Insurance History in Mansutti Foundation Heritage
The Library, the Museum Collections and the historical Archive of Mansutti Foundation focus on the History of Insurance through its economic, legal, technical and social aspects
The origins
The first insurance contracts in history date back to the Middle Ages. The Mansutti Foundation insurance policies Archive consists of approximately 3000 documents, including rare ancient handwritten policies from the second half of the 16th century
Fondazione MANSUTTI - "Dizionario istorico, teorico, e pratico di marina" (1769) by Saverien, AlexandreMuseimpresa
Insurance was born on the sea
The first form of insurance is maritime: in the past goods traveled mainly by sea and the ship, the reliability of the captain and nautical charts, the length of the voyage, the possibility of running into pirates and the weather conditions played a decisive role
Fondazione MANSUTTI - "De contractibus et usuris" (after 1450) by Bernardino of SienaMuseimpresa
Insurance and usury
To bear witness to the issue of the insurance contract’s legitimacy – which was much discussed by fifteenth-century theologians and canonists – the Tractatus de contractibus et usuris by S. Bernardino of Siena (handwritten on parchment which can be dated back to ca. 1470)
The first treatise on insurance
The first printed treatise on insurance was published in Venice in 1552. The author is the Portuguese jurist Pedro de Santarém (1460–1521).
This is the first and only attested edition.
Here the fundamental principle on which this contract is based is clearly stated: Good Faith
Some title-pages from ancient books in the Library of Mansutti Foundation
The first insurance laws
The main organic legislation on insurance activity is contained in the ordinances issued in Barcelona between 1435 and 1484, whose great diffusion throughout the Mediterranean is due to their inclusion in numerous editions of the book of the Consulat de Mar
Fondazione MANSUTTI - "De mercatura decisiones" (1622) by Stracca, BenvenutoMuseimpresa
The role of the merchant
The Italian merchants are the real protagonist of this story. The first policies were taken out by Genoese and Venetian merchants. Many ancient works are dedicated to him. One of the most famous is the treatise De Mercatura by the jurist from Ancona, Benvenuto Stracca (1509-1578)
The probability
The Ars Conjectandi by Jakob Bernoulli, published in Basel in 1713, is a milestone in the study of probability theory. Bernoulli's Theorem is nothing but the well-known Law of Large Numbers, which is the basis of statistics and a turning point of the life assurance development
The fire insurance
The first insurance companies were born in England at the end of the 17th century. The Great Fire of London of 1666 contributed to the birth and rapid development of this kind of insurance field
Fondazione MANSUTTI - Fire-mark of "La Métropole" Company (circa 1923) by Compagnie d'Assurances La MétropoleMuseimpresa
The fire marks
At the beginning of fire insurance, there was no dedicated irefighting public service, so the companies set up private teams of firefighters. These plaques with the name of the company were useful to the firefighters to identify the building insured by the company employing them
Some examples of the Fire Marks Collection in the Mansutti Foundation
Other particular forms of insurance policy: slave insurance
In the whirlwind development of insurance, many kinds of policies have been created over time (life, fire, accident, etc.). A particular type is the slave life insurance. In Cuba in the mid-nineteenth century there were companies which insured slaves as if they were just goods
Fondazione MANSUTTI - Entirely handwritten policy (1730) by André Levesque, insurerMuseimpresa
Other particular forms of insurance policy: cod fishing
Between the 17th and 18th centuries, the fish trade played a vital role in France. The fishing boats left from St. Malo to Terranova island. Before leaving for such a risky journey, the fishermen insured ships and cargo. These policies are handwritten, almost a disused practice
Fondazione MANSUTTI - Poster of "F.A.T.A." Company (1955) by Busi, AdolfoMuseimpresa
Modern time
With the consolidation of insurance companies, starting from the mid-nineteenth century, we see the birth of many forms of communication, in particular advertising posters. In the Collection of Mansutti Foundation you can admire around 500 of them, coming from all over the world
Some examples of insurance posters Collection in the Mansutti Foundation
Fondazione MANSUTTI - Polizza vita della Compagnia Slavia (1942) by Slavia pojišťovnaMuseimpresa
Artists & marketing
The collaboration between artists and insurance companies gave birth to some fascinating title-page of policies. This one was engraved by the famous Czech artist Alphons Mucha (1860-1939)
©Fondazione Mansutti, Milano
www.insurancehistory.org
