ABSTRACT
The power and reputation of the rulers, they declared, were very closely bound up with their financial policies. It was incumbent upon the princes to obtain money and to keep it in their countries, since finances were the nerves of the State. The financial system itself, moreover, had in the transitional period not yet completely lost its medieval semi-private character, with natural economy as its basis, just as the dualistic, feudal structure of the State had not yet entirely disappeared. The financial aids of the great statesmen also lent support to this conception. It is very difficult to determine whether the various titles that were bestowed on Court Jews — Court Factor, War Factor, Cabinet Factor, Commercial Factor, Financial Agent, Court Agent, Resident—corresponded to different services which they rendered the Court.
