A source collection on urban annuities, 14th-18th centuries

Annuities were an important credit instrument throughout much of Europe during the pre-modern period. Here we present the interest rates on annuities sold by urban authorities across the Holy Roman Empire and Italy from the 14th to 18th centuries. Following an introduction to the sources for urban annuities, the data is organized into three sets: 1. Annual means by market; 2. Raw data by market; 3. City links expressed in currency, silver weights and commodity baskets. This is the largest data set of its kind, representing over 35,000 observations from 103 markets. The data offers exceptional insight into the development of capital markets, networks and urban finance, among other topics, over this period. It is hoped its publication will open new avenues for future research.