Reviewed by Ernest Enke Alfred University

This book discusses and compares the internal financial controls of the governments of England, Flanders, Normandy, and France in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. With the rise in interest in gov¬ernmental accounting in America over the past decade, Medieval Finance should be of interest to governmental accountants search¬ing for the roots of their profession. Since there is relatively more recent work on the records of Medieval and Renaisance merchants and bankers than on the financial records of governments, this book helps to provide a balance.

Although the private sector contributed many significant innova¬tions including double-entry bookkeeping, the public sector did not lack sophistication. In particular internal control with the key concept of separating record keeping and custody seems to have developed much faster in governmental financial operations. The earmarking of specific revenue sources for certain expenditures would seem to reflect the rise of fund accounting. The follow up process of com¬paring the records with the cash on hand and verifying that the earmarked revenues were appropriately spent rested on a council of upper level officials sometimes even including the ruler. After an annual audit by this council, the receipts and expenditures of the government were recorded.

The discovery of one of these records, the principal general account for the County of Flanders in 1187, the Grote Brief, provided the impetus for this book. The authors examine the Grote Brief and compare the financial control mechanisms it reveals with what is known of English, Norman, and French practices. They conclude that the governmental financial controls in all of these countries develop¬ed similarly.

Although this book does fill a need for a history of governmental financial administration in Northwestern Europe during the Middle Ages, this is not apparent from the title. The title would lead me to expect a discussion of medieval banking institutions. A title such as Financial Controls of Medieval Rulers might more successfully at¬tract the attention of the readers it is most likely to interest.

Since the discovery of the Grote Brief led to this book, the second chapter is a detailed discussion of Flemish governmental financial controls. Many readers will find that skipping the second chapter to go on to the broader discussion of the later chapters before re¬turning to the second chapter will be helpful in providing a frame¬work for the details.

Although this is a small book, it does help to fill in the develop¬ment of one major and sometimes neglected branch of accounting. People interested in the history of governmental accounting and of financial control systems generally will find it useful.