The mortgage market in early modern Bodegraven, c. 1670-1780. Characteristics, developments, consequences.

Abstract

In the credit-based economy of the early modern period Dutch farmers used the financial institution of the mortgage market to acquire external financing for capital expenditures, such as land purchase. The mortgage market was supported by political and legal institutions for protection of property rights and the mandatory registration of real-estate transactions. In this thesis the rural mortgage market of the village of Bodegraven and its polders in the east of the province of Holland is investigated , in the period between 1670 and 1780, based on a detailed analysis of archival transaction data sets. The thesis addresses the composition of the mortgage market and its relationship with the real-estate market. Additionally it analyses the influence of external events, notably the impact of warfare and cattle plague, on these markets. Farmers in the Bodegraven region were able to utilize the mortgage market to cope with the effects of warfare and to expand their landed property over the course of the period.