Ordinances of the Exchange Table of Barcelona

Date: 1439 - 1472

Archive: Municipal Archive of Barcelona

Document type: Textual

Reference code: CAT-AHCB-AHCB1-002-1G-75

Link to the online document

Description: The Taula de Canvi de Barcelona, created in 1401, is considered the first public bank in Europe. It was dedicated to centralizing municipal income and payments and to receiving deposits, also from individuals, which allowed censuses to be displayed and therefore reduce the municipal public debt, in addition to providing credit to the city. There are no precedents at European level for a public bank of these characteristics. There is only, in Venice, the Monte Vecchio of the twelfth century, which was limited to administering the municipal revenues, while the Banco di San Giorgio in Genoa is from 1409.
The Exchange Table, with substantial changes throughout its history, existed for more than 450 years, until 1868. Its collection is made up of 934 volumes grouped into 34 series. It must be said that, with the exception of the first volumes of the 15th century, the documentation of the 15th centuries and much of the 16th were lost with the Espartero bombardment of the city in 1842.
The first ordinances of the Table of Exchange in Barcelona have not been preserved, but we do have several versions from the mid-15th century, in which various indications are given about the administration and regimentation of the table.

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