Plagues, wars, political change, and fiscal capacity

Late medieval and Renaissance Siena, 1337-1556

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3254941
AutoresMattia Fochesato (0000-0002-9915-4696, Dondena Centre Bocconi University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2021
Volumen74
Número4
Páginas1031-1061
Fecha de publicación2021-11-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Economic History Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0013-0117 • E-ISSN: 1468-0289
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/ehr.13069
OpenAlexW3155906418
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas37

After the 1348 Black Death, the Republic of Siena went through a period of recurrent plagues, military threats, and famines. During this phase the city moved from the oligarchic system to a coalition formed by the participation of social groups previously excluded from politics, an institutional path almost unique among contemporary Italian states. Did the city maintain its fiscal capacity, and, if so, how? These questions are addressed using a quantitative analysis of a new dataset compiled from the fiscal archives of the city of Siena, which shows two main results. First, despite the increasing external threats, the coalitions were able to maintain fiscal capacity until the second half of the fifteenth century. Second, they did so by adopting progressive fiscal instruments that allowed the city to raise the resources needed to deal with increasing fiscal pressure. However, these instruments ultimately linked the fiscal capacity of Siena to the economic trends of northern and central Italy. When in the second half of the fifteenth century the region entered into an economic downturn, the fiscal capacity of Siena plummeted and the city lost its independence

Ancient history · Economic history · Economics · Economy · Fifteenth · Fiscal capacity · Fiscal policy · Geography · Independence (probability theory) · Political science · Politics · Recession · The Renaissance · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Historical Economic and Social Studies · History · Law · Medieval and Early Modern Justice