Where does the word "bankrupt" come from?

Where does the word "bankrupt" come from?

Today it sounds like a dry financial term, but once there was real public shame behind it - and broken furniture.

In the Middle Ages, Italian money changers and moneylenders sat in markets behind long wooden benches ("banca" - bench). If a money changer went bankrupt, his bench was broken in front of everyone. Then the residents of the city knew: this man could no longer be trusted.

Later the phrase was transferred to other languages, and "banca rotta" became "bankrupt". But the meaning remained: a man whose business went to the bottom.

It is interesting that in old Russia even a merchant who simply ran away from debt could be declared bankrupt. His property was sold at auction - also in front of everyone.

Today, bankruptcy is a court proceeding, but before that it was a spectacle and very loud.

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🌿 Russian proverbs