Los dueños del dinero. Prestamistas abulenses a mediados del siglo XV

The objective of this paper is to reconstruct the socio-economic profile of money-lenders in Ávila which appear in the books of the public notary, Gómez González, between 1448 and 1451. From this source, it is possible to identify close to seven hundred credit records, of which more than half belong to a small group of lenders. Furthermore, these creditors also appear taking part in many additional economic activities. First, we present a comprehensive examination of these loans, their chronological distribution, the monetary quantities and the general features of the lenders and the borrowers. Secondly, we analyze the activities of the most prominent lenders using supplementary documents from Ávila. Finally and based on this collected data, we intend to reconstruct the social profile of this group within late-medieval urban society. El objetivo del presente trabajo es reconstruir el perfil socioeconómico de los prestamistas abulenses que aparecen en el libro del notario Gómez González entre los años 1448 a 1451. Allí consta la existencia de unas setecientas operaciones de préstamo, de las cuales más de la mitad tienen como acreedores a un pequeño número de sujetos. A su vez, los mismos aparecen involucrados en numerosas actividades económicas adicionales. Se realiza en primer lugar una presentación del conjunto de las deudas consignadas, su distribución temporal, sus montos y de las características globales de prestamistas y prestatarios. Luego, se analizan las actividades de los acreedores más prominentes, utilizando para ello documentación complementaria del concejo de Ávila. En base a ello, por último, se intenta una reconstrucción del perfil social de este segmento de la sociedad concejil bajomedieval. The objective of this paper is to reconstruct the socio-economic profile of money-lenders in Ávila which appear in the books of the public notary, Gómez González, between 1448 and 1451. From this source, it is possible to identify close to seven hundred credit records, of which more than half belong to a small group of lenders. Furthermore, these creditors also appear taking part in many additional economic activities. First, we present a comprehensive examination of these loans, their chronological distribution, the monetary quantities and the general features of the lenders and the borrowers. Secondly, we analyze the activities of the most prominent lenders using supplementary documents from Ávila. Finally and based on this collected data, we intend to reconstruct the social profile of this group within late-medieval urban society