the world of private banking
the world of private banking
the world of private banking
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PROtEStANt bANKING 245<br />
Restoration became <strong>the</strong> most important creditor <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> French cotton industry.<br />
But more and more during <strong>the</strong> nineteenth century <strong>the</strong> Protestant bankers in France<br />
became a real banker minority, because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rise <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r French <strong>private</strong> banks<br />
on <strong>the</strong> one hand and <strong>of</strong> that <strong>of</strong> Jewish banks, particularly <strong>the</strong> Rothschilds, on <strong>the</strong><br />
o<strong>the</strong>r 29 .<br />
A ra<strong>the</strong>r similar evolution can be observed at Vienna, where <strong>the</strong> Swiss<br />
Protestant <strong>private</strong> bankers, such as ‘Melchior Steiner & Neffe’, ‘Geymuller &<br />
Co.’ and ‘Fries & Co.’ toge<strong>the</strong>r with ‘Arnstein & Eskeles’ dominated <strong>banking</strong> life<br />
until <strong>the</strong> 1820s. But as already mentioned, Fries and Geymuller announced <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
bankruptcy in 1826 and 1841, while ‘Arnstein & Eskeles“, ‘Simon G. Sina’ and<br />
Rothschild advanced after 1830 to become <strong>the</strong> most powerful banks <strong>of</strong> Vienna. In<br />
<strong>the</strong> Italian towns, where Protestant <strong>private</strong> bankers were active discreetly and as a<br />
minority from <strong>the</strong> late seventeenth and during <strong>the</strong> eighteenth century, e.g. <strong>the</strong> De la<br />
Rüe at Genoa, <strong>the</strong>y remained on this level during <strong>the</strong> nineteenth century too. 30<br />
Main Characteristics <strong>of</strong> Protestant Banking in Early Modern Times and <strong>the</strong><br />
Early Nineteenth Century<br />
Upon reflection one may say that Protestant Banking was <strong>the</strong> business <strong>of</strong> a social<br />
group acting with a complex combination <strong>of</strong> trading, financial and <strong>banking</strong> activities<br />
in non-Protestant countries. In Protestant countries, <strong>the</strong>y were <strong>of</strong> course part <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> dominant majority. But what exactly differentiated <strong>the</strong>m from <strong>the</strong>ir Catholic<br />
contemporaries? Their distinguishing feature is that <strong>the</strong>y must be considered as<br />
a typical minority phenomenon, <strong>of</strong> a convinced religious minority in Catholic<br />
countries. One also may include among <strong>the</strong>m <strong>the</strong> former Protestants who became<br />
‘new Catholics’ by <strong>the</strong> opportunity <strong>of</strong> ‘conversion’, remaining in most cases in<br />
<strong>the</strong> circle <strong>of</strong> international Protestant trade, finance and <strong>banking</strong>. It might be that<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir particular role in history was to have been sometimes <strong>the</strong> dominant bankers<br />
in Catholic countries, inasmuch as historical research does not demonstrate <strong>the</strong><br />
analogy for Catholic Banking in Protestant countries.<br />
With regard to <strong>the</strong> Internationale Huguenote explored by Herbert Lüthy, one<br />
must point out that <strong>the</strong> international network <strong>of</strong> Protestant Banking is far older and<br />
more widespread than that, because it linked up with that <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> traditional Swiss<br />
and German Protestant bankers in <strong>the</strong> sixteenth century. Even in <strong>the</strong> eighteenth<br />
century Austria knew foreign Swiss and German Protestant bankers who did<br />
not descend from French Huguenots. That is <strong>the</strong> reason why we suggest using<br />
<strong>the</strong> term Internationale Huguenote only in a restrictive way for <strong>the</strong> connections<br />
29<br />
Lévy-Leboyer, Les banques européennes (1964), p. 191; Lévy-Leboyer, Les<br />
banques européennes (1976). Großkreuz, Privatkapital, H. Van der Wee (ed.), La banque<br />
en occident (Gent, 1991), pp. 281–98; H. Pohl (ed.), Europäische Bankengeschichte<br />
(Frankfurt a.M., 1993), pp. 196–202.<br />
30<br />
Aubert, Les De la Rüe.