Bankruptcy in the Kingdom of Naples: The case of public banks (17th - 18th centuries)

The study of the Neapolitan public banks takes on great importance in understanding the economic and political life in the Kingdom of Naples. For over two centuries, the financial functioning of society hinged on the banks and their existence; and the bank's organizations and operations touched more than one part of social life, affecting economic activities and influencing individual lives by conditioning their investments. The close economic-monetary relationship linking the public banks to the vice-royal court helped these institutions to maintain a pre-eminent role in the economy of the kingdom for over two centuries. However, it did not save the banks from suffering the consequences of ill-devised monetary policies enacted by the government. However, because of the important role played by the banks in the economy of the kingdom, these bankruptcies were dealt with in such a way as to avoid the definitive closure of the banks. However, the reasons for the birth and expansion of the Neapolitan banks are closely connected to the causes that led to the bankruptcies of the private banking houses, which had monopolized Neapolitan banking business since the time of the Norman domination. The bibliography on the bankruptcies that first led to the founding of the public banks and later involved them is outdated. This paper, based mainly on this bibliography, aims at underscoring the need to study more in detail the various historical periods influenced by these bankruptcies. Studying the causes, characteristics, dynamics and solutions using documentary evidence of the time would provide a more complete picture of the economic history of the Kingdom, which had a pivotal role until the unification of Italy and then marginalized as a "subordinate province".