A History of Business in Medieval Europe, 1200–1550

Cambridge Medieval Textbooks

by Edwin S. Hunt, James Murray

A History of Business in Medieval Europe, 1200-1550, demolishes the widely held view that the phrase "medieval business" is an oxymoron. The authors review the entire range of business in medieval western Europe, probing its Roman and Christian heritage to discover the economic and political forces that shaped the organization of agriculture, manufacturing, construction, mining, transportation, and marketing. Then they deal with the responses of businessmen to the devastating plagues, famines, and warfare that beset Europe in the late Middle Ages. Medieval businessmen's remarkable success in coping with this hostile new environment prepared the way for the economic expansion of the sixteenth century.

Genres: History, Medieval History, Economics, European History, Medieval

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the most exciting history or the best told, but this book was short, clear, and informative. The authors have some clear theses: (1) the medieval business environment was tumultuous, not stagnant, (2) medieval business was mostly small, but was as sophisticated in structures as technology allowed, (3) government policy was the dominant thing controlling business environments and (4) the sixteenth century was a distinct change from the Middle Ages, but many of the changes were the consequence of medieval business decisions, not external stimulus.

The focus is primary Western Europe (Britain, France, Germany, Italy, northern Spain) roughly 1000 - 1550. The book divides into three periods: pre Black Death, post Black Death and pre 1500, and post 1500. The narrative style is heavy on generalization, aims to be synoptic but not quite encyclopedic, and includes just enough names and stories to make it readable. It avoids most of the worst traits of academic writing.

The authors devote significant space to the tail end of their period, marking out the continuity and differentiation between the Middle Ages and the early modern era. The big shifts, of course, are printing and the discovery of new sea routes. The authors note that these are the natural consequence of medieval business impulses -- expanding the trading horizon was a medieval urge, medieval commercial pressure drove ever improved ship-building and navigation, and the Middle Ages were marked by steadily more intricate gadgets and mechanisms.

A surprising point they make is that the inflation of the early 16th century was not primarily the result of new world gold and silver, which wouldn't arrive in quantity for another few decades. Instead the authors point to increased banking and increased mine production, in turn driven by new technology (drainage and ore extraction).

If you want a quick overview of medieval commerce and industry, this is the book for you. If you want to go deep on banking, or construction, or the like, you need a more specialized study.

[Keegan Webster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hunt & Murray have a central thesis, which they are not shy about, that medieval business in traditional histories of the time period has been understated. This may be so -- I am not familiar with the literature. They present a compelling case, although it would seem clear that the slow growth rate and low productivity which exists under feudalism provides for a low volume of capital in circulation, which leads to the inability of any of the medieval "super-companies" they focus on to continue past the feudal period into the capitalist one. Instead, they exist as an exercise in the private ownership of the means of production that was mostly foreign to medieval business. They are the exception that underlines the rule of merchant-traders and bankers, but not capitalist ownership proper.

It should also be clear that this is a business history of the late medieval period, not an economic one. The authors make pains to touch on various economic causes, but it is certainly not a study of the changing mode of production of the period, moreso a study of exercises in pre-capitalist business that struggled for long-term and large scale success due to the low capital liquidity environment of the period.

Worth a read.

[narsil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did Edward III lead to the demise of the Bardi financial empire (and hence the Florentine Golden Age)? (spoiler alert: no, but it's complicated).
I would heartily recommend this to be read in conjunction with Van Zanden's "The Long Road to the Industrial Revolution".

[Anatolikon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book traces the course of business, which the authors define as commercial exchange. They argued that high medieval business was driven by the demands of the elite and that this permitted the idea of gain for its own value, and the authors use this idea to criticize Weber’s failure to identify a capitalist ethos before the Reformation. Italy and Flanders receive the bulk of the attention, with a central chapter devoted to the Florentine super-companies of the fourteenth century. These organizations display a large degree of sophistication and some degree of permanence, and in this sense serve as the medieval equivalent to the modern multi-national corporation. With the Black Death comes a break, but not a sharp one. Increasingly bureaucratized governments that were frequently at war present new problems but also new opportunities, and rising wages also mean rising consumer markets despite demographic decline. However, the authors stress that the skills and techniques of business developed in the high middle ages persisted, and that thus the transition from late medieval to early modern business is so smooth as to be nearly invisible.

[Jeffrey Perren · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit dry in spots, and occasionally too focused on minutiae (as with most academic texts), and yet at other times too general when one would prefer details. That said, it's an outstanding overview of the period and the activities of medieval businessmen from genuine experts.

[Felisa Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't have time to finish this, because I had to take it back to the library but I read about 3/4 of it and found it to be quite informative and not as dry as the title might indicate.