stimulated the activity of the <em>societas maris<\/em> or merchant <em>compagnias<\/em>. Merchants who, at a slow pace\u2014as Le Goff recounts through a thorough and engaging use of sources\u2014gradually became useful and necessary among and for the various sectors of society, their society. Merchant-bankers of whom Benedetto Cotrugli of Ragusa, in his manual <em>On Commerce and the Perfect Merchant<\/em>, written in the mid-15th century, could already state, &#8220;[&#8230;] they deal with craftsmen, gentlemen, barons, princes, and prelates of all ranks, who flock to visit the merchants, whom they always need [&#8230;].&#8221; A necessity not without some controversy. Le Goff, a self-professed agnostic, does not shy away from clearly addressing the evolution of the Church&#8217;s attitude toward these merchants and their activities, moving from a debate centered on usury and credit to accepting, valuing, and occasionally even protecting merchant-bankers, encouraging their charitable work and fruitful cultural patronage. A patronage that, as Le Goff acknowledges, would open new and fertile horizons for ideas and the arts on the threshold of Humanism and the Renaissance.        <\/p>\n<h6><a href=\"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/00-201700914.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read the full article published by Gonzalo Vi\u00f1uales (Rey Juan Carlos University) and Jos\u00e9 Luis Mart\u00ednez Campuzano (AEB spokesperson) in Expansi\u00f3n.<\/a><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article published by Gonzalo Vi\u00f1uales (Rey Juan Carlos University) and Jos\u00e9 Luis Mart\u00ednez Campuzano (AEB spokesperson) in Expansi\u00f3n.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","etiquetas":[287,331,595],"categorias-blog":[777],"class_list":["post-35907","blog-aeb","type-blog-aeb","status-publish","hentry","etiquetas-banca","etiquetas-creditos","etiquetas-patrocinio","categorias-blog-spokesperson"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Article by the AEB spokesperson in Expansi\u00f3n: Merchants and Bankers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Full article published by Gonzalo Vi\u00f1uales (Rey Juan Carlos University) and Jos\u00e9 Luis Mart\u00ednez Campuzano (AEB spokesperson) in Expansi\u00f3n.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/actualidad\/te-interesa\/aeb-informa\/merchants-and-bankers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Article by the AEB spokesperson in Expansi\u00f3n: Merchants and Bankers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Full article published by Gonzalo Vi\u00f1uales (Rey Juan Carlos University) and Jos\u00e9 Luis Mart\u00ednez Campuzano (AEB spokesperson) in Expansi\u00f3n.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/actualidad\/te-interesa\/aeb-informa\/merchants-and-bankers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Asociaci\u00f3n Espa\u00f1ola de Banca\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-09T07:46:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@aebanca\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aebanca.es\\\/en\\\/actualidad\\\/te-interesa\\\/aeb-informa\\\/merchants-and-bankers\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aebanca.es\\\/en\\\/actualidad\\\/te-interesa\\\/aeb-informa\\\/merchants-and-bankers\\\/\",\"name\":\"Article by the AEB spokesperson in Expansi\u00f3n: Merchants and Bankers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aebanca.es\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-04T22:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-09T07:46:46+00:00\",\"description\":\"Full article published by Gonzalo Vi\u00f1uales (Rey Juan Carlos University) and Jos\u00e9 Luis Mart\u00ednez Campuzano (AEB spokesperson) in Expansi\u00f3n.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aebanca.es\\\/en\\\/actualidad\\\/te-interesa\\\/aeb-informa\\\/merchants-and-bankers\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/aebanca.es\\\/en\\\/actualidad\\\/te-interesa\\\/aeb-informa\\\/merchants-and-bankers\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aebanca.es\\\/en\\\/actualidad\\\/te-interesa\\\/aeb-informa\\\/merchants-and-bankers\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aebanca.es\\\/en\\\/home\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"AEB Informs\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aebanca.es\\\/en\\\/actualidad\\\/te-interesa\\\/aeb-informa\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Merchants and Bankers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aebanca.es\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aebanca.es\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"AEB\",\"description\":\"Asociaci\u00f3n Espa\u00f1ola de Banca\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aebanca.es\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aebanca.es\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aebanca.es\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"AEB\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aebanca.es\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aebanca.es\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aebanca.es\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/LOGO-AEB-menu.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aebanca.es\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/LOGO-AEB-menu.svg\",\"width\":57,\"height\":22,\"caption\":\"AEB\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aebanca.es\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/aebanca\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Article by the AEB spokesperson in Expansi\u00f3n: Merchants and Bankers","description":"Full article published by Gonzalo Vi\u00f1uales (Rey Juan Carlos University) and Jos\u00e9 Luis Mart\u00ednez Campuzano (AEB spokesperson) in Expansi\u00f3n.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/actualidad\/te-interesa\/aeb-informa\/merchants-and-bankers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Article by the AEB spokesperson in Expansi\u00f3n: Merchants and Bankers","og_description":"Full article published by Gonzalo Vi\u00f1uales (Rey Juan Carlos University) and Jos\u00e9 Luis Mart\u00ednez Campuzano (AEB spokesperson) in Expansi\u00f3n.","og_url":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/actualidad\/te-interesa\/aeb-informa\/merchants-and-bankers\/","og_site_name":"Asociaci\u00f3n Espa\u00f1ola de Banca","article_modified_time":"2026-04-09T07:46:46+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@aebanca","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/actualidad\/te-interesa\/aeb-informa\/merchants-and-bankers\/","url":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/actualidad\/te-interesa\/aeb-informa\/merchants-and-bankers\/","name":"Article by the AEB spokesperson in Expansi\u00f3n: Merchants and Bankers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-04-04T22:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-09T07:46:46+00:00","description":"Full article published by Gonzalo Vi\u00f1uales (Rey Juan Carlos University) and Jos\u00e9 Luis Mart\u00ednez Campuzano (AEB spokesperson) in Expansi\u00f3n.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/actualidad\/te-interesa\/aeb-informa\/merchants-and-bankers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/actualidad\/te-interesa\/aeb-informa\/merchants-and-bankers\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/actualidad\/te-interesa\/aeb-informa\/merchants-and-bankers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"AEB Informs","item":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/actualidad\/te-interesa\/aeb-informa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Merchants and Bankers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/","name":"AEB","description":"Asociaci\u00f3n Espa\u00f1ola de Banca","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/#organization","name":"AEB","url":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LOGO-AEB-menu.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LOGO-AEB-menu.svg","width":57,"height":22,"caption":"AEB"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/aebanca"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog-aeb\/35907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog-aeb"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog-aeb"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"etiquetas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/etiquetas?post=35907"},{"taxonomy":"categorias-blog","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aebanca.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categorias-blog?post=35907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}