What is it about?
The paper analyzes the credit activities of the Voskopoja (Moschopolis) guild of tailors on the basis of a new dataset constructed from its credit-lending transactions recorded in a guild register. The dataset was used to understand lending patterns and risk management in the local economy of Voskopoja and compare them with similar practices in other parts of the Ottoman Empire. I found that interest rates were not stable in 1716-27 and that the Voskopoja economy experienced an economic growth in this period. This case-study contributes to our understanding of Ottoman financial institutions, guilds as lending institutions, their business organization, as well as the operations of local credit markets.
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Why is it important?
It helps us understand how cash for raw materials circulated in the Ottoman Balkans at the beginning of the 18th century, i.e. a period before banks and other currently well-known financial institutions were established in the region.
Perspectives
I am fascinated about the ways in which guilds operated as financial institutions in support of their own development, exercising operations that are currently conducted by a variety of financial institutions and how personal networks guaranteed risk management.
Konstantinos Giakoumis
Universiteti Europian i Tiranes
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Voskopoja Guild of Tailors’ Credit Lending Operations and Risk Management (1716–27), Turkish Historical Review, November 2018, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/18775462-00903002.
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