Medieval Economic History in Comparative Perspective
See description under subject 21H.134[J] .
Spring 2012
This course will survey the conditions of material life and changing social and economic conditions in medieval Europe with reference to the comparative context of contemporary Islamic, Chinese, and central Asian experiences. Subject covers the emergence and decline of feudal institutions, the transformation of peasant agriculture, living standards and the course of epidemic disease, and the ebb and flow of long-distance trade across the Eurasian system. Particular emphasis will be placed on the study of those factors, both institutional and technological, which have contributed to the emergence of capitalist organization and economic growth in Western Europe in contrast to the trajectories followed by the other major medieval economies.
Readings
- SES #: 1 · TOPICS: Some Big Questions in Economic History, and How to Think About Them · READINGS: Solow, Robert. “Economics: Is Something Missing?.” In Economic History and the Modern Economist . Edited by William N. Parker. Blackwell Publishers, 1986, pp. 21–9. ISBN: 9780631147992.
- Hatcher, John, and Mark Bailey. Modeling the Middle Ages: The History and Theory of England’s Economic Development. Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 1–10. ISBN: 9780199244126.
- [Persson] Introduction and Chapter 1, pp. 1–20.
- Fossier, Robert. Chapter 2 in Peasant Life in the Medieval West. Blackwell Pub, 1988. ISBN: 9780631143635.
- Genicot, Leopold. Chapter 1 in Rural Communities in the Medieval West . Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990. ISBN: 9780801838705.
- Monk, Robert the. “A Jerusalem History, c. 1110.” Selections from Urban and the Crusaders . Revised ed. Vol. 1, no. 2. Edited by Dana C. Munro. Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History. AMS Press, 1971/1897, pp. 5–8.
- De Joinville, Jean. “The Book of the Holy Words and Good Deeds of Our King, Saint Louis (1309).” The Medieval Record: Sources of Medieval History . Selected by Alfred J. Andrea. Wadsworth Publishing, 1997. pp. 367–70. ISBN: 9780395718629.
- Lopez, Robert. Chapter 3 in The Commercial Revolution of the Middle Ages, 950–1350. Cambridge University Press, 1976, pp. 56–84. ISBN: 9780521290463.
- SES #: 12 · TOPICS: Rise of the Commune and Revival of Trade: Counterpoint to Autarkic Agriculture (cont.) · READINGS: [Persson] Chapter 2, pp. 21-41.
- Knighton, Henry. Selections from Chronicle 1348 . Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN: 9780198205036.
- [Persson] Chapter 3, pp. 42–59.
- [Persson] Chapter 4, pp. 60–73.
- Hatcher, John, and Mark Bailey. Modelling the Middle Ages . OUP Oxford, 2001, pp. 174–201. IBSN: 9780199244126.
- Braudel, Fernand. The Wheels of Commerce . University of California Press, 1992, pp. 231–49. ISBN: 9780520081154. (Skim)
- [Persson] Chapter 5, pp. 74–91.
- de Vries, Jan. “Economic Growth before and after the Industrial Revolution: a Modest Proposal.” In Early Modern Capitalism . Edited by Maarten Prak. Routledge, 2001. ISBN: 9780415217149.
Prerequisites & course information
Same subject as 21H.134[J] Prereq: None Acad Year 2027-2028: U (Spring) Acad Year 2028-2029: Not offered 3-0-9 units. HASS-S; CI-H
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Spring 2012
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.