The origins of corporations : the mills of Toulouse in the Middle Ages / Germain Sicard ; translated by Matthew Landry ; edited by William N. Goetzmann.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sicard, Germain, author.

Contributor:

Goetzmann, William N., editor.

Standardized Title:

Origines des sociétés anonymes. English

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Corporations--France--Toulouse--History--14th century.

Corporations.

Flour industry--France--Toulouse--History--14th century.

Flour industry.

Feed industry--France--Toulouse--History--14th century.

Feed industry.

History.

France--Toulouse.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xxix, 486 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, [2015]

Language Note:

Translated from the French.

Summary:

"Germain Sicard proves that Europe's first corporations were fourteenth-century mill companies operating in Toulouse, rather than seventeenth-century English and Dutch trading companies as commonly believed. He shows that the corporate form derives from a unique ownership contract from Medieval Europe called pariage, and a culture of strong property rights and municipal self-governance. Based on archival research, Sicard's 1952 thesis has been translated into English with an introduction that places the work in the context of new institutional economics and legal theory. It is an important contribution to research on the history and legal origins of the corporation"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part I The Mills of Toulouse in Relation to Feudal Rights and Public Power 17

1 The Garonne: Public River or Private Property? 18

2 Mill Concessions at the end of the Twelfth Century 26

3 Mill Concessions and the Common Fief at the End of the Middle Ages 39

4 The Garonne's Water Policy 50

5 Economic Policy 69

Part II The Structure of the Mill companies 81

6 The Original Structure of the Mill Companies 82

7 The Evolution of the First Associations from the Thirteenth to Fourteenth Centuries 102

8 Company Officers at the end of the Middle Ages 119

9 Company Shares at the End of the Middle Ages 146

10 Shareholders and Their Rights at the End of the Middle Ages 166

11 The Mill Companies as Juridical Persons 199

Part III The Toulousain Mill Companies and the Origins of the Corporation 219

12 The Mill Companies and Other For-Profit Organizations at the End of the Middle Ages 220

13 Shareholder Companies in Modern Times 229.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780300156485

0300156480

OCLC:

894310502