ABSTRACT
The colonisation and urbanisation of the southern coastal region of the Baltic Sea involved the reintegration of this area into the European economic system and the transfer of credit forms and institutions known in Europe. Based on the analysis of entries in preserved city books, both published and those available only in manuscripts, the chapter discusses monetary credit markets in selected cities. The analysis covers the social structure of market participants and economic indicators: turnover, interest rate and value structure of credit transactions in selected Baltic cities. These indicators have been used to discuss the conditions of the economic situation and the location of the cities with regard to economy in the late Middle Ages. In the final part, credit markets in the examined cities are compared to the situation on the markets of Western European cities, pointing to the most important differences – wider social range and greater credit availability, lower interest rates.
