16 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022 prize of the municipal office of schroder, additional cash prizes of varying amounts would be offered. As a result, large numbers of people wanted to take part, even if they had no intention of becoming a schroder, resulting in a lot more money ending up in the coffers of the Bruges city administration. This “brand extension” of lottery was a welcome development, helping the city fund additional projects. Instead of placing the burden on its citizens by raising taxes, the city decided to offer cash prizes in the lottery to coax them into buying a ticket voluntarily. The idea quickly took root. Other cities in the region sent envoys to ask for advice and soon copied the Bruges example. Over the next few decades, at least 82 lotteries were created across Belgium and the Burgundian Netherlands before spreading to Germany, Rome, Genoa, and Venice. By the sixteenth century, lotteries existed all over Europe. Even the name given to the 1441 event in Bruges, lotinghe – which is based on the Middle Dutch word “lot”, meaning “fate” – would be adopted by many other languages: lotteria, loterie, lottery, lotereya, etc. “We are proud to be celebrating the anniversary of the world’s first cash lottery in 1441. A lot of things have changed in 580 years, but the Bruges aldermen’s ability to innovate, inspire the populace, and share their experience with other cities undoubtedly helped to lay the foundations for the vibrant worldwide lottery community we know today.” – Jannie Haek, CEO, Belgian National Lottery Collective fun, collective benefit These very early lotteries had all the essential characteristics of the games we know today: They were public events ¬– anyone could take part, and everyone had the same chance of winning. The additional cash prizes persuaded large numbers of people to play, and although the tickets were not cheap – the equivalent of several days’ wages – they were affordable by any burgher or merchant in medieval times. Players would not run the risk of financial ruin in a reckless game of chance, but would just try their luck for a bit of fun. Of course, players hoped to win a prize, but the collective aspect of taking part and attending the draw together was just as important. The medieval lotteries turned into community festivals. A stand would be erected in the marketplace so the citizenry could gather for the draw. As trumpets blared, an “innocent hand”, the drawperson, would solemnly pull the names of participants from a basket, and a reader would announce who had won a prize. The habit of writing a saying or poem (often salacious) on the lottery ticket instead of one’s own name soon developed, causing hilarity when it was read aloud from the stage. Nearly 600 years later, this underlying objective of having fun together while collecting funds for good causes still inspires lottery players all over the world and will continue to drive the lottery industry forward. By finding innovative solutions to its own challenges, and sharing the secrets of its success with other jurisdictions, the burgemeesters of medieval Bruges laid the foundations for the worldwide lottery community we know and love today! The organiser’s aim, usually a city but sometimes also sometimes a private organisation, was obviously to make a profit. But the attribute that makes the modern lottery, as invented in Bruges, so special is its service to society for its ability to finance collective needs: strengthening the city walls, building a hospital or a church, or paying off debts, as in the case of that first draw in 1441. Lotteries were the first form of “Crowdfunding” – long before the word was even invented. “Good causes around the world today owe a debt of gratitude to Bruges’ city leaders during medieval times for their foresight and pragmatism. Lottery players everywhere have embraced the same sense of collective responsibility and upheld the underlying principle of having fun together for the greater public good.” – Rebecca Paul Hargrove, WLA President
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