A clear and readable account of the development of the European economy and its infrastructure from the second century to 1500. Professor Pounds provides a balanced view of the many controversies within the subject, and he has a particular gift for bringing a human dimension to its technicalities. He deals with continental Europe as a whole, including an unusually rich treatment of Eastern Europe. For this welcome new edition -- the first in twenty years -- text and bibliography have been reworked and updated throughout, and the book redesigned and reset.
Author(s): N. J. G. Pounds
Edition: 2
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 1994
Language: English
Pages: 552
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
List of figures
List of abbreviations
Foreword to the First Edition
Foreword to the Second Edition
1. The Later Roman Empire
The frontiers
The population
The land and rural conditions
The towns
Manufacturing and trade
The economic fortunes of the Empire
2. The Early Middle Ages
The invasions of the fifth century
Villa and manor
The towns
Trade and manufacturing
The Byzantine Empire
The invasions of the ninth century
3. The Expansion of the Medieval Economy
The measures of economic growth
Economic revival in Italy
Economic growth in north-west Europe
The medieval monetary system
Conclusion
4. The Population of Medieval Europe
Sources for the history of population
Birth and death in medieval Europe
The medieval household
Demographic history
Population estimates
5. Agriculture and Rural Life
Settlement
The rural economy
The later Middle Ages
6. The Development of the Medieval Town
The urban revolution
The size and function of the medieval town
Urban finances
The urban scene
7. Medieval Manufacturing
Manufacturing: rural and urban
The organisation of medieval manufacturing
Branches of medieval manufacturing
Manufacturing in the medieval economy
8. Trade in the Middle Ages
Early medieval trade
The merchants
Fairs and markets
The pattern of trade
Road and river transport
The commodities of medieval trade
9. The Commercial Revolution
Credit and usury
Medieval banking
The bill of exchange
Commercial organisation
Medieval book-keeping
The Merchants' Law
Medieval currency
The role of government
10. The Late Middle Ages
The economic consequences of the Black Death
Manufacturing production
The Low Countries
Italy in the late Middle Ages
Eastern Europe
Wages and prices
A depression of the Renaissance
Bibliography
Index
