The Bishop's City: Lordship, Coinage and the Medieval Urban Economy — conclusion

Conclusion

The bishops of Basel ruled their city from the eleventh century to the late fourteenth century. Holding the rights of coinage, market, toll and justice, they operated a mint whose bracteates and pennies circulated throughout the region. Around their mint, the Hausgenossen formed the first group of financial professionals of the city. Jewish and Lombard lenders provided credit under the protection of the lords, until the massacre of 1349 destroyed the Jewish community. Organised in a council and in guilds, the citizens acquired the bishop's rights one by one, by lending him money against the pledge of those rights and keeping them when he could not repay.

The result was a self-governing city whose citizens controlled its money, its markets and its finances. The Rappen monetary union with Freiburg, Colmar and Breisach extended the city's monetary policy to the region and gave the Swiss franc the German name of its hundredth part. The next chapter examines how the city used the rights it had acquired: how it organised its markets, its guilds and its municipal finances, and how it became one of the first cities in the region to manage a public debt on the annuity market.

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of September 2025.

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