An Attempt at Modernizing the Use of Assets in Italian Nation Building.: The Boncompagni Ludovisi Family (1841-1896)

• Autores: Stefano Palermo
• Localización: Journal of European Economic History, ISSN 0391-5115, Vol. 43, Nº. 1, 2014, págs. 125-153
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This contribution attempts to analyze some of the features connected with the aid the great private assets gave to the Italian nation building process during the first post-Unity decades. The most recent historiography puts under the limelight how, between 1861 and 1893, from Italian Unification until the “end of the century crisis” the building process for a new national credit market, as well as for a new banking and financial system, themselves able to support the manifold industrialization process then active in the country, were aided by greater private assets, namely those held by noble families. Such a contribution was by no means a linear one; rather it was very articulated and changed significantly with each specific case, following both innovative strategies and enhanced preservation of assets.

    In order to single out a possible case study, my contribution intends to analyze the management evolution and investment strategies of the assets of the Boncompagni-Ludovisi family between 1841 – before Italian Unification and 1896 – i.e., until the “end of the century crisis”. Such a viewpoint appears particularly meaningful, not only because it concerns some of the most significant assets of the time – with strong roots in the area around Rome and a good presence in other regions- but also because, between 1883 and 1896, this family began, making good use of its contacts in the changing real estate market, began to modernize the use and the distribution of their assets. However, such an action was bound to clash both with the “weight of tradition” within the family and with the fall of the financial and banking system