The Taula de Canvi of Barcelona: success and troubles of a public bank in the fifteenth century

ABSTRACT The fifteenth century witnessed the birth of the first European public banks, amongst them, the Taula de Canvi of Barcelona, founded in 1401. Its almost immediate success is undeniable: the Taula soon had many and powerful clients, and the deposits made in it grew steadily. But some decades later, Barcelona was shattered by the outbreak of the Catalan Civil War (1462–1472), which had a great impact on the Taula. This paper focuses on the analysis of this crisis, as well as on how the city council of Barcelona dealt with the problems of its bank during this period of unrest, which ultimately led to the strengthening of the Taula.