Since its invention in Italy in the fourteenth century, marine insurance has provided merchants with capital protection in times of crisis, thus oiling the gears of trade and commerce. With a focus on customs, laws, and organisational structures, this book reveals the Italian origins of marine insurance, and tracks the spread of underwriting practices and institutions in Europe and America through the early modern era. With contributions from eleven leading researchers from seven countries, the book examines key institutional developments in the history of marine insurance. The authors discuss its invention in Italy, and its evolution from private to corporate structures, assessing the causes and impacts of various state interventions. Amsterdam and Antwerp are analysed as one-time key centres of underwriting, as is the emergence and maturity of marine insurance in London. The book evaluates an experiment in corporate underwriting in Cadiz, and the development of insurance institutions in the United States, before applying the metrics of underwriting to discuss commerce raiding in the Atlantic up to the nineteenth century.

List of figures and tablesAbbreviationsNotes on the contributors1. Introduction: the nature and study of marine insurance: A. B. Leonard2. Genoa 1340-1620: early development of marine insurance: Luisa Piccinno3. Italy 1600-1800: cooperation and competition: Andrea Addobbati4. Antwerp 1490-1590: risk transfer or financial investment?: Dave De ruysscher5. Amsterdam 1585-1750: emergence, dominance, and decline: Sabine C.P.J. Go6. England 1523-1601: the beginnings of marine insurance: Guido Rossi7. London 1426-1601: Marine insurance and the Law Merchant: A.B. Leonard8: England 1660-1720: Corporate or individual underwriting?: Anastasia Bogatyreva9. America 1720-1820: war and organisation: Christopher Kingston10. Cadiz 1780-1808: a corporate experiment: Jeremy Baskes11. Britain and America 1650-1850: harmonising government and commerce: Guy Chet12. Afterword: Peter SpuffordBibliography of insurance historyIndex