Editing Partnership (section)

==History==
[[Commenda|Partnerships]] have a long history; they were already in use in medieval times in Europe and in the Middle East. According to a 2006 article, the first partnership was implemented in 1383 by [[Francesco Datini|Francesco di Marco Datini]], a merchant of Prato and Florence. The Covoni company (1336–40) and the Del Buono-Bencivenni company (1336–40) have also been referred to as early partnerships, but they were not formal partnerships.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Padgett|first1=John F.|last2=McLean|first2=Paul D.|date=2006|title=Organizational Invention and Elite Transformation: The Birth of Partnership Systems in Renaissance Florence|journal=American Journal of Sociology|volume=111|issue=5|pages=1463–1568|doi=10.1086/498470|s2cid=144729381}}</ref>

In Europe, the partnerships contributed to the [[Commercial Revolution]] which started in the 13th century. In the 15th century the cities of the [[Hanseatic League]] would mutually strengthen each other; a ship from Hamburg to Gdansk would not only carry its own cargo but was also commissioned to transport freight for other members of the league. This practice not only saved time and money, but also constituted a first step toward partnership. This capacity to join forces in reciprocal services became a distinctive feature, and a long lasting success factor, of the Hanseatic team spirit.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Beerbühl|first1=Margrit Schulte|title=Networks of the Hanseatic League|url=http://ieg-ego.eu/en/threads/european-networks/economic-networks/margrit-schulte-beerbuehl-networks-of-the-hanseatic-league|website=EGO European History Online|access-date=22 September 2017|date=13 January 2012}}</ref>

A close examination of medieval trade in Europe shows that numerous significant credit based trades were not bearing interest. Hence, pragmatism and common sense called for a fair compensation for the risk of lending money, and a compensation for the opportunity cost of lending money without using it for other fruitful purposes. To circumvent the usury laws edicted by the Church, other forms of reward were created, in particular through the widespread form of partnership called ''[[commenda]]'', very popular with Italian merchant bankers.<ref>Jean Favier, Gold & Spices: the rise of commerce in the middle ages, Holmes & Meier Pub; 1st US edition, July 1998</ref> Florentine [[merchant bank]]s were almost sure to make a positive return on their loans, but this would be before taking into account solvency risks.

In the Middle East, the ''[[qirad]]'' and ''mudarabas'' institutions developed when trade with the Levant, namely the Ottoman Empire and the Muslim Near East, flourished and when early [[Trading company|trading companies]], [[contract]]s, [[bills of exchange]] and long-distance [[international trade]] were established.<ref name=Banaji>Jairus Banaji (2007), "Islam, the Mediterranean and the rise of capitalism", ''[[Historical Materialism (journal)|Historical Materialism]]'' '''15''' (1): 47–74, [[Brill Publishers]].</ref> After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Levant trade revived from the 10th to 11th century in Byzantine Italy. The eastern and western Mediterranean formed part of a single commercial civilization in the Middle Ages, and the two regions were economically interdependent through trade (in varying degrees).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Laiou|first1=Angeliki E.|author-link=Angeliki Laiou|title=The Economic History of Byzantium: From the Seventh through the Fifteenth Century|date=2008|publisher=Dumbarton Oaks|isbn=978-0884023326|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Igp8hxsHV_AC}}</ref>

The Mongols adopted and developed the concepts of liability in relation to investments and loans in Mongol–''ortoq'' partnerships, promoting trade and investment to facilitate the commercial integration of the Mongol Empire. The contractual features of a Mongol-''ortoq'' partnership closely resembled that of ''qirad'' and ''commenda'' arrangements; however, Mongol investors used metal coins, paper money, gold and silver ingots and tradable goods for partnership investments and primarily financed money-lending and trade activities.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1080/02634937.2019.1652799|title = The role of the ortoq in the Mongol Empire in forming business partnerships|journal = Central Asian Survey|volume = 38|issue = 4|pages = 531–547|year = 2019|last1 = Enkhbold|first1 = Enerelt|s2cid = 203044817}}</ref> Moreover, Mongol elites formed trade partnerships with merchants from Central and Western Asia and Europe, including [[Marco Polo]]'s family.<ref>Enkhbold op cit pp. 537</ref>