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...

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...

Medieval Bruges provides an early model of a great capitalist city. This book examines the factors which contributed to Bruges' economic success such as the shift to sea-borne commerce and the efforts of the city's population to fashion a great commercial center. With its study of diverse topics such as the city's political history, its advantageous communications position, the wool, cloth and gold trade and the role of women in the market, the volume offers a case-study in medieval economic history as well as a social and cultural history of medieval Bruges.