CALL FOR PROPOSALS: International Conference on Risk and Insurance in History (ICRIH) [HOSTING PROPOSALS FOR 2028–2029]

(image source: RKD Research)

The Scientific Committee of the International Conference on Risk and Insurance in History (ICRIH) has issued a call for proposals to organize and host the next edition of the conference in the summer of 2028 or, at the latest, 2029.

Since its inaugural meeting in Seville in 2019, followed by conferences in Basel (2022) and Warsaw (2025), the ICRIH has established itself as a major interdisciplinary forum for scholars working on the historical and long-term dimensions of risk and insurance. Previous editions brought together researchers from across the world and covered topics ranging from marine insurance and maritime law, insurance and the Atlantic slave trade, and micro-insurance, to modern financial instruments and alternative risk transfer mechanisms.

The Scientific Committee invites proposals from institutions interested in hosting the next conference. The selected organizing committee will work closely with the Scientific Committee, which will provide support regarding conference structure, call for papers, keynote speakers, paper evaluation, awards, and fundraising. A dedicated conference website is also being developed by the University of Basel.

The ICRIH welcomes interdisciplinary engagement from fields including economic, business, financial, legal, social, and cultural history, as well as economics, sociology, anthropology, management studies, and legal studies. The conference has also traditionally included participation from professionals in the insurance industry alongside established and early-career researchers.

The Scientific Committee of the ICRIH consists of: Lars Fredrick Andresson (Sweden), Gustavo de Angel (Mexico), Sabine Go (Netherlands), Phillip Hellwege (Germany), Sebastian Kohl (Germany), Jean Kwon (USA), Martin Lengwiler (Switzerland), Jeronia Pons (Spain), and Grietjie Verhoef (South Africa).

Hosting proposals and enquiries should be addressed to: Prof. Robin Pearson, Professor Emeritus of Economic History, University of Hull (UK)

Email: ehsrp70@gmail.com 

The full Call for Proposals is available in PDF format here: Full Call PDF.

BOOK: Jake DYBLE, Managing Maritime Risk in Early Modern Europe (London: Boydell & Brewer, 2025), ISBN 9781837651559 [OPEN ACCESS]

 

(image source: Boydel & Brewer)

Abstract:

Draws on the rich surviving archives of the Tuscan port of Livorno to explore how General Average worked. Commercial seafaring, both dangerous and with large amounts of capital at stake, was the source of the risk-management institutions that still undergird the global economy today. A key institution of early modern risk management was General Average, a procedure used to redistribute extraordinary costs arising from a maritime venture between all financially interested parties. For example, should one merchant's cargo be jettisoned to lighten a ship in a storm, the loss would be shared pro rata by the shipper and all the cargo-owners. A risk-sharing practice, different from the risk-shifting of marine insurance which became established relatively late, General Average is still in widespread use. This book explores how General Average worked. It reveals the gap between General Average in law and how it worked on the ground. It shows how General Average partitioned a wide array of business costs, thereby performing a significant role in structuring maritime commerce, managing risk and promoting shipping and trade. In addition, the book discusses how far General Average was a feature of a supposedly ancient, universal, customary maritime law, and contributes to debates about the evolution of institutions in economic development.

Read the book here. 

CONFERENCE: Sécurité routière, Droit, Assurances, Repères historiques, actualités et perspectives (Paris: Sorbonne, 9 JUN 2024)

 Sécurité routière, Droit, Assurances, Repères historiques, actualités et perspectives,

Journée d’étude organisée par Mathieu Flonneau le 9 juin
pour la chaire Assurance et Société, historicité des savoirs et pratique de l’interdisciplinarité, en partenariat entre l’université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne et France Assureurs,
en Sorbonne, amphithéâtre Bachelard, de 9 h 30 à 18 h.

 9 h 30

Ouverture de la journée par Christine Neau-Leduc, Présidente de l’université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Florence Lustman, Présidente de France Assureurs, Florence Guillaume, Déléguée interministérielle à la sécurité routière, Agnès Roblot-Troizier, Doyenne de l'École de Droit de la Sorbonne.

Sous la présidence de Pierre Bonin, Professeur d'histoire du droit, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, porteur de la chaire Assurances et Sociétés.
Mathieu Flonneau, Enseignant-chercheur en histoire contemporaine, Directeur de l’Institut d’AES, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - Propos introductifs : Routes, automobilismes et mobilités saisis par le Droit. Assurances et sécurité routière, un enjeu pour les sciences sociales et humaines.
Dominique Mignot, Directeur du Département Transport, Santé, Sécurité, Université Gustave Eiffel / Laurent Carnis, Directeur de Recherche, Université Gustave Eiffel - La valorisation socio-économique des blessés de la route.
Stève Bernardin, Enseignant-chercheur en sciences politiques, Université Gustave Eiffel - De la sécurité routière à la santé publique une révolution scientifique, politique et sociale outre-Atlantique.
Marine Molina, Conseillère technique Europe et International auprès de la Déléguée interministérielle à la sécurité routière ; Vice-présidente du Groupe d’experts de la CEE-ONU - Pour l’élaboration d’un nouvel instrument juridique régissant la circulation des véhicules automatisés.
Table-ronde, Enjeux publics : responsabilités et mobilités, avec Anne Lavaud, Déléguée générale de l’Association Prévention Routière, Fabrice Hamelin, Enseignant-chercheur en science politique, Directeur adjoint de l’IEP de Fontainebleau, Lionel Namin, Secrétaire général de la fédération des experts automobiles FFEA, enseignant en droit des assurance, Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas, Dominique Mignot, Directeur du Département Transport, Santé, Sécurité, Université Gustave Eiffel.

14 h 30

Sous la présidence d’Etienne Faugier, Enseignant-chercheur en tourisme, université Lumières Lyon 2
Fabrice Hamelin, Enseignant-chercheur en science politique, Directeur adjoint de l’IEP de Fontainebleau - L’acceptation sociale, une nouvelle norme pour l’action publique de sécurité routière ?.
Julien Vick, Délégué général du syndicat des équipements de la route - Equipements de la route et Sécurité routière, entre réglementation et innovation.
Mathieu Flonneau, Enseignant-chercheur en histoire contemporaine, Directeur de l’Institut d’AES, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - Autour d'En tous sens ! une histoire des équipements de la route et de « Ces morts, ces blessés ces familles meurtries nous interpellent et nous obligent » - Cinquante ans de plaidoyers en faveur de la sécurité routière.
Lionel Namin, Secrétaire général de la Fédération française de l’expertise automobile, enseignant droit des assurance, Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas - Concilier sécurité routière et gestion du sinistre automobile.
Table-ronde, Choc de mobilités : Normes et données, quels avenirs juridiques et assurantiels ?, avec Julien Fursat, AXA Head of Strategy and Sales Enablement, CEO Office - Global Partnerships Laurent Hecquet, Directeur général de l’observatoire Mobilité et prospective, Marine Molina, Conseillère technique Europe et International auprès de la Déléguée interministérielle à la sécurité routière ; Vice-présidente du Groupe d’experts de la CEE-ONU, Nicolas Marescaux, Directeur adjoint Réponses Besoins Sociétaires et Innovation de la MACIF, Stève Bernardin, Enseignant-chercheur en sciences politiques, Université Gustave Eiffel, Julien Vick, Délégué général du syndicat des équipements de la route.
Raymond Dartevelle, Directeur scientifique de la chaire Assurance et Société, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - Conclusions.

Read more here.

SPECIAL ISSUE: Special Issue Risk Management and Jurisdictional Boundaries in Pre-Modern Europe (ed. Maria FUSARO) (Quaderni Storici LVII (2022), nr. 3)

 

(image source: RW)

Maria Fusaro, Introduction. Risk Management and Jurisdictional Boundaries in Pre-Modern Europe (OPEN ACCESS)
DOI 10.1408/108114

Giovanni Ceccarelli, I teologi e l’avaria generale. Linguaggi del rischio tra XIII e XVIII secolo (OPEN ACCESS)
10.1408/108115

Abstract:

By taking into analysis a wide range of scholastic texts, this essay aims at filling a gap in our understanding of how risk was perceived and theorized in pre-modern Europe. Scholarly investigations have so far underlined how intellectuals, while discussing about marine insurance, were able to explore the economic dimensions of risk, including its measurability and profitability. However, we know very little about what they thought about alternatives to insurance and, by focusing on General Average, this study intends to overcome this shortcoming. An extensive survey of scholastic writings from the 13th to the 18th century, shows that theologians had difficulty at considering General Average as worthy of in-depth discussion. Only at the end of the 16th century scholasticism acknowledges the principles currently used in legal literature, without this prompting anything comparable to the discussions on insurance or gambling. Nonetheless, these sources reveal alternative ways to describe sea risks, where the emphasis is not on calculus or profit but on shared responsibility, collective action, and ex-post mitigation

Dave De ruysscher, Shipping, Commerce and the Risk of Jurisdiction. The Scheldt Trade (Sixteenth Century). (OPEN ACCESS)
DOI 10.1408/108116.

Abstract:

This article investigates the rules of jurisdiction that were applied in the case of damages in maritime transport. The focus is on traffic in one of the main riverine estuaries of the Low Countries, over the rivers Honte and Scheldt. In the course of the fifteenth century the governments of the county of Flanders and the duchy of Brabant had come to embrace a more exclusive notion of jurisdiction on rivers, which comprised the idea of precise demarcations. In practice, however, this new approach did not bring about more clarity. Uncertainty as to which forum would hear disputes on riverine shipping accidents marked a risk of trade. Among merchants and shipmasters, choice of jurisdiction was common, which happened after mishaps and was not arranged for contractually. The mentioned uncertainty was addressed with rules of thumb, which steered towards the courts of some locations instead of others. They took the port of destination as criterion, in combination with the residence of the merchant-owners of cargo on board of the ship.

Maria Fusaro, Venetian «Averages» between East and West. Risk Management and Transaction Costs in the Early Modern Mediterranean (OPEN ACCESS)
DOI 10.1408/108117
Abstract:

Between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries, Averages played an important (and neglected) role within Venetian maritime trade and shipping, as they functioned both as risk management tools and as a mechanism for the absorption of transaction costs. The essay will trace these normative developments across the phase of economic growth in the Middle Ages, and analyse how these were structurally transformed in the seventeenth century under the pressure of new maritime operators which contributed to the early modern crisis of the Venetian maritime sector. This touches on several elements of the shifting Venetian economy about which we still know very little: the internal balance of interests between different economic sectors; and within the maritime sector itself – shipowners, merchants, investors; and presents a novel interpretation of the resilience of Venetian maritime working capital well into the eighteenth century.

Jake Dyble,  Lex Mercatoria. Private «Order», and Commercial «Confusion». A View from Seventeenth-Century Livorno (OPEN ACCESS)
DOI 10.1408/108118
Abstract:

This article examines how maritime Averages – legal procedures that were quotidian but multi-centred and potentially complex – were managed in the jurisdictionally crowded Mediterranean. One suggested solution to this difficulty was that procedures were governed by the lex mercatoria, a supposedly universal body of customary merchant law which allowed disputes to be resolved according to a common framework: the debunking of this historical myth demands that legal historians elucidate more clearly how the problem of different maritime customs was resolved in a transnational environment. Evidence from seventeenth-century Livorno suggests that heterogenous maritime Average rules were overcome by mutual recognition of the decisions made in other jurisdictions even when these followed different rules. This was justified with reference to the «disorder» and «confusion» that would otherwise afflict commerce. «Order» here did not mean uniformity and ex-ante certainty of outcomes but rather general expectations that judgements made in other centres would be respected. Attempts by the English and French states to press for consular jurisdiction threatened – mostly unsuccessfully – to disrupt this system. The case buttresses certain lex mercatoria theories only in as far as it demonstrates that early modern state building had the potential to destabilise a functioning international commercial order: yet this order was guaranteed by a legitimating authority that only state-backed institutions could provide.

 Andrea Addobbati, Il romanzo del barattiere. «Prova di mare» e indebolimento della posizione legale del marinaio nel passaggio tra Sette e Ottocento (OPEN ACCESS)
DOI 10.1408/108119
Abstract:

In the second half of the 18th century, the emergence of large insurance companies significantly altered the European market for maritime risks, changing the traditional balance of power between insurers and policyholders. This change had repercussions on the regulatory framework and contractual practices, whose reform began to be perceived as a need that could no longer be postponed. In order to be able to make use of the new calculation- based forecasting tools, it was first necessary to develop and adopt certain legal devices that would reduce information asymmetries and moral hazard, both at the contractual level and at the time of claim settlement. Starting from the close analysis of an emblematic case against a Neapolitan shipowner accused of fraud, the essay clarifies how the evolution of admissible evidence and judicial procedure was shaped by the profound structural transformations of the period.

Read the full special issue (and the book reviews in the journal) here. 

 

 

BOOK: Phillip HELLWEGE & Guido ROSSI (Eds.), Maritime Risk Management Essays on the History of Marine Insurance, General Average and Sea Loan (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 2021). ISBN: 978-3-428-18260-2, pp. 304, available open access

 

(Source: Duncker & Humblot)

ABOUT THE BOOK

Series: Comparative Studies in the History of Insurance Law / Studien zur vergleichenden Geschichte des Versicherungsrechts, Vol. 11

Insurance is a legal, an actuarial and a financial product, and it is one out of many risk management strategies. It follows that its history can only be studied in the broader context of the development of such strategies, applying an interdisciplinary approach. The theme of the present volume is maritime risk management. After an overview over the history of insurance, the contributions to the present volume examine different maritime risk management strategies by adopting a variety of methodological approaches. Some contributions focus on normative provisions, others contrast practice with legal scholarship, or focus on the emergence of insurance companies as opposed to individual insurers. Again, other contributions give insights in marine insurance practice in specific cities or analyse insurance practice through the lens of specific insurance litigation. As to the time frame, the different contributions span from antiquity to the nineteenth century.

ABOUT THE EDITORS

Guido Rossi is Reader in European Legal History at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Phillip Hellwege is Professor of Private Law, Commercial Law, and Legal History at the University of Augsburg, Germany.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface 6

Summary of Contents 8

Maritime Risk Management: Marine Insurance, General Average, Sea Loan 10

A. Introduction 10

I. Insurance as a legal product 10

II. Insurance as an actuarial product 12

III. Insurance as a financial product 13

IV. Insurance as a risk management strategy 14

V. An interdisciplinary approach to studying insurance 14

B. Histories of insurance 15

C. The objective and structure of the present volume 16

Insurance and Wealth: The Historical Trajectory of Changing Markets and Strategies in Insurance 18

A. Introduction 18

B. Identifying risk in society 19

C. Expanding risk and insurance development 22

D. Shifting demand for long-term insurance –the new wealth instruments 25

E. Complex future of risk 33

The Insurance Function of Roman Maritime Loan 36

A. Back to the roots 36

B. Legal nature of maritime loan 40

C. Insurance elements 45

I. Contracting parties 47

II. Insured object 50

III. Risk 52

IV. Premium 55

V. Coverage period 57

VI. Compensation 58

D. Conclusion 59

Maritime Risk Management Instruments in Medieval Castile (Thirteenth to Sixteenth Centuries) 62

A. Risk, damage and contribution in maritime transport 63

B. Maritime trade and royal safeguards 66

C. The development of insurance practice in medieval Castile 68

I. Bottomry 68

II. Premium insurance 70

D. Maritime insurance in the consulate ordinances 73

I. The model policy of Burgos 73

II. The Ordinances of Bilbao 74

III. The Ordinances of Burgos 76

IV. The Ordinances of Bruges 77

E. Conclusion 81

Managing Shipping Risk: General Average and Marine Insurance in Early Modern Genoa 84

A. Insurance and general average in Genoa’s regulations: two parallel approaches to shipping risk management 84

B. The need for consistent regulations and the 1589 Civil Statutes 89

C. Routes and navigation risks: the general average claim reports 94

D. Routes and navigation hazards: policies of Sigortá Marittima 102

E. Conclusion 110

General Average in Scotland during the Sixteenth Century 112

A. Scotting and lotting in the practice of maritime communities 113

B. Marrying practice with theory in books composed by lawyers 122

C. Reconfiguring maritime practice in the courts of the admiral 130

The Ordonnance sur la marine on General Average. Comparative Methods, Legal Transplants, and a European droit commun 140

A. Introduction 140

B. The Ordonnance sur la marine of 1681 on general average 142

I. Distinguishing avaries, avaries simples et particulières, avaries grosses et communes, and menues avaries 142

II. Avaries simples et particulières and avaries grosses et communes: similarities and differences 145

III. Details on the procedure of contribution under avaries grosses et communes 149

C. Comparative methods, legal transplants, anda European droit commun 150

I. The Ordonnace sur la marine of 1681 andthe European droit commun on maritime law 151

II. A comparative interpretation 154

III. Adaptations and innovations 156

IV. From droit commun to a nationalized maritime law 158

D. Conclusion 161

War, Risks, and Speculation: The Accounts of a Small Livorno Insurer (1743–1748) 162

A. The firm 162

B. Facing the insurance market 165

C. The dangers of an open market 169

D. Navigating without a compass 173

E. Boasi’s insurance accounts 176

F. The interest or not interest clause and the Bubble of 1747 181

G. Conclusion: from individuals to companies 185

The Transformation of the Marine Insurance Market in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries in Spain 190

A. From individual insurers to a system of specialised insurance companies in the seventeenth century 194

B. The predominance of insurance companies in Spanish trading ports in the eighteenth century 200

C. Conclusions 207

Commercial Networks, Maritime Law, and Translation in a Spanish Insurance Claim on Trial in France, 1783–1791 210

A. Commercial choices in a multicentric Atlantic world 214

I. Surviving monopoly: the Basque presence on the Venezuelan coast 215

II. A Cádiz-Marseille financial axis 217

III. Underwriting Atlantic risks from the Mediterranean 220

B. Contract enforcement in a foreign legal foru 224

I. Facts and factums 225

II. Starting the pursuit in two ports 227

III. Rules of engagement in the Admiralty’s eighteenth-century courtroom 228

IV. Timing, evidence, depreciation 231

V. Absurd geographies 239

VI. Expectations halfway met 242

C. Conclusions 244

Governance of General Average in the Netherlands in the Nineteenth Century: A Backward Development? 248

A. Introduction 248

B. The background and mechanisms of general average in the Low Countries 253

C. General average adjustment in Amsterdam in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 255

D. The governance of general average in the nineteenth century 259

E. Conclusion 262

Unions and Networks in Nineteenth-Century Antwerp Marine Insurance Industry 266

A. Introduction 266

B. Antwerp as a center of commerce in the nineteenth century 270

I. The Antwerp marine insurance policy of 1824 273

II. Presentation of the Antwerp marine insurance corporations 276

C. Marine insurance cooperation structures 278

I. The marine insurance companies established by Auguste Morel: Bureau Veritas, Bureau Central, 1° Cie and 2° Cie 278

II. Marine insurance corporations form unions 280

1. Première Réunion 280

2. From one to five unions 283

D. Profile of the managers of the marine insurance corporations 289

E. Connections between marine insurance corporations 291

F. Conclusion 294

List of Contributors 298

Index 299

More information with the publisher.

CALL FOR SESSIONS: History of Insurance in Global perspective - International Conference, University of Basel, Switzerland 20–22 July 2022

(Source: University of Basel)

CONFERENCE THEME

This international conference investigates insurance as a crucial element of the globalization of finance and of capitalism in general. Since the early modern period, geographical diffusion of insurance is closely linked to processes of globalization and de-globalization. The conference presents a broad picture of the multi-dimensional history of international insurance. This covers different periods, regions and branches of insurance: from late-medieval and early modern maritime insurance over the diffusion of life and non-life insurance in the Western hemisphere during the 19th century to the rise of non-Western markets and corporations in colonial and post-colonial contexts. This global lens invites the combination of the wide global perspective with local, micro-historical perspectives.

Relevant topics include, for example, the diffusion of marine insurance in 19th century East Asia, as part of the merchant communities, of fire and life insurance in the settler communities of post-independence states of Latin America, or of car insurance in 20th century post-colonial Africa. Sessions and papers are invited to take either a comparative view, contrasting different geographical contexts, or a generalizing, international perspective, investigating for example the internationalization and globalization of insurance or international networks and organizations related to insurance (congresses, societies, cartels etc.). They can investigate the business context, including competing forms of risk prevention and financial precaution in non-Western regions, the rise of local, non-Western insurance industries, and the interaction between local and international companies in insurance. The conference theme also includes the areas of consumption, such as the social and ethnic patterns of insurance markets, and the changing perceptions of risk in different geographic and cultural contexts. 

The conference will be held as a three-day event, on 20–22 July 2022, at the University of Basel, Switzerland. Scholars are particularly invited to cross traditional academic boundaries by offering insights on geographical entanglements or trans-epochal developments. The conference follows an interdisciplinary format, bringing together scholars from various disciplines interested in the history of insurance in global perspectives, notably from Business History, International Business Studies, Global History, Consumer History, the History of Law, and Historical Sociology.

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Call for Sessions: session Proposal Deadline: 31 May 2021

We invite scholars interested in participating to submit proposals for sessions with three to four presentations. Session proposals should include an abstract of the session theme (1500 characters) as well as names of contributors and working titles of the presentations (as far as known) included in the session. Session proposals should be submitted electronically by 31st of May, 2021 over the conference website history-of-insurance.unibas.ch (available early April 2021). Session chairs will be informed about the selection of their proposal by the end of June 2021.

Call for Individual Papers: There will be another call for individual papers later in 2021. 

Session chairs should be aware that the final decision about the conference program and the grouping of papers in sessions will be made by the conference organizers and the advisory board (Sabine Go, Amsterdam; Niels-Viggo Haueter, Zurich; Philipp Hellwege, Augsburg; W. Jean J. Kwon, New York; Lan Liang Zhao, Shanghai; Martin Lengwiler, Basel; Grietjie Verhoef, Johannesburg), after consultation with the chairs. 

For further information, please contact Martin Lengwiler, History Department, University of Basel, martin.lengwiler@unibas.ch.