Medievalists.net » Economics – Urban

Fair Trade?: A Look at the Hanseatic League

Medievalists.net — Sun, 11 Oct 2015 22:21:21 +0000

In the 14th century, an ongoing feud ensued between the Hanseatic League and non-Hanse merchants. Here's a quick look at the rise and fall of the one of the most powerful organizations of the Late Middle Ages.

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Can Florence in the Quatrocento Help Shape Tax Policy Today?

Medievalists.net — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 03:28:45 +0000

I therefore decided to apply what I knew about tax policy—the only subject on which I was conversant and which seemed remotely relevant—to Florence in the days of the Medici, and see what happened.

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Genoa: The cog in the new medieval economy

Medievalists.net — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 23:07:59 +0000

Journalist and author Nicholas Walton writes about medieval Genoa's economy, trade and role in the Black Death. Walton recently published a book on Genoese history entitled, "Genoa: La Superba"

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BOOK REVIEW: Genoa ‘La Superba’: The Rise and Fall of a Merchant Pirate Superpower by Nicholas Walton

Medievalists.net — Sun, 09 Aug 2015 15:54:10 +0000

While most books about Italy have been dedicated to tourist hubs like Milan, Florence, Rome, Sicily and Venice, Genoa with its rich history, rugged landscape, and tenacious residents, has been given only a passing mention.

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Prostitution in the Medieval City

Medievalists.net — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 10:20:16 +0000

Prostitution was a vice that was was considered a necessary evil because of "men’s lust". Ecclesiastics felt that if brothels weren’t available to men in cities, they would find other inappropriate outlets for their entertainment. In an effort to curb potential problems, civic officials permitted prostitution to function within the city walls so long as it was regulated and turned a profit.

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Cracking down on illegal gambling in Medieval Livonia

Medievalists.net — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 11:03:05 +0000

Just like their modern day counterparts, medieval cities had to deal with their own criminal underworlds - the sex trade, gambling, and violence taking place within their walls. At the International Medieval Congress, held earlier this month at the University of Leeds, these issues were explored as part of session #706: Perceiving and Regulating Vices.

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Papers on Medieval Prosopography: Session #47 at KZOO 2015

Medievalists.net — Sat, 30 May 2015 00:49:56 +0000

Three fantastic papers on Prosopography from #KZOO2015.

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Environmental Crusading: The Teutonic Knight’s Impact After the Baltic Crusades

Medievalists.net — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 22:44:57 +0000

Environmental archaeologist and Professor of Archeology at Reading, Dr. Aleks Pluskowski, examined Malbork and several other sites across Eastern and Northern Europe in his recent paper, The Ecology of Crusading: The Environmental Impact of Holy War, Colonisation, and Religious Conversion in the Medieval Baltic. Pluskowski is keenly interested in the impact the Teutonic Knights and Christian colonisation had on the region. His ambitious 4 year project on the ecological changes in this area recently came to a close at the end of 2014.

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A Fifteenth-Century Merchant in London and Kent: Thomas Walsingham (d.1457)

Medievalists.net — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 03:39:25 +0000

In 1424 the London citizen and vintner Thomas Walsingham acquired the manor of Scadbury, then in the parish of Chislehurst in north-west Kent.

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Make-Up and Medicine in the Middle Ages

Medievalists.net — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 02:36:52 +0000

A look at cosmetics and make-up in the Middle Ages.

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