A History of Business in Medieval Europe, 1200-1550

Description

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.

"...Hunt and Murray provide a very well informed and intelligent exposition of medieval business developments for the nonspecialist." Choice "[Hunt and Murry's] basic findings are that business was driven by the demand of the elite for exotic goods, and that the lasting contribution of Medieval business was organization rather than the innovations they imported." Reference & Research Book News "[Hunt and Murray's] basic findings are that business was driven by the demand of the elite for exotic goods, and that the lasting contribution of Medieval business was organization rather than the innovations they imported." Reference & Research Book News "This succinct and beautifully written book is a worthy edition to the distinguished series, Cambridge Medieval Textbooks." The Historian "...at last we have a nuanced alternative to the old orthodoxies and an eminently persuasive one which, while never underplaying the genuine problems of the late medieval economy, creates a scenario in which the early modern economic take-off makes sense." Envoi. "Hunt and Murray have done a valuable service in producing this textbook...The authors are also to be commended for their ability to transform sometimes technical business jargon into well-crafted, readable prose." Speculum