ABSTRACT
By the end of the 14th century, loans secured by guarantee, pledge of movable property, various types of mortgage, loans given against an annuity, commercial credit, and the lease system had all become established as forms of credit in the Kingdom of Hungary. The procedures for credit transactions became fully standardised in the 14th century. They involved written contracts and a specified institution depending on the parties or on the type of collateral. In most cases, loans were given for interest of varying amounts. Lenders included the king, the church, landowners, citizens and towns, and borrowers could also belong to any of these categories. The largest loans were taken out by the monarch (although to a much lesser extent that occurred in and after the 15th century) and by the churches, the latter being required to obtain the pope’s consent for borrowing.
