"...but no heir came forward to redeem the pledge." Strategies of risk management in Jewish credit transactions from late medieval Austria

Medieval Jewish moneylenders had to factor in a number of risks in their credit transactions. One of the most common risk factors was the death of a debtor, which is reflected in a considerable number of preserved court documents from the Habsburg territories. Therefore, both creditors and debtors tried to safeguard themselves and their heirs against possible conflicts and financial losses by developing strategies of risk reduction that will be analyzed in this paper. In order to provide a framework for this analysis, sources on Jewish loans will be presented in the broader context of general business practices in late medieval Austria.