Prologue 1
1.Money, Payment in Money, and the Order to Pay Money 15
2.Money and Monetary Legal Theory in Antiquity and the Middle Ages 68
3.Funds Transfers in Antiquity: Instruments, Institutions and Mechanisms 116
4.Deriving History from Law: Are Cheques Traceable to the Talmud? 158
5.The Payment Order under Roman Law 191
6.The Medieval Hawale: The Legal Nature of the Suftaj and Other Islamic Payment Instruments 252
7.Funds Transfers under Talmudic Law: Orthodoxy and Adaptation 307
8.Payment Orders in Medieval Continental Europe: Book Transfers and Bills of Exchange 352
9.Payment Orders under English Common Law: The Bailment of Money and the ‘Reception’ of the Bill of Exchange 423
10.Evolution and Transformation: The Birth of the Modern Payment System in Post-Medieval England 467
11.Turning the Wheels of Post-Medieval Change: Paper Circulation and Negotiability under English Law 528
12.Staying on Course: The Footprint of Ancient and Medieval Doctrine and Practice on Modern Payment Laws 585
Epilogue: From Barter to Electronic Funds Transfers and the Role of Law 640
Illustrations 642
Bibliography 687
Index 713