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Article: Lottery
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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LOTTERY
LOTTERY.
Although lotteries had been utilized as a means of redistributing goods and wealth since Roman times, they began to develop on a large scale in fifteenth-century Europe, where they were used by governments as a means of raising revenue. The first recorded lottery was held in 1420 in Burgundy, with the proceeds going toward the fortification of the town. The state of Germany established a national lottery in 1521; between 1520 and 1539, the French
loterie,
created by Francis I, enriched some individuals as well as the nation; and Florence's
La Lotto de Firenze
was the first public lottery to pay money for prizes in 1528. In Britain, Queen Elizabeth I chartered a ...