Imprisonment for debt was a common sanction in the early modern period. Through the learned legal institute of the cessio bonorum, or its customary legal alternatives, insolvent debtors could avoid the shame of prison. Nevertheless, in order to discourage irresponsible administration of one's...

"Based on consilia and decisiones, Wouter Druwé studies the multinormative framework on loans and credit in the Golden Ages of Antwerp and Amsterdam (c. 1500-1680). He analyzes the use of a wide variety of legal financial techniques in the Low Countries, such as money lending and the taking of...