The use of perpetual annuities in rural Brabant in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries

This article analyzes the use of perpetual annuities in the duchy of Brabant. Data concerning the seigneurie of Kruikenburg near Brussels, for the period between 1405 and 1553 are being compared to existing case studies on other parts of Brabant. Our study shows that the land- and credit market was already well established around 1400 in all parts of Brabant. During the fifteenth- and the first half of the sixteenth century, the activity increased quite strongly. In all areas we can identify a strong local upper class, consisting of a small number of inter-related families. They were active as buyers and sellers of land and of annuities on a large scale. In the surroundings of Antwerp and Brussels, the closeness of a big urban center had a strong impact on the credit market. Urban elites were active on the rural land market. The effects of the credit market on the local property relations differed clearly between the between the different areas. While in the Antwerp and Brussels areas the sixteenth century was characterized by an increasing concentration of landed property, the more remote Campine area rather maintained its egalitarian character