Explaining Viking Expansion
This thesis studies and explains employment opportunities, political motives, and societal norms as separate, individual motives that perpetuated Scandinavian migration, conquest, and adventure from the eighth through the eleventh centuries AD.
Post-Conquest Medieval
Unlike the preceding millennium, which had seen the upheavals of the Roman conquest and then growing Anglo-Saxon influence, and the related socioeconomic transformations reflected, for example, in the emergence, virtual desertion and then revival of an urban hierarchy, the post-Conquest Medieval period was one of relative social, political and economic continuity.
The Gallic Aristocracy and the Roman Imperial government in the fifth century A.D.
The recovery, however, proved to be too superficial for the continuing prosperity of either Gaul or the Western Roman Empire. The problems of the imperial government continued with little relief. The government still had to drive out and keep out the barbarians…
Social Aggravations during the Period of Medieval Wars in Europe
This article makes and attempt to disclose the dynamics of development of social interactions in an aggravated environment in relation to the distinctive features of religious wars and their negative impact to the society. Crisis situations that took place in all spheres of social life are described, on the grounds of which the author comes to specific conclusions.
A Tale of “Benevolent” Governments: Private Credit Markets, Public Finance, and the Role of Jewish Lenders in Medieval and Renaissance Italy
In Tuscan private credit markets, Jewish lending helped households to smooth consumption, buy working capital, and provide dowries for daughters.
Greed wasn’t good in the Middle Ages – historian looks at medieval business ethics
Self-serving behavior deemed necessary on Wall Street today might have been despised in medieval Europe. One might even have been murdered for using wealth as a justification for circumventing societal norms.
The road to the Industrial Revolution: hypotheses and conjectures about the medieval origins of the ‘European Miracle’
One of the big questions of economic history, and perhaps of the social sciences in general, is why Western Europe developed into an industrial society and generated a process of ‘modern economic growth’ continuing until today.
‘Imaginary’ or ‘Real’ Moneys of Account in Medieval Europe? An Econometric Analysis of the Basle Pound, 1365–1429
‘Imaginary’ or ‘Real’ Moneys of Account in Medieval Europe? An Econometric Analysis of the Basle Pound, 1365–1429 By Ernst Juerg Weber Explorations in…
Economy of Ragusa, 1300 – 1800: The Tiger of Mediaeval Mediterranean
An economist is indeed tempted to think of Ragusa as the “Adriatic Tiger “ of yesteryear, an early example of a small open economy with strong fundamentals, and to hypothesize further that, in analogy to the current consensus about what it takes to minimize the impact of external crises, these strengths also allowed Ragusa to mitigate the effects of the many external shocks and financial crises in Medieval Europe.
Iceland’s external affairs in the Middle Ages: The shelter of Norwegian sea power
The main aim of this paper is to test the case of Iceland within the framework of small- state theory and answer its key consideration by examining whether Iceland, as a small entity/country, had external shelter or stood on its own during the Middle Ages.
Religious Orders and Growth through Cultural Change in Pre-Industrial England
The central hypothesis advanced in the present study is that the cultural virtues emphasized by Weber had a pre-Reformation origin in the religious Order of the Cistercians, a Catholic order which spread across Europe as of the 11th century, and that this monastic order served to stimulate growth during the second millennium by encouraging cultural change in local populations.
The acts of the Earls of Dunbar relating to Scotland c.1124-c.1289 : a study of Lordship in Scotland in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries
The thesis seeks to analyse the nature of the Dunbar lordship, uncovering its particular and essential features, yet placing and assessing it in the context of twelfth and thirteenth-century Scottish aristocratic society.
From Monasteries to Multinationals (and Back): A Historical Review of the Beer Economy
With the spread of his Holy Roman Empire around 800 AD, Charlemagne built many monasteries across Europe, many of which became centres of brewing.
The Cluniac Priories of Galicia and Portugal: Their Acquisition and Administration 1075-ca.1230
It goes without saying that two topics are central to progress on all the rest, and it is to these that the present paper will address itself. First, the problem of acquisition…Secondly, the problem of administration…
The Medieval Origins of Capitalism in the Netherlands
One of the fiercest and most productive historical debates – and one of the most ideology-laden – has been that on the transition from feudalism to capitalism.1 Although interest in this specific debate and its ideological implications seems to be waning now, the importance of reconstructing and explaining long-term changes in economy and society is still clear.
The Significance of Feudal Law in Thirteenth-Century Law Codes
Although developments in feudal law in the thirteenth century influenced the legal environment of Europe for centuries, much of past and current historical research of feudalism examines the social system anthropologically but neglects an in-depth analysis of feudal law codes.
Women in the later medieval English economy: past perspectives, new directions
The scholarly exploration of women in the later medieval English economy is at least a century old.
The Economic and Monetary Policy of the Byzantine Empire under Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos (1081-1118) has long been regarded as both the saviour of the Byzantine Empire, bringing it back from the brink of destruction, and as the orchestrator of its final decline.
Shaping Medieval Markets: The Organisation of Commodity Markets in Holland, c. 1200 – c. 1450
The late Middle Ages witnessed the transformation of the county of Holland from a peripheral agrarian region to a highly commercialised and urbanised one. This book examines how the organisation of commodity markets contributed to this remarkable development
The economic decline of the church in medieval England
The early medieval Church was a ubiquitous presence which wielded considerable economic power. R.H. Tawney describes it as “the greatest of political institutions”.
Marsilio Ficino: Magnus of the Renaissance, Shaper of Leaders
This article describes the life and work of Marsilio Ficino, a philosopher and leader of 15th century Florence who helped spark the Renaissance and the relevance of his ideas for the challenges we face today.
‘The inordinate excess in apparel’: Sumptuary Legislation in Tudor England
Sumptuary legislation can be defined as a set of regulations, passed down by legislators through statutory law and parliamentary proclamations, that sought to regulate society by dictating what contemporaries could own or wear based on their position within society.
Oda: An Extraordinary Example of a Medieval Woman’s Religious Authority and Economic Power
hristianity posed as a shackle for many women in the early Middle Ages. Though sexism and female subordination were prevalent prior to the emergence of this monotheistic religion, Christianity established its own justifications for continuing in the male domination.
Identity and Economic Change in the Viking Age
This project surveys a selection of hoard assemblages in order to scrutinize the changing relationship between economy and identity in Viking Age Scandinavia.