Mortgages

It is possible to get a Mortgage in any period; it is an institution known from the time of the Roman Empire. Only landholders may take out a mortgage. The lender (generally from a large monastery or high-ranking nobleman) gives the borrower a sum of money and the borrower turns his land over to the lender for the stated time. The time limit can be for several years—historically even up to 15. Interest is not charged, but the land value is discounted. The formula is (number of years of the loan) × (average income Thus,could mortgage his £6 manor for a year and get a £4.2 loan, or for ten years and get £42. All income from the land (crops, tolls and other rights, investments, etc.) is applied against the debt. However, mortgaging may not be possible, depending on the terms of the Charter for the land. Nothing that was gifted can be mortgaged. Grants can usually be mortgaged. You cannot make Land Endowments of mortgaged land. You may make grants or gifts of mortgaged land–and the mortgage is now owed by the new landholder! You cannot fail to repay a mortgage, as the lender will have his own steward oversee the land and collect the income for the duration of the mortgage. A knight still gains Annual Glory from his mortgaged lands. Merchant Bankers are large corporations, generally from northern Italy (Genoa, Milan, etc.), who developed banking as a result of their mercantile investments. They do not pawn, but they lend money against collateral. The main difference is that the borrowers can continue to use their collateral until they fail to pay the interest, or to pay it back when the loan is due, whereupon the collateral is seized from them. Appendices Here you will find essays on Borrowing Money and the Money You Never See, as well as a summary of the Complete Landholding System, embedded in the Winter Phase procedure.
They also provide Money changing and Deposit Banking services (see below). Merchant Bankers may also take in money from someone and later return it with a small fee for the use of the cash. This fee is generally about 10% paid to the lender. Thus,This is unknightly.