Bankers, Privacy and Arcana Imperii: A Historical Law Perspective
Bankers, Privacy and Arcana Imperii: A Historical Law Perspective

Summary/Abstract: The topic of this research paper investigates the historical interplay between bankers, privacy, and arcana imperii (the secrets of statecraft) from a legal point of view, focusing on early modern Europe. It argues that not only were bankers pivotal in shaping the financial and political landscape of monarchies, but also, they acted as guardians of sensitive information. This enabled the sovereign to oversee the economic resources and their utilisation. The research highlights that the role of bankers - from Italian city-states to the rise of Swiss banking secrecy, English common law confidentiality, and American privacy doctrines - has always been fixed on the protection of both individual autonomy and state secrets. Moreover, in reading privacy as the management of the “presence”, due to its nature as a spatial and institutional concept, as well as through the case study of the Spanish Habsburgs (within their codification of royal space), the contribution demonstrates how both financial stability and the protection of arcana imperii were intertwined with each other. Between these different poles, bankers acted as the facilitators and the masters of this complex infrastructure.

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