Remarks on Hereditary Leases and Annuity Markets in the Late Middle Ages

Abstract

This paper discusses the uses and functions of hereditary leases (roughly speaking: copyhold possession of urban real estate whereby a personal dependency of the lessee to the lessor was established), especially in Strasbourg and Wurzburg. It also examines the annuity markets (annuities are defined as hypothecary credit based on freehold urban real estate, without any personal bonds between the seller and the buyer) of several cities of the German Hanse, particularly Hamburg, in the Late Middle Ages. At the same time, it attempts to refute G. Signori’s critique of the basic premises of an extended research project on these annuity markets initiated by R. Sprandel in the late 1960s. The paper emphasizes the legal basis of annuities (freehold possession of land), the streamlined formalities of buying and selling annuities, and the sheer number of annuity contracts in Hamburg and other Hanse cities. This means they can be regarded as both true commercial credit instruments and as reliable indicators of economic cycles.