Events
CEMAP seminar series: Professor Mark Casson University of Reading
Special guest: Professor Mark Casson University of Reading
Title: The Medieval Market Economy, 1250-1500: Sources and Methods
Abstract:
The paper reviews recent statistical research on the development of markets in the medieval economy carried out by the author and his associates. The history of modern markets can be traced back continuously to about 1250. While markets existed long before this, there is no continuous record from these earlier dates; the recording of market activity in Western countries ceased in the ‘dark ages’, and it is not known whether markets continued to function during this period. England has the best collection of surviving records concerning market activity of any country in the world; continuous runs of data commence c.1250.
The medieval economy generated large amounts of statistical data, in the form of royal inquisitions (Domesday and its lesser known successors), legal records (especially collections of deeds and charters), rentals (especially surveys of properties in towns and cities), bailiffs accounts from large estates (especially those of bishops and abbots), and the financial accounts of large institutions, including the households of royalty, nobility and the offices of the church. Only a small fraction of this data has been used in formal statistical analysis. Much of it has never even been transcribed and translated; indeed, many sources are not even properly catalogued; historians have edited and published certain documents, but they rarely analyse them statistically. When the data has been used, it has often been summarised in a highly aggregated form before it has been used, thereby suppressing much of the information contained in the data. This paper is concerned mainly with disaggregated data in both time series and cross-section form.
This data can, in principle, be analysed using standard techniques, e.g. hedonic regression, cointegration, and structural VARs. The medieval economy was remarkably similar to the modern economy in some respects, but markedly different in others. Using modern techniques to analyse medieval topics sheds new light on the techniques as well as on topics concerning the medieval economy.
Analysing all this data is a massive task. The results so far obtained are consistent with recently developed theories of the ‘commercialising economy’. They suggest important revisions, however, to influential academic surveys of the middle ages, which have seriously under-estimated the sophistication of medieval record-keeping and medieval economic activity.
Find out more about Professor Mark Casson, University of Reading here
References to work that will be summarised and discussed:
Macro-economic modelling
Casson, C. and Casson, M. (2015) Modelling the medieval economy: money, prices and income in England, 1263-1520. In: Allen, M. and Coffman, D.'M. (eds.) Money Prices and Wages: Essays in honour of Professor Nicholas Mayhew. Studies in the History of Finance. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, pp. 51-73. ISBN 9781137394019
Casson, M. and Casson, C. (2015) Economic crises in England, 1270-1520: a statistical approach. In: Brown, A., Burn, A. and Docherty, R. (eds.) Crises in Economic and Social History: A Comparative Perspective. Boydell & Brewer, Woodbridge, pp. 79-110. ISBN 9781783270422
Regional time series modelling
Yates, M., Campbell, A. and Casson, M. (2013) Local property values in fourteenth and fifteenth-century England. In: Casson, M. and Hashimzade, N. (eds.) Large databases in economic history: research methods and case studies. Routledge Explorations in Economic History. Routledge, Abingdon. ISBN 9780415820684
Casson, M, Casson, C. and McCooey, B. Medieval property prices: trends: cycles and inter-regional differentials Unpublished., and Ca draft
Agricultural prices time series modelling
Casson, C., Hashimzade, N. and Casson, M. (2013) Long run price dynamics: the measurement of substitutability between commodities. In: Casson, M. and Hashimzade, N. (eds.) Large databases in economic history: research methods and case studies. Routledge explorations in economic history. Routledge, Abingdon. ISBN 9780415820684
Casson, C, Fry, J.M. and Casson, M. Evolution or revolution? A study of price and wage volatility in England, 1209-1914. Unpublished draft Online at https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/31518/
Casson, M. and Lee, J. S. (2011) The origin and development of markets: a business history perspective. Business History Review, 85 (1). pp. 9-37. ISSN 2044-768X doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007680511000018
Casson, M., ed. (2011) Markets and market institutions: their origin and evolution. International library of critical writings in economics. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, pp752. ISBN 9781849803892
Local property markets: urban rents
Casson, C. and Casson, M. (2016) Location, location, location? Analysing property rents in medieval Gloucester. Economic History Review, 69 (2). pp. 575-599. ISSN 1468-0289 doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/ehr.12117
Casson, C. and Casson, M. (2018) Property rents in medieval English towns: Hull in the fourteenth century. Urban History. ISSN 1469-8706 doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S096392681800041X
Casson, C., Casson, M, Lee, J.S. and Phillips, K., forthcoming Business and Community in Medieval Cambridge, 2 volumes
Casson C., Casson M. and McCooey, B. Bury St Edmunds in the fifteenth century: occupations, rents, and local topography. Chapter for forthcoming book on comparative studies of medieval English towns
Casson, C. and Casson, M. The economy of medieval English towns: Property values and rents in Bristol, 1200-1500 Chapter for forthcoming book on comparative studies of medieval English towns
Casson, C. and Casson, M. Medieval urban property markets: Thirteenth-century Coventry revisited. Chapter for forthcoming book on comparative studies of medieval English towns.
CEMAP seminar series: Professor Mark Casson University of Reading
Special guest: Professor Mark Casson University of Reading
Title: The Medieval Market Economy, 1250-1500: Sources and Methods
Abstract:
The paper reviews recent statistical research on the development of markets in the medieval economy carried out by the author and his associates. The history of modern markets can be traced back continuously to about 1250. While markets existed long before this, there is no continuous record from these earlier dates; the recording of market activity in Western countries ceased in the ‘dark ages’, and it is not known whether markets continued to function during this period. England has the best collection of surviving records concerning market activity of any country in the world; continuous runs of data commence c.1250.
The medieval economy generated large amounts of statistical data, in the form of royal inquisitions (Domesday and its lesser known successors), legal records (especially collections of deeds and charters), rentals (especially surveys of properties in towns and cities), bailiffs accounts from large estates (especially those of bishops and abbots), and the financial accounts of large institutions, including the households of royalty, nobility and the offices of the church. Only a small fraction of this data has been used in formal statistical analysis. Much of it has never even been transcribed and translated; indeed, many sources are not even properly catalogued; historians have edited and published certain documents, but they rarely analyse them statistically. When the data has been used, it has often been summarised in a highly aggregated form before it has been used, thereby suppressing much of the information contained in the data. This paper is concerned mainly with disaggregated data in both time series and cross-section form.
This data can, in principle, be analysed using standard techniques, e.g. hedonic regression, cointegration, and structural VARs. The medieval economy was remarkably similar to the modern economy in some respects, but markedly different in others. Using modern techniques to analyse medieval topics sheds new light on the techniques as well as on topics concerning the medieval economy.
Analysing all this data is a massive task. The results so far obtained are consistent with recently developed theories of the ‘commercialising economy’. They suggest important revisions, however, to influential academic surveys of the middle ages, which have seriously under-estimated the sophistication of medieval record-keeping and medieval economic activity.
Find out more about Professor Mark Casson, University of Reading here
References to work that will be summarised and discussed:
Macro-economic modelling
Casson, C. and Casson, M. (2015) Modelling the medieval economy: money, prices and income in England, 1263-1520. In: Allen, M. and Coffman, D.'M. (eds.) Money Prices and Wages: Essays in honour of Professor Nicholas Mayhew. Studies in the History of Finance. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, pp. 51-73. ISBN 9781137394019
Casson, M. and Casson, C. (2015) Economic crises in England, 1270-1520: a statistical approach. In: Brown, A., Burn, A. and Docherty, R. (eds.) Crises in Economic and Social History: A Comparative Perspective. Boydell & Brewer, Woodbridge, pp. 79-110. ISBN 9781783270422
Regional time series modelling
Yates, M., Campbell, A. and Casson, M. (2013) Local property values in fourteenth and fifteenth-century England. In: Casson, M. and Hashimzade, N. (eds.) Large databases in economic history: research methods and case studies. Routledge Explorations in Economic History. Routledge, Abingdon. ISBN 9780415820684
Casson, M, Casson, C. and McCooey, B. Medieval property prices: trends: cycles and inter-regional differentials Unpublished., and Ca draft
Agricultural prices time series modelling
Casson, C., Hashimzade, N. and Casson, M. (2013) Long run price dynamics: the measurement of substitutability between commodities. In: Casson, M. and Hashimzade, N. (eds.) Large databases in economic history: research methods and case studies. Routledge explorations in economic history. Routledge, Abingdon. ISBN 9780415820684
Casson, C, Fry, J.M. and Casson, M. Evolution or revolution? A study of price and wage volatility in England, 1209-1914. Unpublished draft Online at https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/31518/
Casson, M. and Lee, J. S. (2011) The origin and development of markets: a business history perspective. Business History Review, 85 (1). pp. 9-37. ISSN 2044-768X doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007680511000018
Casson, M., ed. (2011) Markets and market institutions: their origin and evolution. International library of critical writings in economics. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, pp752. ISBN 9781849803892
Local property markets: urban rents
Casson, C. and Casson, M. (2016) Location, location, location? Analysing property rents in medieval Gloucester. Economic History Review, 69 (2). pp. 575-599. ISSN 1468-0289 doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/ehr.12117
Casson, C. and Casson, M. (2018) Property rents in medieval English towns: Hull in the fourteenth century. Urban History. ISSN 1469-8706 doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S096392681800041X
Casson, C., Casson, M, Lee, J.S. and Phillips, K., forthcoming Business and Community in Medieval Cambridge, 2 volumes
Casson C., Casson M. and McCooey, B. Bury St Edmunds in the fifteenth century: occupations, rents, and local topography. Chapter for forthcoming book on comparative studies of medieval English towns
Casson, C. and Casson, M. The economy of medieval English towns: Property values and rents in Bristol, 1200-1500 Chapter for forthcoming book on comparative studies of medieval English towns
Casson, C. and Casson, M. Medieval urban property markets: Thirteenth-century Coventry revisited. Chapter for forthcoming book on comparative studies of medieval English towns.
