Skip to main content

2018 | OriginalPaper | Buchkapitel

11. Crossing the Threshold: Geoffrey Chaucer, Adam Smith, and the Liminal Transactionalism of the Later Middle Ages

Aktivieren Sie unsere intelligente Suche um passende Fachinhalte oder Patente zu finden.

search-config
loading …

Abstract

This chapter considers the economic elements of Chaucer’s thought as revealed through his poetry in relation to the medievalism inherent in the foundational economic writings of Adam Smith. The chapter advances the notion of “liminal transactionalism” to describe an economic outlook and set of practices merging gift-exchange with commerce, a mode of thinking and practice that obtained from the later Middle Ages well into the early Modern period, and in which Chaucer’s and Smith’s thought, while significantly distinct, can both be located. To explore their different positions on this spectrum, the chapter addresses first the satirical dimensions of Smith’s view of the decline of “feudalism.” It then analyzes how the elements that Smith picks out in that decline—especially the over-emphasis on personal prestige by lords, and the growth of more independent practical strategies by those who served them—featured in late medieval English poetry, especially Chaucer’s. Finally, the chapter argues that the Smithian elements of Chaucer’s thought do not fully amount to a Smithian “classical” economic model, but that Smith himself retains elements of a Chaucerian or late-medieval combination of ways of defining economic value.

Sie haben noch keine Lizenz? Dann Informieren Sie sich jetzt über unsere Produkte:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 102.000 Bücher
  • über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
  • Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Versicherung + Risiko




Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

Fußnoten
1
For the first, see the important revision of Marxist and Smithian accounts of the fourteenth-century’s collapse of population, traditional trade routes, and focus and kind of imposed industrial improvements in Campbell (2016); for the second, see the more detailed study of specific versus broader economic changes in Dyer (2005). A stimulating inquiry into the limits and uses of various models and theories for accounting for why “the distinctive features of what is often termed the ‘feudal era’ evolve[d] and dissolve[d] when they did” is found in Hatcher and Bailey (2001).
 
2
All citations from Smith (1976) will be in this form (including book and chapter for other editions).
 
3
Simpson treats Renaissance figuring of the “middle ages” through John Leland and John Bale (2002, 7–32). On the notion of “mode,” which I invoke here as well, see Simpson’s rather defensive and negative remark from a quotation by Alastair Fowler: “modes have always an incomplete repertoire, a selection only of the corresponding kind’s features, and one from which overall external structure is absent” (67 n.80). In my usage here, I would more positively define “mode” as a recurrent and deeply habituated combination of values and institutionally enshrined practices.
 
4
For the long tradition of making Chaucer the exceptional forerunner, see Simpson (2002, 45–50), with other references.
 
5
The last point is Howell’s (2010, 261–302) not Dyer’s.
 
6
For discussion of the late medieval and early modern ethics noted here, see the discussion of debt and credit in Bertolet (2013, 80–104), and for later incarnations, Muldrew (1998). See also the discussion of debt and interest in Galloway (2011).
 
7
For some discussions of this focus in medieval literature, see Wadiak (2016), Putter (2000), and Galloway (2006). See also Galloway (1994). For academic medieval economic theory and its importance to intellectual history generally, an excellent introduction is Langholm (1998).
 
8
From Harbert (1975, 12–13).
 
9
All citations of Gower (1900) are from this edition.
 
10
See Bertolet (2013), Galloway (2011).
 
11
See Parker (1999), Galloway (2011, 98–99).
 
12
Citations are from Chaucer (1987).
 
13
For comment on the importance of particularity in gift-exchange, versus the “denial of individuality” in market transactions, see Howell (2010, 180–1, 201).
 
14
See Broughton (2005, 583–648), with a convenient chart of features of the different branches of the story (587–89).
 
Literatur
Zurück zum Zitat Bell, Adrian R., Chris Brooks, and Paul R. Dryburgh. 2007. The English Wool Market, c. 1230–1327. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRef Bell, Adrian R., Chris Brooks, and Paul R. Dryburgh. 2007. The English Wool Market, c. 1230–1327. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRef
Zurück zum Zitat Bertolet, Craig E. 2013. Chaucer, Gower, Hoccleve and the Commercial Practices of Late Fourteenth-Century London. Farnham: Ashgate. Bertolet, Craig E. 2013. Chaucer, Gower, Hoccleve and the Commercial Practices of Late Fourteenth-Century London. Farnham: Ashgate.
Zurück zum Zitat Britnell, Richard H. 1996. The Commercialisation of English Society, 1000–1500. 2nd ed. Manchester: University of Manchester Press. Britnell, Richard H. 1996. The Commercialisation of English Society, 1000–1500. 2nd ed. Manchester: University of Manchester Press.
Zurück zum Zitat Broughton, Laurel. 2005. “The Prioress’s Prologue and Tale.” In Sources and Analogues of the Canterbury Tales II. Ed. Robert M. Correale and Mary Hamel. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 583–648. Broughton, Laurel. 2005. “The Prioress’s Prologue and Tale.” In Sources and Analogues of the Canterbury Tales II. Ed. Robert M. Correale and Mary Hamel. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 583–648.
Zurück zum Zitat Campbell, Bruce M. S. 2016. The Great Transition: Climate, Disease and Society in the Late-Medieval World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRef Campbell, Bruce M. S. 2016. The Great Transition: Climate, Disease and Society in the Late-Medieval World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRef
Zurück zum Zitat Chaucer, Geoffrey. 1987. The Riverside Chaucer. Ed. Larry D. Benson, 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton and Mifflin. Chaucer, Geoffrey. 1987. The Riverside Chaucer. Ed. Larry D. Benson, 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton and Mifflin.
Zurück zum Zitat Dyer, Christopher. 2005. An Age of Transition? Economy and Society in England in the Later Middle Ages. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Dyer, Christopher. 2005. An Age of Transition? Economy and Society in England in the Later Middle Ages. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Zurück zum Zitat Galloway, Andrew. 1994. “The Making of a Social Ethic in Late Medieval England: From Gratitudo to ‘Kyndenesse.’” Journal of the History of Ideas 55: 365–83.CrossRef Galloway, Andrew. 1994. “The Making of a Social Ethic in Late Medieval England: From Gratitudo to ‘Kyndenesse.’” Journal of the History of Ideas 55: 365–83.CrossRef
Zurück zum Zitat Galloway, Andrew. 2011. “The Account Book and the Treasure: Gilbert Maghfeld’s Textual Economy and the Poetics of Mercantile Accounting in Ricardian Literature.” Studies in the Age of Chaucer 33: 65–124.CrossRef Galloway, Andrew. 2011. “The Account Book and the Treasure: Gilbert Maghfeld’s Textual Economy and the Poetics of Mercantile Accounting in Ricardian Literature.” Studies in the Age of Chaucer 33: 65–124.CrossRef
Zurück zum Zitat Gower, John. 1900. The English Works of John Gower. Ed. G. C. Macaulay, 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Gower, John. 1900. The English Works of John Gower. Ed. G. C. Macaulay, 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Zurück zum Zitat Greenblatt, Stephen. 1980. Renaissance Self-Fashioning from More to Shakespeare. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Greenblatt, Stephen. 1980. Renaissance Self-Fashioning from More to Shakespeare. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Zurück zum Zitat Harbert, Bruce, ed. 1975. A Thirteenth-Century Anthology of Rhetorical Poems. Toronto Medieval Latin Texts. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. Harbert, Bruce, ed. 1975. A Thirteenth-Century Anthology of Rhetorical Poems. Toronto Medieval Latin Texts. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies.
Zurück zum Zitat Hatcher, John, and Mark Bailey. 2001. Modelling the Middle Ages: The History and Theory of England’s Economic Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRef Hatcher, John, and Mark Bailey. 2001. Modelling the Middle Ages: The History and Theory of England’s Economic Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRef
Zurück zum Zitat Howell, Martha C. 2010. Commerce Before Capitalism in Europe, 1300–1600. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Howell, Martha C. 2010. Commerce Before Capitalism in Europe, 1300–1600. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Zurück zum Zitat Kendall, Elliot. 2008. Lordship and Literature: John Gower and the Politics of the Great Household. Oxford: Clarendon Press.CrossRef Kendall, Elliot. 2008. Lordship and Literature: John Gower and the Politics of the Great Household. Oxford: Clarendon Press.CrossRef
Zurück zum Zitat Langholm, Odd. 1998. The Legacy of Scholasticism in Economic Thought: Antecedents of Choice and Power. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRef Langholm, Odd. 1998. The Legacy of Scholasticism in Economic Thought: Antecedents of Choice and Power. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRef
Zurück zum Zitat Maidstone, Richard. 2003. Richard Maidstone: Concordia (The Reconciliation of Richard II with London). Ed. David R. Carlson and trans. A. G. Rigg. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Texts. Maidstone, Richard. 2003. Richard Maidstone: Concordia (The Reconciliation of Richard II with London). Ed. David R. Carlson and trans. A. G. Rigg. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Texts.
Zurück zum Zitat Marx, Karl. 1990. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. Trans. Ben Fowkes, 2 vols. London: Penguin. Marx, Karl. 1990. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. Trans. Ben Fowkes, 2 vols. London: Penguin.
Zurück zum Zitat Muldrew, Craig. 1998. The Economy of Obligation: The Culture of Credit and Social Relations in Early Modern England. London: Macmillan.CrossRef Muldrew, Craig. 1998. The Economy of Obligation: The Culture of Credit and Social Relations in Early Modern England. London: Macmillan.CrossRef
Zurück zum Zitat Ovid. 1979. Ovid: The Art of Love and Other Poems. Ed. and trans. J. H. Mozley. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Ovid. 1979. Ovid: The Art of Love and Other Poems. Ed. and trans. J. H. Mozley. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Zurück zum Zitat Parker, R. H. 1999. “Accounting in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.” Accounting, Auditing, and Accountability Journal 12: 92–112.CrossRef Parker, R. H. 1999. “Accounting in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.” Accounting, Auditing, and Accountability Journal 12: 92–112.CrossRef
Zurück zum Zitat Putter, Ad. 2000. “Gifts and Commodities in Sir Amadace.” Review of English Studies 51: 371–94.CrossRef Putter, Ad. 2000. “Gifts and Commodities in Sir Amadace.” Review of English Studies 51: 371–94.CrossRef
Zurück zum Zitat Simpson, James. 2002. Reform and Cultural Revolution. The Oxford English Literary History, Volume 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Simpson, James. 2002. Reform and Cultural Revolution. The Oxford English Literary History, Volume 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Zurück zum Zitat Smith, Adam. 1976. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Ed. Edwin Cannan. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Smith, Adam. 1976. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Ed. Edwin Cannan. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Zurück zum Zitat Wadiak, Walter. 2016. Savage Economy: The Returns of Middle English Romance. South Bend: University of Notre Dame Press. Wadiak, Walter. 2016. Savage Economy: The Returns of Middle English Romance. South Bend: University of Notre Dame Press.
Metadaten
Titel
Crossing the Threshold: Geoffrey Chaucer, Adam Smith, and the Liminal Transactionalism of the Later Middle Ages
verfasst von
Andrew Galloway
Copyright-Jahr
2018
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71900-9_11