Before banks...

[Externet]

In medieval times, those lords/nobles building their expensive castles using many workers during extended years...  Where did they keep their coin? currency to pay salaries  ? 

How were their funds originated and replenished, likely ?   Inherited, taxing neighborhoods,  what sorts of big successful businesses, commerce, were conducted from those often remote castles... ?

[Roamer]

The main-currencies in that time were food & protection,

I assume they kept any gold they had in a chest

[Endy0816]

Banking(loans) goes back to Roman empire times. Actually mentioned in the Bible in the Parable of the Talents. Closely related, currency exchange is likewise mentioned in it. Jesus purportedly rallied against money changers in the temple.

Governments would mint based on their reserves of various metals. Coins weren't necessarily pure so still could have inflation.

Otherwise everything was about the same as now in terms of collecting taxes with the exception that they could also often pay with goods.

[mistermack]

I believe that the Knights Templar operated the first recognisable banks, which helped them get enormously wealthy, which in turn led to their downfall. From memory, they issued the first cheques, for travellers to use en route to the holy land, to fight in crusades or to visit holy sites. 

Kings used to have a Crown Treasure, which they could take with them as they travelled around their realm. It's said that King John lost his Crown Jewels in a pack train across quicksands and marshy lands. Maybe they got caught out by the incoming tide. He was engaged in raising support for a civil conflict, and jewels and gold and silver were the trusted currency at the time. The barter system could be used for affairs of state, as well as buying turnips. 

[michel123456]

1 hour ago, Endy0816 said:

Banking(loans) goes back to Roman empire times. Actually mentioned in the Bible in the Parable of the Talents. Closely related, currency exchange is likewise mentioned in it. Jesus purportedly rallied against money changers in the temple.

Governments would mint based on their reserves of various metals. Coins weren't necessarily pure so still could have inflation.

Otherwise everything was about the same as now in terms of collecting taxes with the exception that they could also often pay with goods.

Wikipedia informs that banking history goes back to 2000 BC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_banking

[zapatos]

Money was typically buried in the floor or somewhere similar. People who had money would often pay taxes with money. Poor people would typically pay taxes with goods or labor.

[michel123456]

2 hours ago, Externet said:

In medieval times, those lords/nobles building their expensive castles using many workers during extended years...  Where did they keep their coin? currency to pay salaries  ? 

How were their funds originated and replenished, likely ?   Inherited, taxing neighborhoods,  what sorts of big successful businesses, commerce, were conducted from those often remote castles... ?

Interesting questions. It is linked to Feudalism (read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudalism).

There was no business from these castles.  It was a time of slavery. Business as we know today came together with the birth of the first medieval cities. Our today's society is the continuity of those cities that won the fight over feudalism.

Banking is linked to the concepts of loans,  interest rates & usury. In ancient times all religions forbid to "make money from money". It was forbidden to get interest rate (in Judaism, Christianism, Islam). At some time the jewish people found that it was unethical to get interest rate from other Jewish people, but not unethical to do the same for people from other religion. That is the beginning of the today's (unethical) banking system.

Edited November 10, 2019 by michel123456

[zapatos]

5 minutes ago, michel123456 said:

Business as we know today came together with the birth of the first medieval cities

Can you provide your definition of "Business"? People were engaged in (what most people would call) business long before medieval times.

[michel123456]

The "remote castles" were fortified places that protect the kingdom but also impose the power of the local nobleman over its people. It is inherited. Or build by imposed work (slavery) for the most, & paid to specialized workers at very (very) low cost. In these times the material was 90% of the cost and 10% to labour. It was a time were human work (& human life) did not weight much.

[zapatos]

Was that in response to my question? If so, that did not answer it.

[michel123456]

5 minutes ago, zapatos said:

Was that in response to my question? If so, that did not answer it.

No. Crossing posts.

9 minutes ago, zapatos said:

Can you provide your definition of "Business"? People were engaged in (what most people would call) business long before medieval times.

Merchants existed from ancient times. But feudalism erased it. Somehow "inside" the feudalist society, merchants were doing "business" & created cities. Those small cities were under the power of the noblemen in their castles & paid heavy taxes to the castle owner, to his master & to the King. Then the cities get bigger & slowly began independent (after much difficulties). Business as we know today happened in the cities, not in the fortresses. Now, in many places you have a fortress in the middle of the city (or a city around the fortress). That was for protection, and makes the things a bit more complicated.

[CharonY]

26 minutes ago, michel123456 said:

Interesting questions. It is linked to Feudalism (read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudalism).

There was no business from these castles.  It was a time of slavery. Business as we know today came together with the birth of the first medieval cities. Our today's society is the continuity of those cities that won the fight over feudalism.

Banking is linked to the concepts of loans,  interest rates & usury. In ancient times all religions forbid to "make money from money". It was forbidden to get interest rate (in Judaism, Christianism, Islam). At some time the jewish people found that it was unethical to get interest rate from other Jewish people, but not unethical to do the same for people from other religion. That is the beginning of the today's (unethical) banking system.

Well, there different forms of banking with varying purposes. In the Chinese Song Dynasty a system of low-interest lending was backed by the state was introduced to allow farmers to take on debts for spending during winter and planting seasons, which was repaid during harvest seasons. It was also used as an insurance against crop failure. What we know about the Mesopotamina system, it appears to be centered around royal houses and temples where commodities were safeguarded. 

 

[Sensei]

4 hours ago, Externet said:

In medieval times, those lords/nobles building their expensive castles using many workers during extended years...  Where did they keep their coin? currency to pay salaries  ? 

In medieval times peasants worked part of time for Nobles for free..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socage

"Socage (/ˈsɒkɪdʒ/)[1] was one of the feudal duties and hence land tenure forms in the feudal system. A farmer, for example, held the land in exchange for a clearly defined, fixed payment to be made at specified intervals to his feudal lord, who in turn had his own feudal obligations, to the farmer (principally those of protection) and to the Crown. In theory this might involve supplying the lord with produce but most usually it meant a straightforward payment of cash, i.e., rent."

 

Modern banking system started with crusades. Knights had to travel entire Europe to the middle east. It was long and dangerous travel. Ships could sink during heavy storm etc. so if gold and silver would be transported back and forth with them, there was risk of losing them permanently. So instead of physical transport of coins, there were issued valuable papers.

"Templar preceptory before embarking, received a document indicating the value of their deposit, then used that document upon arrival in the Holy Land to retrieve their funds in an amount of treasure of equal value. This innovative arrangement was an early form of banking and may have been the first formal system to support the use of cheques; it improved the safety of pilgrims by making them less attractive targets for thieves, and also contributed to the Templar coffers.[6][22]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar

 

[Externet]

Thanks for your very interesting responses...

Perhaps I was relating banking to an infantile concept of safe-keeping only.   If documents were at a certain point issued as certificates of deposit,  that could equate as modern banking.  So previously, probably currency coins were buried in castle basements or hidden/guarded chests as safe locations.  And coin payments for services not often needed as slavery/trading was more the norm in non-business conducting castle locations.

So the castle cook worked perhaps for the salary of enjoying a plot of land granted/loaned to his family ?  Same for the peasants supplying food,  guarding the castle.

[Roamer]

2 hours ago, Externet said:

And coin payments for services not often needed as slavery/trading was more the norm in non-business conducting castle locations.

There wasn't that much gold available, so widespread capitalism wasn't viable(yet).

And there wasn't much slavery neither btw, it died out with the Romans.

[mistermack]

11 hours ago, Roamer said:

And there wasn't much slavery neither btw, it died out with the Romans.

Feudalism and slavery were pretty much the same thing : Quote wikipedia : 

" As with slaves, serfs could be bought, sold, or traded (with some limitations as they generally could be sold only together with land, with the exception of the kholops in Russia and villeins in gross in England who could be traded like regular slaves), abused with no rights over their own bodies, could not leave the land they were bound to, and could marry only with their lord's permission. "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serfdom  

Tibet was feudal right up to when the Chinese took over control in 1951. 

[Roamer]

@mistermack;
If you're going to divide people in "100% free people" & "slaves"" then you're right, and then we had slavery at least up to ~1991(Soviet-Union).

For a more nuanced view; serfs belonged to the land, and it wasn't as much that they weren't allowed to leave, as it was that other lords weren't allowed to poach them for their own. They had rights, which slowly increased, and the abilitie to rebel(albeit not always successfully)

Historically, the medieval times(or dark ages) were a time of upheaval and survival, the old (Roman) system had fallen and anyone not able to protect his own was bound to go under, the new system was made on-the-spot everywhere, based on what was there previously(both tribalism & civilization, but also on both slavery & coöperation) the rights of individuals were details that had little priority for rulers, but the basics(like rights & obligations come together) were understood (at least by the more competent rulers)

@Externettrade without the medium of money is called bartering.

I suspect most craftsmen working in a castle were just paid in food & shelter with some luxuries(like more clothes)