This collection of merchant documents is essential reading for any student of economic developments in the Middle Ages who wishes to go beyond the level of textbook summaries. Different aspects of economic life in the Mediterranean world are delineated in the light of a rich variety of articles and other contemporary writings, drawn from Muslim and Christian sources. From commercial contracts, promissory notes, and judicial acts to working manuals of practical geography and philology, this volume of documents provides an unparalleled portrait of the world of medieval commerce.
Table of Contents Foreword Introduction Note on Coinage, Weights, and Other Technical Terms Pt. 1. At the Origins of the Commercial Revolution I. Commerce in the Byzantine Empire, the Muslim East, and the Catholic West Pt. 2. Markets, Merchants, Merchandise, and Means of Exchange During the Commercial Revolution II. The Development of Markets III. The Growth of the Merchant Class IV. The Diversification of Merchandise V. The Evolution of the Means of Exchange Pt. 3. Commercial Contracts and Commercial Investments VI. Loans and the Problem of Interest VII. The Contract of Exchange and Its Double Function VIII. The Sea Loan and the Sea Exchange IX. The Commenda Contract X. Partnerships and Other Contracts Used in Land Trade XI. Depositors, Factors, and Commission Agents XII. Some Other Forms of Agreement XIII. Informal Commercial Papers Pt. 4. The Route and the Thorns Along It XIV. Transportation by Sea XV. Transportation by Land XVI. The Development of Insurance Contracts XVII. Commercial Litigation and Sharp Business Practices XVIII. Business Failures and their Settlement XIX. International Disputes over Trade XX. Legal Restrictions of Trade Pt. 5. Tools and Ideas XXI. Manuals XXII. The Progress of Accounting Methods XXIII. Commercial Correspondence XXIV. Moral Standards and Practical Advice List of Works Cited Bibliography Index
Robert S. Lopez was professor of history at Yale University. Irving W. Raymond was professor of history at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. Olivia Remie Constable is associate professor of history at the University of Notre Dame.
"Because of its extensive notes and commentary, Medieval Trade in the Mediterranean World continues to be useful to scholars. Its principal value, however, is as a teaching text: as one of the few collections of translated sources focusing on the Mediterranean, and as one of the few that concentrates on documentary rather than narrative records." - Adam J. Kosto, Columbia University; "Important for understanding the formative period of modern economics....A rich repository of documents from Europe's first commercial revolution." - Frank Frankfort, History"
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