ABSTRACT Women’s abilities to participate in capital markets are widely considered a crucial aspect of their economic opportunities. Yet female involvement in (private) capital markets has received scarce attention in studies of medieval finance. This article explores the position of women in late medieval capital markets through a study of the Low Countries. By comparing two cities with opposite economic trajectories during the fifteenth century (Antwerp and Leuven), it interrogates how different economic conditions affected gender inequality in capital markets, and how women’s involvement was influenced by marital status. Quantitative analysis of the registers of aldermen – which contain economic contracts of all sorts – shows that, regardless of the city’s economic conditions, women’s share in the capital market was relatively modest and comparable to that in other European regions. However, the characteristics of women’s participation in Antwerp’s booming commercial economy differed from patterns that have been conventionally described by historiography. The article shows that as investors Antwerp women held a comparable position to men and highlights the importance of never-married women as creditors. It concludes that differing economic structures and conditions in adjacent cities affected women’s position in capital markets, with important implications for interregional comparisons of women’s economic opportunities across (medieval) Europe.

中文翻译：

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机会受限：中世纪晚期布拉班特妇女参与资本市场

摘要 妇女参与资本市场的能力被广泛认为是她们经济机会的一个重要方面。然而，女性参与（私人）资本市场在中世纪金融研究中很少受到关注。本文通过对低地国家的研究，探讨女性在中世纪晚期资本市场中的地位。通过比较 15 世纪经济轨迹相反的两个城市（安特卫普和鲁汶），它探讨了不同的经济条件如何影响资本市场中的性别不平等，以及妇女的参与如何受到婚姻状况的影响。对包含各种经济合同的市议员登记册的定量分析表明，无论城市的经济状况如何，女性在资本市场中的份额相对较小，与其他欧洲地区相当。然而，女性参与安特卫普蓬勃发展的商业经济的特征与史学通常描述的模式不同。文章表明，作为投资者，安特卫普女性的地位与男性相当，并强调了未婚女性作为债权人的重要性。它得出的结论是，相邻城市不同的经济结构和条件影响了女性在资本市场中的地位，对整个（中世纪）欧洲女性经济机会的区域间比较具有重要意义。妇女参与安特卫普蓬勃发展的商业经济的特征与史学通常描述的模式不同。文章表明，作为投资者，安特卫普女性的地位与男性相当，并强调了未婚女性作为债权人的重要性。它得出的结论是，相邻城市不同的经济结构和条件影响了女性在资本市场中的地位，对整个（中世纪）欧洲女性经济机会的区域间比较具有重要意义。妇女参与安特卫普蓬勃发展的商业经济的特征与史学通常描述的模式不同。文章表明，作为投资者，安特卫普女性的地位与男性相当，并强调了未婚女性作为债权人的重要性。它得出的结论是，相邻城市不同的经济结构和条件影响了女性在资本市场中的地位，对整个（中世纪）欧洲女性经济机会的区域间比较具有重要意义。