The BBC have published an interesting piece by Ms Louise Brittain entitled: "What to expect if you go bankrupt." See here. The historical treatment is however seriously defective. I am not sure I can agree with Brittain's exposition of early English insolvency laws to any extent whatsoever because:
(2) The derivation of bankruptcy comes not from "old English" (is that something in the realms of Professor Tolkien and Anglo-Saxon?) but comes from two sources, one French and one Latin. See here for a brief discussion.
(3) Debtors' prison was an entirely separate jurisdiction to bankruptcy, hence the trader designation which Brittain highlights.
Picture Credit: http://duhaime.org/Portals/duhaime/images/pillory.jpg
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