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Transitions to Capitalism in Early Modern Europe Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 September 2019
Book III is the most explicitly historical section of Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (many modern editions), while Chapters I–III of Book I discuss the division of labor in a context of expanding markets. The several editions of Thomas Robert Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population have also been frequently reprinted; some editions include sources and commentaries. For a brief survey of the thought of these and other early analysts, along with a useful bibliography, see Cardoso, José Luís, “The Political Economy of Rising Capitalism,” in The Cambridge History of Capitalism, eds. Neal, Larry and Williamson, Jeffrey G., 2 vols. (Cambridge, UK, 2014), I: 574–99. In their bulk, the three volumes of Marx, Karl, Capital, A Critique of Political Economy (originally published 1867–1894; many English translations and editions) can be intimidating. For historical materials, see especially volume I, Chapters 14, 26–32, and volume III, Chapter 20. Marx, Karl, Pre-Capitalist Economic Formations, ed. Hobsbawm, E. J. (New York, 1965), provides a superb introduction to Marx’s thinking. The earlier Marxist-inspired transition debate can best be followed in Sweezy, Paul M., The Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism (London, 1976); Epstein, S. R., “Rodney Hilton, Marxism and the Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism,” Past and Present Supplement 2 (2007): 248–69, is a recent evaluation; for an update, Ghosh, Shami, “Rural Economies and Transitions to Capitalism: Germany and England Compared (c. 1200–c. 1800),” Journal of Agrarian Change 16/2 (2016): 255–90. For Wallerstein’s, Immanuel work, see his The Modern World-System, 4 vols. (New York, 1974–1989; Berkeley, 2011). The Brenner Debate: Agrarian Class Structure and Economic Development in Pre-Industrial Europe, eds. Aston, T. H. and Philpin, C. H. E. (Cambridge, UK, 1985), includes Brenner’s work and commentaries by other scholars. Meiksins Wood, Ellen, The Origin of Capitalism: A Longer View (London and New York, 2002), ably synthesizes Marxist scholarship arguing that agrarian capitalism caused English industrialization.
Recent essays that emphasize the cyclical nature of early modern economies requiring an exogenous shock to set off ongoing growth include Grantham, George, “Contra Ricardo: On the Macroeconomics of Pre-industrial Economies,” European Review of Economic History 3 (1999): 199–232; Goldstone, Jack A., “Efflorescences and Economic Growth in World History: Rethinking the ‘Rise of the West’ and the Industrial Revolution,” Journal of World History 13 (2002): 323–89. For more extended presentations that cover longer time spans, see Clark, Gregory, A Farewell to Alms. A Brief Economic History of the World (Princeton, 2007), and Luiten van Zanden, J. L., The Long Road to the Industrial Revolution. The European Economy in a Global Perspective, 1000–1800 (Leiden, 2009). Bavel, Bas van, The Invisible Hand? How Market Economies Have Emerged and Declined Since AD 500 (Oxford, 2016), maintains that markets inevitably self-destruct; Findlay, Ronald and O’Rourke, Kevin, Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium (Princeton, 2007), attribute responsibility for long-term cycles of growth and contraction to the interplay of war and international trade. For interpretations arguing that primarily endogenous forces slowly accumulated, eventually causing qualitative change, see Vries, Jan de, “Economic Growth Before and After the Industrial Revolution. A Modest Proposal,” in Early Modern Capitalism: Economic and Social Change in Europe 1400–1800, ed. Prak, Maarten (London, 2001), 175–92; and Grafe, Regina, “Economic and Social Trends,” in The Oxford Handbook of Early Modern European History, 1350–1750, ed. Scott, Hamish, 2 vols. (Oxford, 2015), I: 269–94. Boldizzoni, Francesco, The Poverty of Clio (Princeton, 2011), is a sustained critique of dominant quantitative approaches and economic theories that currently inform many explanations of early modern economic history; Kocka, Jürgen, Capitalism. A Short History (Princeton, 2016), gives a very brief introduction to concepts and scholarship covering the title subject up to the present day.
Notable broader works that amply repay further study, are Braudel, Fernand, Civilization and Capitalism, 15th–18th Centuries, 3 vols. (1979; New York, 1981–1984); The Cambridge Economic History of Europe, eds. Broadberry, Stephen and O’Rourke, Kevin H., vol. I (Cambridge, UK, 2010). The Cambridge History of Capitalism, vol. I, reveals the wide variety of definitions of capitalism and approaches to its history, though it is disappointingly incomplete on medieval and early modern Europe. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History, ed. Mokyr, Joel, 5 vols. (Oxford, 2003), contains fine short introductions to many subjects explored in this book, though some entries are becoming dated. In economic history as in economics in general, much of the path-breaking scholarship appears in journals. Some, like Economic History Review, Explorations in Economic History, Journal of Economic History, and European Review of Economic History, include a broad range of topics and eras; others, like Textile History and Agricultural History Review, specialize in particular sectors. An increasing number of national and regional periodicals, such as Rivista di storia economica, Histoire, Économie & Société, Low Countries Journal of Social and Economic History, Scandinavian Economic History Review, and Revista de Historia Económica-Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, are published wholly or in part in English. More general scholarly journals such as Past and Present, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, and Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales (English edition) also regularly publish important articles on early modern European economies.
The best current English-language overview of medieval economic history is Epstein, Steven A., An Economic and Social History of Later Medieval Europe, 1000–1500 (Cambridge, UK, 2009). North, Michael, The Expansion of Europe, 1250–1500 (Manchester, 2012), provides a more detailed survey; Campbell, Bruce M. S., The Great Transition. Climate, Disease and Society in the Late-Medieval World (Cambridge, UK, 2016), emphasizes environmental factors. For individual nations and regions, see Dyer, Christopher, An Age of Transition? Economy and society in England in the later Middle Ages (Oxford, 2005); The Cambridge Urban History of Britain. Vol. 1, 600–1540, ed. Palliser, D. M. (Cambridge, UK, 2008); Goldthwaite, Richard A., The Economy of Renaissance Florence (Baltimore, 2009); Bavel, Bas van, Manors and Markets: Economy and Society in the Low Countries, 500–1600 (Oxford, 2005); Ruiz, Teofilo, Crisis and Continuity: Land and Town in Late Medieval Castile (Philadelphia, 1994); Epstein, Stephan R., An Island for Itself. Economic Development and Social Change in Late Medieval Sicily (Cambridge, UK, 1992); Costa, Leonor Freire, Lains, Pedro, and Miranda, Susana Münch, An Economic History of Portugal, 1143–2010 (Cambridge, UK, 2016), Chapter 1. Church, Clive H. and Head, Randolph, A Concise History of Switzerland (Cambridge, UK, 2013), sketches Swiss economic history across the whole period covered in this book. Most recent scholarship on Europe, however, is available only to those who read languages besides English.
There is no synthesis of late medieval European agricultural history. Agrarian Change and Crisis in Europe, 1200–1500, ed. Kitsikopoulos, Harry (London, 2012), surveys critical issues. Allen, Robert C., “Economic Structure and Agricultural Productivity in Europe, 1300–1800,” European Review of Economic History 3 (2000): 1–25, calculates long-term trends. For England, see The Agrarian History of England and Wales. Vol. III. 1348–1500, ed. Miller, Edward (Cambridge, UK, 1991); Routt, David, “The Late Medieval Countryside: England’s Rural Economy and Society, 1275–1500,” History Compass 11 (2013): 474–85, for brief introduction and bibliography; Bailey, Mark, “Beyond the Midland Field System: The Determinants of Common Rights over the Arable in Medieval England,” Agricultural History Review 58/2 (2010): 153–71; Ghosh, Shami, “Rural Economies and Transitions to Capitalism: Germany and England Compared (c. 1200–c. 1800),” Journal of Agrarian Change 16/2 (2016): 255–90; Bailey, Mark, Medieval Suffolk: An Economic and Social History 1200–1500 (Woodbridge, 2007); Dodds, Ben, Peasants and Production in the Medieval North-east: Evidence from Tithes, 1270–1536 (Woodbridge, 2007). For other parts of Europe, English-language studies are sparse. Rahn, Carla and Phillips, William D., Spain’s Golden Fleece. Wool Production and the Wool Trade from the Middle Ages to the Nineteenth Century (Baltimore, 1997), includes material on the rural economy; for Italy, see Federico, Giovanni and Malanima, Paolo, “Progress, Decline, Growth: Product and Productivity in Italian Agriculture, 1000–2000,” Economic History Review 57 (2004): 437–64; and Marino, John, Pastoral Economics in the Kingdom of Naples (Baltimore, 1988). Some edited collections include essays on late medieval Continental agriculture: The Development of Leasehold in Northwestern Europe, c. 1200–1600, ed. Schofield, Phillipp R. and Bavel, Bas van (Turnhout, 2009); Landholding and Land Transfer in the North Sea Area (late Middle Ages–19th century), ed. Hoppenbrouwers, Peter and Bavel, Bas van (Turnhout, 2004).
Of all industries, textiles have been most studied. The best surveys are the Cambridge History of Western Textiles, vol. I, ed. Jenkins, D. T. (Cambridge, UK, 1997); Huang, Angela L., Textiles and the Medieval Economy. Production, Trade and Consumption of Textiles, 8th-16th centuries (Oxford, 2015); The European Linen Industry in Historical Perspective, eds. Collins, Brenda and Ollerenshaw, Philip (Oxford, 2003). For other industries, see Langdon, John L., Mills in the Medieval Economy: England 1300–1540 (Oxford, 2004); Jensen, Kristian, Incunabula and their Readers. Printing, Selling, and Using Books in the Fifteenth Century (London, 2003); Pettegree, Andrew, The Book in the Renaissance (New Haven, 2010).
To sample studies of medieval work organization and experiences, see Cohn, Samuel K., Jr., “After the Black Death: Labour Legislation and Attitudes towards Labour in Late-medieval Western Europe,” Economic History Review 60 (2007): 457–85; Epstein, Steven, Wage Labor and Guilds in Medieval Europe (Chapel Hill, NC, 1991); Labour and Leisure in Historical Perspective, ed. Blanchard, Ian (Stuttgart, 1994); Labour and Labour Markets between Town and Countryside (Middle Ages-19th century), ed. Blondé, Bruno, Galand, Michele, and Vanhaute, Eric (Turnhout, 2001). For up-to-date scholarship on guilds, Stabel, Peter, “Guilds in Late-medieval Flanders: Myth and Realities of Guild Life in an Export-oriented Environment,” Journal of Medieval History 30 (2004): 187–212; Guilds, Innovation and the European Economy, 1400–1800, ed. Epstein, Stephen R. and Prak, Maarten R. (Cambridge, UK, 2008), emphasizes the positive contributions of guilds; Sheilagh Ogilvie, The European Guilds: An Economic Analysis (Princeton, 2019), stresses corporations’ negative aspects. The Oxford Handbook of Women and Gender in Medieval Europe, ed. Bennett, Judith M. (Oxford, 2013), includes up-to-date essays on women’s varied economic roles.
Howell, Martha, Commerce before Capitalism in Europe, 1300–1600 (New York, 2010), provides a subtle anatomy of late medieval economic practices and attitudes that challenges anachronistic arguments. Fontaine, Laurence, Le Marché. Histoire et usages d’une conquéte sociale (Paris, 2014), presents important general considerations about markets and commercialization. Spufford, Peter, Power and Profit: The Merchant in Medieval Europe (London, 2002), is an illustrated introduction to traders and their goods; Hunt, Edwin S. and Murray, James M., A History of Business in Medieval Europe 1200–1500 (Cambridge, UK, 1999), focuses on merchant practices. Britnell, R. H., The Commercialisation of English Society 1000–1500, 2nd ed. (Manchester, 1996), remains the best study of growing market orientation and institutions across all sectors of an economy. Among specialized works, see Welch, Evelyn, Shopping in the Renaissance. Consumer Cultures in Italy 1400–1600 (New Haven, 2005); Ferrer, Maria Teresa, “Catalan Commerce in the Late Middle Ages,” Catalan Historical Review 5 (2012): 29–65; Harreld, Donald, Brill’s Companion to the Hanseatic League (Leiden, 2015); Dijkman, Jessica, Shaping Medieval Markets: The Organisation of Commodity Markets in Holland, c. 1200–c. 1450 (Leiden, 2011); Kermode, Jennifer, Medieval Merchants. York, Beverley, and Hull in the Later Middle Ages (Cambridge, UK, 1998); Constable, Olivia Remie, Trade and Traders in Muslim Spain. The Commercial Realignment of the Iberian Peninsula, 900–1500 (Cambridge, UK, 1994); Doosselaere, Quentin Van, Commercial Agreements and Social Dynamics in Medieval Genoa (Cambridge, UK, 2009). Greif, Avner, Institutions and the Path to the Modern Economy. Lessons from Medieval Trade (Cambridge, UK, 2006), foregrounds game theory and Genoese trade history. Studies of specific commodities shed light on larger issues regarding commerce: Unger, Richard W., Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (Philadelphia, 2004); Phillips, and Phillips, , Spain’s Golden Fleece (cited above). The Cambridge World History of Slavery, vol. 3, eds. Eltis, David and Engerman, Stanley L. (Cambridge, UK, 2011), examines the sorry but central institution from 1420 CE to 1804 CE; when published, volume 2 will cover the millennium from 500 CE to the early fifteenth century. Smail, Daniel L., Legal Plunder. Households and Debt Collection in Late Medieval Europe (Cambridge, MA, 2016), discusses uses and problems of consumer credit.
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