Law Commons^™

Designing The Limits Of Creditworthiness. Insolvency In Antwerp Bankruptcy Legislation And Practice (16th-17th Centuries), Dave De Ruysscher

Dave De ruysscher

In 1516 and 1518, the Antwerp City Council introduced a collective system of debt recovery, which was partly derived from academic doctrine and which broke with the tradition of priority for the first seizing claimant. The new views were inserted into a legal framework that was based on the concept of publicly known insolvency. Because of the vague legal definitions in the 1582 and 1608 Antwerp law compilations, the position of pursuing creditors was strengthened. Although these rules weren't successful, they demonstrate an early intention to draw the line between criminal bankruptcy, persisting insolvency and temporary payment problems.