Business Failure and Civil Scandal in Early Modern Europe

The failure of one of the most prominent German merchant-banking houses of the early sixteenth century, Ambrosius and Hanns, the Brothers Höchstetter, and Associates, serves as the point of departure for an exploration of why early modern merchants failed and what the consequences of failure were. This single example illuminates a variety of issues: state engagement in commerce and finance; legal development of bankruptcy procedures; economic strategies against failure and scandal. It reveals the limits of modern economic theories of economic crisis and development.