Holders of bonds and the percentage of the bonds in Murcia (1544-1680)

One of the forms of financing that the Hispanic monarchy had were the juros. The juros, or debt securities, consisted of private economic disbursements to the monarchy in order to obtain, in the medium and long term, returns from the royal institution. A predecessor of the current system of issuing public debt, it was the system used in Castile. The resource deals with the typology of holders of juros and their percentage amount as a group with respect to the total. We look at Murcia between 1544 and 1680, a period in which the number of juros rose from 20 to 133 (from 3,266,459 to 14,011,285 maravedíes). The growth of the Empire was accompanied by an increase in the issue of juros. Who were the holders? In all these years, merchants and businessmen were the main purchasers. Without belonging to the privileged classes, these wealthy men owned more than 80% of the land in 1544; the rest belonged to the nobility. As the century and the turn of the century progressed, more bonds were issued, with other institutions, such as the church, acquiring part of them. Thus, from 1560 onwards, the ecclesiastical organisation began to own juros in Murcia, although its share did not exceed 10% until the end of the 16th century, falling at the beginning of the 17th century and reaching its highest percentage of the total in 1680.

Collection: Graphics

Project: 2. Social and economic impact of technological revolutions in Europe., 5. Power and powers in the history of Europe: oligarchies, political participation and democracy.

Chronology: XVI, XVII

Scope: Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, University

Link: https://revistas.usal.es/index.php/Studia_Historica/article/view/8210/8213

Resource type: Graph

Format: Line chart

Source: Álvarez Nogal, C. (2010). "La demanda de juros en Castilla durante la Edad Moderna: los juros de alcabalas de Murcia", en Studia Historica, vol. 32, p. 74.

Language: Spanish

Date: 2010

Owner: Pablo Ballesta Fernández (Modernalia)

Abstract: Graph showing the typology of juros holders: private individuals, church, nobility and other institutions. The importance of the juros as a source of long-term financing for the monarchy

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