The aristocracy and their use of commercial credit are seldom explored in the European comparative context despite important studies of the French aristocracy and their credit relations with shopkeepers, tradesmen and fashion merchants. This article studies the aristocracy and commercial credit in England, Germany and Sweden, by drawing on the normative literature and the account books, receipted bills, correspondence and diaries of several families occupying different echelons of the nobility. We examine the extent and nature of aristocratic engagement with shop credit, the ways in which they manipulated and managed this credit, and their motivations for doing so. We argue that the aristocracy was involved in a modern commercial credit economy and that this was central to their position in society and way of life. Our analysis of the ideals communicated through conduct books and parental advice and the actual credit practices of the aristocracy show that they took their credit arrangements seriously. They had to abide by the rules of commercial credit and settle their accounts: sometimes promptly, most often in a timely manner and only occasionally after considerable delay. The article offers a comparative framework for further and broader studies on the aristocracy within economic history.

中文翻译：

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值得称赞的是：欧洲的贵族和商业信用，c.1750–1820

尽管对法国贵族及其与店主、商人和时装商人的信用关系进行了重要研究，但在欧洲比较背景下很少探讨贵族及其对商业信贷的使用。本文利用规范性文献和不同贵族阶层的几个家庭的账簿、收据、信件和日记，研究了英国、德国和瑞典的贵族制度和商业信用。我们研究了贵族参与商店信贷的程度和性质、他们操纵和管理这种信贷的方式以及他们这样做的动机。我们认为，贵族参与了现代商业信用经济，这对于他们的社会地位和生活方式至关重要。我们对通过行为手册和父母建议传达的理想以及贵族的实际信贷实践进行的分析表明，他们认真对待自己的信贷安排。他们必须遵守商业信用规则并结算账目：有时是迅速的，大多数时候是及时的，只是偶尔会在相当长的延迟后进行。本文为进一步更广泛地研究经济史上的贵族提供了一个比较框架。