Montes de piedad and savings banks as microfinance institutions on the periphery of ther financial system of mid-nineteent-century Barcelona

Abstract

This article departs from the dominant interpretation of montes de piedad as charitable pawnshops, typical of Catholic Europe, by framing the analysis of their activities as microfinance institutions. Fieldwork documents two cases in the industrial city of Barcelona during the mid-nineteenth century. The long established Monte de Piedad de Nuestra Sen¿ ora de la Esperanza de Barcelona (MPB) offered small loans to the most disadvantaged sectors, with more than 70% of its clients being very low-income women. In contrast, the Montepı´o Barcelone´ s covered a broader spectrum, granting larger loans to clients, of whom the majority were working-class men. But during periods of extreme illiquidity, such as the financial and industrial crisis of 1847-48, the Montepı´o Barcelone´s would even support traders and manufacturers. Hence, this article shows how not-for-profit financial institutions, located on the periphery of the new and burgeoning financial system, are able to contribute to mitigating the social costs of industrialisation, through alleviating situations of crisis and adding to the resilience of the financial system as a whole.