Medieval Trade in the Mediterranean World or Automobile Age

Medieval Trade in the Mediterranean World: Illustrative Documents

Author: Robert S Lopez

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	3
	Note on Coinage, Weights, and Other Technical Terms	10
Pt. 1	At the Origins of the Commercial Revolution
I	Commerce in the Byzantine Empire, the Muslim East, and the Catholic West	19
Pt. 2	Markets, Merchants, Merchandise, and Means of Exchange During the Commercial Revolution
II	The Development of Markets	51
III	The Growth of the Merchant Class	87
IV	The Diversification of Merchandise	108
V	The Evolution of the Means of Exchange	143
Pt. 3	Commercial Contracts and Commercial Investments
VI	Loans and the Problem of Interest	157
VII	The Contract of Exchange and Its Double Function	162
VIII	The Sea Loan and the Sea Exchange	168
IX	The Commenda Contract	174
X	Partnerships and Other Contracts Used in Land Trade	185
XI	Depositors, Factors, and Commission Agents	212
XII	Some Other Forms of Agreement	221
XIII	Informal Commercial Papers	229
Pt. 4	The Route and the Thorns Along it
XIV	Transportation by Sea	239
XV	Transportation by Land	248
XVI	The Development of Insurance Contracts	255
XVII	Commercial Litigation and Sharp Business Practices	266
XVIII	Business Failures and their Settlement	290
XIX	International Disputes over Trade	303
XX	Legal Restrictions of Trade	327
Pt. 5	Tools and Ideas
XXI	Manuals	341
XXII	The Progress of Accounting Methods	359
XXIII	Commercial Correspondence	378
XXIV	Moral Standards and Practical Advice	408
	List of Works Cited	427
	Bibliography	447
	Index	461

Interesting textbook:

Automobile Age

Author: James J Flink

In this sweeping cultural history, James Flink provides a fascinating account of the creation of the world's first automobile culture. He offers both a critical survey of the development of automotive technology and the automotive industry and an analysis of the social effects of "automobility" on workers and consumers.

James J. Flink is an affiliate of the Institute of Transportation Studies and Professor of Comparative Culture at the University of California, Irvine.