What Happened to Tuscan Capital Investment in Sixteenth-Century Naples? An Unsolved Problem in the History of Early Capitalism

Abstract

This essay identifies a problem whose solution would greatly enhance ouru nderstanding of the developing capitalist system in early modern Europe (XIV-XVIII centuries). The problem revolves around the near disappearance of Tuscan entrepreneurs and Tuscan capital investment from the Kingdom of Naples at the very time when Genoese merchant-bankers were thriving there, as in Spain and other Spanish possessions. This essay documents the decline in Tuscan investments and entrepreneurial activities in Naples and examines some possible explanations for it as it calls for new research on the topic.