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In this essay, the focus is on images of merchants from the upper echelons of the business world, who constituted an economic elite in large commercial and financial centres. A long-term perspective is preferred, because both fundamental changes in religious-moral values and economic transformations merit consideration. The area of research comprises Northern Italy, the Low Countries, and Southern Germany, because various cities there offered unprecedented opportunities for enrichment between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries, while they also revealed striking social, political, and cultural differences. Printed sources have been consulted on the Low Countries and (somewhat less extensively) on the German situation, while the existing literature has served as the main source for Northern Italy. Comparing attitudes towards great merchants in three highly urbanized and economically dynamic areas reveals that the development was by no means linear: praise and disapproval of businessmen varied both chronologically and geographically. It is also clear that commercial or financial activities did not in themselves give rise to positive or negative comments. Non-economic factors always came into play, especially the ideological context, the nature of the social relations, and the political balance of power.
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