Le crédit public à Vienne au début du règne de l’empereur Léopold Ier (1657-1679)

Résumé 0

The Austrian historiography has for a long time sustained the thesis of the disastrous situation of the public finances of the Habsburg Monarchy, considering the permanent lack of money as being a weakness of the dynasty. This pessimism was mainly based on the contemporaneous accounts. Actually this impression of “empty cases” which has lived until today concerns more difficulties of the Treasury than a real lack of resources. The imperial house is obliged to a policy of credit, which the many wars of the 18th century make necessary as well as the last campaigns against the Ottoman Empire. The bankers played in this strategy a very modest part, probably because of the structures of the Austrian economy. Thus is the argument of A. F. Pribram partly justified when he refers to the weakness of the Austrian economy to explain the mediocrity of the Court resources. Under exceptional circumstances was the Emperor forced to ask for treasury loans or short term credit. The Viennese or foreign bankers had generally very few confidence in the solvability of the Court and refused to lend money to her. The age of the Jewish bankers had yet to come and the 17th century was dominated by Italian or German finance. The credit was also sometime a way to gain influence in some territories like in Poland, furthermore tried the Emperor to mobilize foreign countries and Austrian local parliaments. Leopold I had to call on to financers or partisans who in turn received some indirect rights and privileges or were granted state monopoles. But the most secure money lenders were before 1680 the aristocrats and some high church prelates, whose wealth and fidelity to the Austrian House enabled to risk important sums to help their sovereign. The risk was actually well balanced for the Court Chamber remained very careful in the search for credit before 1680, thus could the aristocrats benefit on the long run for their charity. On the side of the Court, it served both policies, the debt remained relatively low and the House of Austria attached herself the services of loyal families.