In Commerce before Capitalism in Europe, 1300 1600, Martha C. Howell challenges dominant interpretations of the relationship between the so-called commercial revolution of late medieval Europe and the capitalist age that followed. Howell argues that the merchants, shopkeepers, artisans, and consumers in cities and courts throughout Western Europe, even in the densely urbanized Low Countries that are the main focus of this study, were by no means proto-capitalist and did not consider their property a fungible asset. Even though they freely bought and sold property using sophisticated financial techniques, they preserved its capacity to secure social bonds by intensifying market regulations and by assigning new meaning to marriage, gift-giving, and consumption. Later generations have sometimes found such actions perplexing, often dismissing them as evidence that business people of the late medieval and early modern worlds did not fully understand market rules. Howell, by contrast, shows that such practices were governed by a logic specific to their age and that, however primitive they may appear to subsequent generations, these practices made Europe s economic future possible."
Industry Reviews
'This is a work of mature scholarship, the product of extensive research, exhaustive reading, and deep thought. Taking medieval merchants and artisans at their word, Martha Howell describes a world in which marriages, fashion, and gift-gifting were as economic as deal-making. This important book has it all - archival gems, artfully crafted writing, and intriguing conclusions. Readers will find much here to enjoy and ponder.' Judith Bennett, University of Southern California
'Martha Howell combines elements of her groundbreaking earlier work on small-commodity production, the family, and material culture to create a compelling new interpretation of Western European societies during the transition from feudalism to capitalism; this is an exciting book about an exciting topic by an exciting author.' Maarten Prak, Utrecht University
'In Commerce before Capitalism in Europe, Martha Howell upends the old teleologies of economic history. In their place, she offers a powerful new model oriented around consumption, credit, and material culture. The later middle ages emerge in this work as a period of vibrant cultural innovation, during which property and display take on new meanings and supposedly primitive practices, like gift-giving, accelerate rather than decay. This is a pathbreaking contribution to the new economic history.' Daniel Lord Smail, Harvard University
'Martha Howell's masterful analysis is based on extensive archival research and displays impressive, wide-ranging erudition. Her thoughtful examination of the structural changes in the ideas and practices about property, marriage, gifts, dress, and commerce represents a very original, multidisciplinary combination of sociocultural and institutional economic history. The book is authoritative, fundamental, and pathbreaking and makes for fascinating reading; it is a first-rate contribution to the historical sciences.' Herman Van der Wee, Leuven University
