The Cost of Empire: The Finances of the Kingdom of Naples in the Time of Spanish Rule (Cambridge Studies in Early Modern History)

This is a study of early modern government finance in the kingdom of Naples, one of the most important European dominions of the Spanish Empire. Professor Calabria focuses on the period from the mid-sixteenth century to the time of the Thirty Years' War. He connects fiscal developments to larger issues, such as the seventeenth-century crisis, the decline of Italy and Spain, and the economic and social significance of investments in government securities markets in early modern Europe. The Cost of Empire blends quantitative data on economic, fiscal, and financial affairs with non-quantitative material detailing attitudes, economic behaviour, and administrative practices. The quantitative material includes analyses of government budgets from 1550 to 1638 and a computer study of about 4,500 investors and their investments in state securities in the later sixteenth century. The work is unrivalled in the breadth, comprehensiveness, and sophistication of its analysis of an early modern fiscal system. Frontmatter List of figures (page vi) Acknowledgments (page ix) Abbreviations (page xi) Weights and measures (page xii) Monetary units and exchange rates (page xiii) Introduction (page 1) I The early modern Southern Italian economy (page 9) 2 The fiscal system in early modern Naples (page 37) 3 Government income, 1550-1638 (page 54) 4 Government expense, I550-I638 (page 76) 5 The creation of a securities market in the later sixteenth century (page 104) Conclusion (page 130) Appendix I: The tables (page 133) Appendix II: The sources (page 156) Bibliography (page 167) Index (page 175) Antonio Calabria. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 167-174) And Index.