Merchants' organizations and accounting regulation in eighteenth-century Spain: the ordinances of the Tribunal of Commerce of Bilbao

Abstract

After a century of clear decadence, the enthronement of the French House of Bourbon in the first years of the 18th century marked the beginning of a new period of relative economic prosperity. In the field of trade, the 18th century was characterized by the confirmation and foundation of merchants' organizations in numerous Spanish towns whose governmental license was accompanied in all cases with the granting of a special commercial jurisdiction over merchants' activities in their respective zones. This special jurisdiction was to be exercised, in some cases, by Tribunals of Commerce incorporated into merchants' organizations themselves and, in other cases, by a delegation of the Central Council for Commerce and Money. The granting of this special jurisdiction led merchants' organizations to issue commercial regulations to rule the activities of merchants belonging to their respective zones. All these regulations contain a section devoted to the keeping of account books, composing a formidable collection...