Innovazioni finanziarie e servizi alla comunità: il modello napoletano (Secoli XVI-XVII)

Abstract

The Kingdom of Naples represents a model of assistance where, beyond theological dissertations, it was lawful for savings kept in the coffers of charitable and then banking institutions to be considered state-owned, just as the payment of interest was lawful. The studies conducted on community services in the Kingdom of Naples in the ancient regime have underlined, especially for the Capital, the creation of a model that is in many ways different from that created in other regions of Europe and central and northern Italy. This work aims to demonstrate and strengthen this hypothesis by focusing on the relationship between charity
and financial innovations in the pre-welfare era. After a brief outline of the interventions against poverty with reference to the demand and supply of services of the lay charitable institutions in Naples, it will be shown how, in the second half of the sixteenth century, at a time of serious economic difficulties for the kingdom, these same institutions added banking to their wide range of economic activities with the financial innovation of the fede di credito. We will conclude by highlighting the difficulties they had in reconciling charity with banking activity, hence the need to separate the two activities in order not to compromise the life of the institutions and even more so the entire economic-financial and credit system of the Kingdom.