Family Firms and Merchant Capitalism in Early Modern Europe

<p>This fascinating study follows the fortunes of the Höchstetter family merchant-manufacturers and financiers of Augsburg Germany in the late-fifteenth and early-sixteenth centuries and sheds light on the economic and social history of failure and resilience in early modern Europe. Carefully tracing the chronology of the family’s rise fall and transformation it moves from the micro- to the macro-level making comparisons with other mercantile families of the time to draw conclusions and suggest insights into such issues as social mobility capitalist organization business techniques market practices and economic institutions. The result is a microhistory that offers macro-conclusions about the lived experience of early capitalism and capitalistic practices.</p><p></p><p>This book will be valuable reading for advanced students and researchers of economic financial and business history legal history and early modern European history.</p>