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2015 | OriginalPaper | Buchkapitel

5. Economic Theories and Practices in Medieval Europe

verfasst von : Nicos Christodoulakis

Erschienen in: How Crises Shaped Economic Ideas and Policies

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

Feudal Europe witnessed not only the suppression of liberties but also the stagnation of economic thinking. For several centuries, lending and commerce were demonized as unholy activities, until an unprecedented disaster that took place during the four century in Europe shook the feudal structures and catalyzed a wave of political change and social mobility. Economic thinking was rapidly advanced so as to interpret the new realities of emerging trade and wealth accumulation. As taxation becomes less repressive and monetary corrosion more repulsive to the awakening masses, sovereigns seek alternative forms of borrowing from the nascent banking system. This brings about new financing opportunities for the rising national states and, when it becomes excessive, a new type of economic malaise: the debt crises.

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Vorheriges Kapitel Economic Crises and Practices in the Roman and Byzantine Era

Nächstes Kapitel Economics Before the Industrial Revolution

Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1986, Book 3, Chap. II).

Ladurie Le Roy, Montaillu: Cathars and Catholics in a French village 1294–1324 (1981, pp. 116–117).

See Anderson, Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism (1974, p. 148).

The excerpt is from the translation of Monroe, Early Economic Thought: Selected Writings from Aristotle to Hume (2006, p. 63).

Excerpts taken from Monroe, op. cit., p. 101.

Much of the description in this section has heavily borrowed from Tuchman, A Distant Mirror: The calamitous 14th Century (1979).

The simultaneity of famines and pestilences was frequent in antiquity, and this may explain why the terms for famine and pestilence are vocally identical in ancient Greek (λιμός and λοιμός respectively). The same phenomenon appeared later as well; an example is the 1258 ad famine in Italy, which was followed by a plague epidemic in 1259. See Nicholas, The Evolution of the Medieval World (1992, Part III, Chap. 12).

As Blissett notes in his historical novel ‘Q’ “bankers determined the manner of payment. Christians would donate for the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica and would get in return a certificate signed by the Pope absolving them from their sins” (1999, Preface, Out of Europe, 1555).

Blockmans, A History of Power in Europe: Peoples, Markets. States (1997, p. 227). Chapter 5 describes many characteristics of private authorities.

Blockmans, op. cit., p. 231.

Ferguson, The Cash Nexus: Money and Politics in Modern History 1700–2000 (2001, Chap. 3, p. 84).

Later on, one argument used in favor of universal suffrage was the universality of taxation.

See Lefebvre, The French Revolution (1962).

Centuries later, Parliament’s increased jurisdiction on fiscal matters often lead to widening public deficits. This led many to argue in favor of constitutional debt breaks, thus reducing the discretion of Parliaments.

In 1885, Abraham Lincoln imposed new taxes and granted more equal representation, with the exception of Washington DC.

Norway, Sweden and Denmark to the list of the ‘Voice and Accountability’ indicators of the World Bank with an index of 100, 99.5 and 99.1 respectively. Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece trail below 80. The average tax revenue collected by central government in the first group is 28 % of GDP, while in the second 18.5 % of GDP. Data from World Bank, WDI (2012a) and WGI (2012b).

One should not be mistaken to think that such phenomena existed only in ancient societies. In the modern era, famine revolts erupted in Paris in 1787, paving the way for the French Revolution of 1789. Exactly 200 years later in Romania, famished workers from the Brașov industrial area rose up against the communist regime; in 1989, they succeeded in toppling Ceausescu, who was sentenced to death.

For an analysis of the tithe tax, see also Ricardo, On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (2004, Chap. XI).

According to Aristotle, the tyrant appreciated this straightforwardness and granted him exemption from all taxes. That place was afterwards known as the “tax free farm”. Aristotle, Athenian Constitution, (XVI, 6).

As described by Oechsli, History of Switzerland 1499–1914 (1922, p. 128). Following the principle cujus regio ejus religio, Bern also imposed the Reformation upon its spoil; (ibid).

Lucretius, De rerum natura (1981, Book V).

Manent, Cours familier de philosophie politique (2004).

From Luther, Von Welltlicher Uberkeytt.

In fact, this was again a Jesuit principle; cf. Section 2.1, footnote 3.

Machiavelli, The Discourses (1988, I. 58, p. 255).

Machiavelli quotes the Roman historian Livy, op. cit., I. 55, p. 250.

Descartes, Discourse on Method and the Meditations (1968, p. 46). He was deeply critical of those following Aristotle though not possessing as much knowledge of nature as he had, and described them “…like the ivy which does not seek to climb higher than the trees which support it”, (p. 83).

Anderson P (1974) Passages from antiquity to feudalism. Verso, London

Blissett L (1999) Q (Ecclesiasticus). Einaudi Editore, Torino

Blockmans W (1997) A history of power in Europe: peoples, markets, states. Fonds Mercator Paribas, Antwerp

Descartes R (1968) Discourse on method and the meditations. Penguin, London

Ferguson N (2001) The cash nexus: money and politics in modern history 1700–2000. Penguin, London

Le Roy Ladurie E (1981) Montaillou: Cathars and Catholics in a French village 1294–1324. Penguin, London

Lefebvre G (1962) French revolution. Columbia University Press, New York

Lucretius (1981) On the nature of the universe (De rerum natura). Penguin, London (Metrical translation by W. E. Leonard, Project Gutenberg)

Machiavelli N (1988) The discourses. Penguin, London

Manent P (2004) Cours familier de philosophie politique. Gallimard, Paris

Monroe AE (2006) Early economic thought: selected writings from Aristotle to Hume. Dover, Mineola

Nicholas D (1992) The evolution of the medieval world: society, government and thought in Europe 312–1500. Longman, London

Oechsli W (1922) History of Switzerland 1499–1914. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Ricardo D (2004) Principles of political economy and taxation. Dover, New York

Smith A (1986) The wealth of nations. Penguin, London

Tuchman B (1979) A distant mirror: the calamitous 14th century. Penguin, London

World Bank (2012a) World development indicators. http://data.worldbank.org/products/wdi

World Bank (2012b) Governance indicators. http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/worldwide-governance-indicators

Titel: Economic Theories and Practices in Medieval Europe
verfasst von: Nicos Christodoulakis
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Buch: How Crises Shaped Economic Ideas and Policies
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16870-8

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-16871-5

Copyright-Jahr: 2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16871-5_5