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Perspectives on the Origins of Merchant Capitalism in Europe

Author(s): Eric Mielants
Source: Review (Fernand Braudel Center), Vol. 23, No. 2 (2000), pp. 229-292
Published by: Research Foundation of SUNY for and on behalf of the Fernand Braudel Center
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on theOriginsof
Perspectives
MerchantCapitalismin Europe*
EricMielants
thereare fourmajor theoreticalperspectiveson the
Essentially,
originsof capitalismand the medievalera in westernEurope.
examinesthe main argumentselaboratedin
This articlecritically
theseperspectivesand attemptsto rethinkthelong termhistoryof
socioeconomicand politicalprocesses.The fourmajor theoretical
perspectivesdealt within this articleare, respectively, orthodox
Marxism(whichconsidersthenineteenthcentury as theera ofcapi-
talism),a form of neo-Marxismwhich I call "Brennerism" (in which
class struggleand agrarianproductiontend to be the primordial
focus),"modernization theory"(whichoftencontraststhemedieval
era withthe modernera), and lastly,world-systems analysis,which
tendsto date capitalismback to the "long"sixteenthcentury(So,
1990: 187-90).1Each of theseperspectivescopes withits own spe-
cificproblemsin dealingwiththe emergenceof merchantcapital-
ism.
*
I wishto thankAdriaanVerhulst,ErikThoen, PieterSaey,Marc Boone, and Peter
Stabel fromthe University of Ghent,Leon Voet fromthe Handelshogeschoolte Ant-
werpen,as wellas ImmanuelWallerstein,Dale Tomich,and MarkSelden ofBinghamton
University,and Giovanni Arrighiof Johns Hopkins Universityfor theircriticaland
perceptivecommentson an earlierdraftof thisarticle,whichI presentedin a much
abbreviatedformat theinternationalcolloquiumon "Labor and Labor Marketsbetween
Town and Countryside(MiddleAges-19thcentury)"at theUniversitéLibrede Bruxelles,
Dec. 11-12, 1998. Of course,no one but myselfis responsibleforanyerrorsof factor
interpretation.
1Othersin the school go back to c. 1400 AD (Arrighi,1994), the thir-
world-systems
teenthcentury(Abu-Lughod,1989), or even 3000 BC (Frank,1990; 1992; Frank8cGills,
1991; 1992a; 1993a).
review,xxiii,2,2000,229-92 229

230 EricMielants
ORTHODOX MARXISM
When orthodoxMarxismis used as a theoreticalperspectiveto

analyzetheemergenceof capitalism,one facesseveralproblems:a
deterministic stagistevolutionis imposedupon historicalprocesses
(after bourgeoisrevolution,the era of capitalismdawns,onlyto
a
end in the Aufhebung), the use of a socioeconomicinfrastructure
whichdeterminesa suprastructure, theuse ofEurocentric terminol-
ogies (e.g., frozen Asiatic
histories; Mode of Production),thefram-
ing of exploitationas a rigiddichotomousclass strugglebetween
proletariansand capitalistswithina nation-state as a unitofanalysis
(Takahashi, 1976: 74),2and last but not least the relegationof the
marketto a secondarypositionoutside the sphereof production,
while assigninganalyticalpriorityto the means of production
(Tomich,1993: 223).
The orthodoxMarxisttraditionof constructing an economic
viewof modernity, reproducedby academics such as Christopher
Hill, dates capitalism(and modernsociety)in the late eighteenth
centurywiththe IndustrialRevolutionat its forefront (Baradat,
1998: 137-61). It is only then thatMarxistssee a real transition
takingplace. As a consequence,mostof themdisregardthe "long"
sixteenth century, letalone theMiddleAges.AlthoughMarxhimself
acknowledgedthat "we come across the firstsporadic traces of
capitalistproductionas earlyas thefourteenth or fifteenthcenturies
in certaintowns of the Mediterranean"(1977: 876) he did not
elaborateon this.3At most,Marxiststracetheearlyrootsofcapital-
ism to the 1640's in England(Cantor,1973: 294). However,in the
1970's a neo-Marxianvariant,theBrennerianapproach,comesinto
thepicture.
2 "Freeman and
slave, patricianand plebeian, lord and serf,guild-masterand
journeyman,in a word; oppressorand oppressed,stood in constantoppositionto one
another"(Marx and Engelsin the Communist Manifesto citedin Edwardset al., 1972: 67)
as iftherewereonlytwofundamentalclassesin history. Anotherassumptionis thatsmall
familyproductionon thecountryside was identicalto auto-subsistance
(Bois, 1985: 190)
so it could not lead to the developmentof capitalism.For thehistoricalevidencethatit
could in Catalonia cf.Torras (1980: 258).
5 Marx himselfwas not
preoccupiedwithfeudalismor the Middle Ages and all his
statementsabout themwerenothingmore than"contextualobservationsdependenton
his analysisof thecapitalistproduction"duringtheindustrialera (e.g., Guérreau,1980:
57; Bois, 1985: 189; Feddema 8cTichelman,1978: 17; Dahl, 1998: 61).

ORIGINS OF MERCHANT CAPITALISM IN EUROPE 231
BRENNERIANAPPROACH
The Brennerianapproach(unliketraditional orthodoxMarxism)

is stronglypreoccupiedwiththe Middle Ages. However,thisap-
proachalso has specificproblemssinceit tendsto:
• focuspredominantly on classstruggleand modes ofproduc-
tionand minimizethecirculationof trade(Brenner,1977);
• overemphasizeproduction,specifically agrarian,at the ex-
pense ofurbancenteredproduction,
• considerthenobility as nothingmorethana "surplusextract-
ingby extra-economic compulsion"orientedclassin orderto
indulgeinso-called"non-productiveconsumption" (Brenner,
1985b: 232).4
Brennerremainsencapsulatedin a Marxisttraditionthatfocuses
predominantly on the mode of productionand class warfarebe-
tweenpeasants(theexploited)and thenobility (theexploiters)with-
in a giventerritorialunit(the nation-state
being the unitof analy-
he explainsthe economic success of the English
sis).5Essentially,
nobility, comparisonwiththe Frenchnobility,
in as the difference
betweena class in itself(France) and a class for itself(England)
(Byres,1996: 67) whichhe labels"extraordinaryintra-classcohesive-
ness"(Brenner,1985b:258).6He also followstheMarxistpathwhich
juxtaposes the "absolutismin France"versus"thedevelopmentof
4 Does this statement

implythatno investments(throughspending) took place
withincertainurban industries?"Desired goods includedluxuriesas well as basic com-
modities. . . kingsand princes,noblemen,townpatriciansand clergymenwere also the
consumerspar excellenceofgoods . . . theirconsumptionpreferencesplayeda basic part
in shapingmanyof the commercialpolicies of the middleages" (Miller,1976: 353); cf.
also Abraham-Thisse (1993a: 27-70). Does thisimplythatno investmentsoccurredin the
countrysideeither?(Lewis, 1984: X, 513). Furthermore, the nobilitycould also be very
activein trade,becominga directcompetitorto peasantsand merchantssellinggoods
on the market(e.g., Pal Pâch, 1994: III).
5 Brenner's thesisis
essentially"a base consistingof unfreepeasants, the direct
producers, and an aristocraticsuperstructure supportedbyrentswhichwere extracted
fromtheformer.This criticalprocessofextractionwas possiblebecause thelordsowned
the land" (Harvey,1991: 16-17). Cf. also Us 8c Soly (1993: 196) who followthe same
"Brennerian"framework.
6On the
problematicissue to whatextentone can alreadyperceiveclassformations
in the Middle Ages, cf. the opposition between Brenner(1985a; 1985b) and Fossier
(1991: 415-36) on one hand and Murray(1978: 14-17) and Raftis(1996: 128) on the
other.Constable (1996: 301-23) seems to takea carefulintermediary position.

232 EricMielants
classicalcapitalistrelationson thelandin England"(Brenner,1985b:

275; 284-99). Brennerthenconstructs in sucha wayit
hisnarrative
becomes either:a) a preludeto orthodoxMarxiststagisthistorical
evolution,7 endingwiththe"riseofa capitalistaristocracy presiding
overan agricultural revolution" (Brenner,1985b:299) whichin turn
broughtabout aan upwardspiralthatextendedinto theindustrial
revolution"(Brenner,1985b: 327) or b) a particularvariantof
modernizationtheory(cf.infra),explainingwhyone territorial unit
(England), unlike another one (France), managed to achieve an
economic"take-off."8
In bothcases,capitalismbecomesa characteristic of one nation
at a givenmomentin time.9Anotherproblemis towhatextentpeas-
ants(in Brenner'sviewtheproductivebase of a society)wereactu-
allyofservilestatus.10Also,in makingclassstruggle and themode of
so
production central, Brenner minimizes themarket's importance
(1977; 1985a; 1985b). Certainly, one can claimthatsome peasants
onlysold productson themarketto covertheirmonetaryrequire-
ments,whichwerepartially generatedbycoercivedemandsoftheir
lordsand/orstateofficials. In thisway,someagricultural producers
were"drivento themarket"in orderto obtain,via thesale ofpartof
theirproduction,the cash withwhichto meet theirobligations,
generatedby"extra-economic compulsion"(Aymard,1993:292-93;
Gutnova,1990: 111).11Yet,thisdoes notmeanone shouldminimize
7 In a Brennerjuxtaposes thegeneralcrisis"on mostof

typicalMarxistframework,
the continent"versusthe "criticalbreakthroughto self-sustaining growthin England"
(Brenner,1985b: 275).
8 "It was the of
growthof agriculturalproductivity,rooted in the transformation
agrarianclassor propertyrelations,whichallowedtheEnglisheconomyto embarkupon
a path of developmentalreadyclosed to its Continentalneighbors"(Brenner,1985b:
323). In this sense, Englishdevelopmentdistinguisheditselffromthe continentthat
suffersfromsclerosis(Brenner,1985b: 275, 299); therefore,Brennerperceivescapital-
ism,developmentand a breakthroughin economic growthoccurringin England,and
crisis,stagnation,absolutemonarchyoccurringin France.It is also a veryunilinearway
of thinkingabout historicalevolution(Holton, 1985: 89).
9 Cf. Torras who criticizes"the unilinearand
endogenous causalityof his
strictly
[Brenner's]approach" (1980: 262).
IU
Accordingto Kosminsky,even in late thirteenth centuryfeudalEngland,40% of
theland occupied bypeasantswas freeland,and approximatelythesame percentageof
peasant households was freeas well (Kosminskyin Harvey,1991: 18). Cf. also Heers
(1992: 163-64).
Or, as Rodney Hilton puts it: The importantthingabout the developmentof
moneyrentwas thatas soon as the peasant was told to produce his rentin money,he
had to produce goods on the marketin order to get themoney"(1974: 218).

the importanceof demographicchange or the powerfuldynamic

impulsesgeneratedbytheexistence(and increasingsignificance) of
the market itself:
between the eleventh and late thirteenth
century,
in
England'semployment market-dependent occupationsgrewmore
rapidly than the number of self-sufficient
farmers. Withintherural
economy,specializationoccurredas well.12
Afterinvestigating data available in the Domesday book, the
economic historianSnooks estimatesthat40% of the economyin
eleventh-century England was involvedin marketactivities(the
marketbeingthesectorwhere"all themajoreconomicdecisionsin
Englandweremade") and 60% in subsistence.13 These resultschal-
lenge theconventional wisdom which insists
upon onlya verylimited
roleformarketforces at thistime (Snooks,1995: 39). Hence, asser-
tionssuch as Brenner'sthatindividualfeudallordsfrivolously con-
sumed surpluseseitherproducedfromestatesmanagedaccording
to time-honored customor extractedfromtheirtenantsbyvarious
noneconomicmeans,havetobe seriously questioned(Snooks,1995:
47). Of course, one cannot deny thata small minority (thenobility)
in a giventerritorialunitimposedmanysubstantialdifferent finan-
cial extractionsupon the majority (peasants) without reinvestments
occurringin thecountryside (e.g., Maddicott,1975; Thoen, 1988a:
12The
specialization,and commercialization
intensification, of thecountrysidealso
occurs in Flanders(e.g., Thoen, 1993) as well as in the Netherlands(Blockmans,1993:
49-50). At the same period,
commercialization changedthecharacterof taxation.Geld, theprincipaltaxof
theeleventhcentury, had been leviedon land. By 1300 themaintaxon thelaity
was assessed on thevalue of personalmovableproperty,and thisensuredthat
townspeopleshould be broughtwithinits scope. Not only that,but towns-
people usuallypaid tax at a higherrate thancountrypeople. In addition,cus-
tomsdutiesfelldirectlyon importsand exports.EdwardI had enhanced their
value in 1275 whenhe initiatedthelevyingof a tax on wool exports.This levy
on tradeinstantly became a principalsupportof royalfinances,more regular
thanany othersource of income. It was the foundationupon whichthe king
establishedhis creditwhenhe wishedto borrowmoneyfromItalianmerchants
(Britnell,1995: 14).
Accordingto Cazel, duringthereignofEdwardI, theroyalrevenuefromdues offoreign
merchants(paid in returnfora license to tradewithEngland),became about equal to
the entiredomanial revenue(1966: 104). On the presence of a whole varietyof "alien
merchants"in late thirteenthand earlyfourteenthcenturyEngland,cf. Lloyd (1982;
1991).
13Snooks estimatesthat32.3 % of the
Englishmarketsectorin 1086 was ruraland
7.8% was urban,herebyarrivingat a totalof 40.1% (1995: 40).

234 EricMielants
636-37). Nor does itmeanthat"surplusextracting bynon-economic

compulsion"(Brenner, 1985b: 232) did nottakeplace. But I thinkit
is fundamentally importantto acknowledgethatstrongcities,dom-
inating theirrural hinterland,exploitedthecountryside just as well
as feudallords did (Harvey,1991: 19; Nicholas,1971: 93; Epstein,
1992: 124-33; Hilton,1974: 212).14And,fundamentally, whywould
feudalstructures inhibitthe emergence of markets?Accordingto
Bruce Campbell,peasantproducersgenerally
production,specialize,and participatein themarket
intensify
exchange when theyhave to, and feudalism-throughthe
extractionof theirsurplusesin variousformsof feudalrent-
obligedthemto do preciselythis(1995b: 133).
Peasantsdidproduceabundantgoodsinregionalmarketcircuits
(Derville,1996: 123-36) as well as in trulyinternationalmarkets
(Thoen, 1988a: 277-79). Notdenyingor minimizing thesignificance
of agencyor peasant resistancein the face of coerced extractions
(e.g., Hanawalt,1986: 23-47), to considerthe conceptof "power
relationsbetweenlordsand peasantsas theprimummovensof the
MiddleAges wouldbe absurd"(Guérreau,1980: 108).15Therefore,
I agreewithEpstein'scritiqueof Brenner:
Because economic developmentoccurs as a resultof ex-
change and competitionin markets,it is primarily market
structuresthatdeterminethecharacterand rateofeconomic
developmentin a society.By contrast,since propertyrela-
14It is
quite surprisingthatin theentiredebate on thetransitionfromfeudalismto
capitalism,Brenner(amongotherMarxists)has failedto includetheimportanceoftrade
arid cities in his "narrativeof sodoeconomic change" (Howell 8c Boone, 1996: 323;
Epstein,StevenA., 1991: 258; Epstein,Stephan R., 1991: 4) as he reduced the latterto
mere passiveentities(Boone, 1996b: 162).
15Ellen Wood is neverthelessconvinced this is the case, since merchantsand
manufacturerswere in her opinion not drivingthe process thatpropelled the early
developmentofcapitalism(1999: 94). As a "BrennerianMarxist** sheessentiallyconsiders
mostof theseventeenthcenturyworldas nothingmorebutcommercialnetworkswhere
"thedominantprincipleoftradewasbuyingcheap and sellingdear** and moreover,trade
itself"stilltended to be in luxurygoods**(1999: 72). Justas Brenner,she juxtaposes
France vs. England. The latteris, accordingto her, the most unique site of historical
developmentin the entireworld: "therewas one major exception. . . England,by the
sixteenthcentury,was developingin whollynew directions"(1999: 74). Because of its
unique agricultural conditions(1999: 80), "England'sinternalmarketand its'capitalism
in one country'" (1999: 130), thisexceptionalislandwas, accordingto Wood, capable
of becomingall on itsown the firstcapitalistnation-state.

tions are only one (albeit crucial) determinantof market

structures,one may not deduce the course of economic
developmentfroma (reified)structure ofpropertyrelations
alone One cannotinfera peasantsmallholder's economic
strategiesfrom his to on
ability subsist his ownland (and his
to
duty pay rent to a feudalor otherlandlord);rather,his
economicstrategies willdependon howhisaccessto markets
is structured
(Epstein,1992: 22).
MODERNIZATION APPROACH
A modernizationapproach16is also problematic,whetherit is

based on the emergenceof modern(spiritualor religious)values
thatformthebasisoftheemergenceofcapitalistaccumulation(e.g.,
Weber,1996;Tawney,1926;Werner,1988;Landes,1998) or techno-
logical innovationsthat would lead Europe on an unavoidable
teleologicalpath to dominanceovertherestof theworldin subse-
quent centuries(e.g., Labal, 1962: 32-39; Gimpel, 1976; Ashtor,
1992a: vol. IV; White,1962;Jones,1981: 45-69; Landes, 1998; Lai,
1998). In constructing a developmental/modernization model to
explain the steadyriseof putting-outsystems(in symbiosiswiththe
emergenceof capitalism),one mustbe verycarefulin reifying con-
cepts,since unhistorical loom
pitfalls A
everywhere.17typical miscon-
ceptioninherentto modernization theoryis thefactthat,in contem-
poraryliterature,manyscholarsdismissmedievalcorporationsand
as
guilds beingsynonyms forsocioeconomicstagnation, decline,and
archaism(Munro, 1994a: IX, 44; Boone, 1994: 3-5; Lis & Soly,
1997b: 228). Guildsand corporationsare thevictimsof thisunhis-
toricalinterpretationmainlybecause theirpresenceis oftenframed
whereascapitalism,identifiedas the real
in a period of transition,
progress within modernization theory,takes over the pre-Renais-
16A modernization
approach is sometimesassociated witha commercialization
approach (Persson, 1988: 64), but its obsession withsituatingmodernityin the post-
medievalera and theprejudicesvis-a-vis everythinglinkedwiththeDark Ages (cf.infra)
makes it more proper to call it a "modernizationapproach."
17For
instance,theexpansionof a Verlag-system in westernEurope (the maincom-
modity chain flowingfrom the Low CountriesthroughGermanytowardsnorthernItaly)
was not universalin timeand space, nor was its appearance uniform(Holbach, 1993:
207-50).

236 EricMielants
sance decadent medieval structureswhile installingmodernity

(Boone, 1994:4). The classicexampleofthistraditional
pointofview
in themodernization/development schoolis,I wouldargue,themost
famouspropagatorofmoderneconomics,AdamSmithhimself:
One objectiveof thecraftguildswas to excludecompetition.
A craftguildwas an associationin a giventownofthemasters
of a tradewho combinedto controlprices,wages,and the
standardsand conditionsof sales of theirproducts,and to
monopolizetheirmanufacture (1976: 69; 139).
Thus, the guildsbecame constantly depictedas medievalconserva-
tive remnantsthat were obstructingthe route to progress(i.e.,
towardscapitalism)withregulationsand prohibitions (accordingto
modernizationtheory,detrimentalto the increasingwealth of
nationswithina freemarket).18 Furthermore, the guildswerealso,
fromthelate fifteenth centuryonwards,losingforcesagainstongo-
ing centralizationprocesses. Besides, the nineteenth-/twentieth-
centuryliberalindustrialnation-state was alwayssignificantly more
interestedand motivatedin illustrating its own vibrantdynamism
thangivingjustice to itsown predecessors,themedievalcraftsmen
and guilds(Braunstein,1994: 23). Surely,capitalismitselfcould not
have originatedin themidstof thisarchaicpremodernworld?
For modernizationtheoryit seems nothingimportantor novel
happenedin the"long"sixteenth century: as in Marxism,theIndus-
trialRevolutionofthelate eighteenth- and earlynineteenth-century
has to be looked upon as therealwatershedin history, openingthe
gates of modernity(Cantor,1973: 298-301). As a result,the eco-
nomichistorian'sprincipleinterest inpreindustrial economieslayin
understanding the constraints that prevented their becomingmod-
ern. Obviously,thisquite stagnationist interpretation of medieval
economichistoryundoubtedlyhad an impacton thecourseof his-
toricaldebatesand theassumptionsmanyscholarssharedaboutthe
stateof the premodernworldin general.Onlypremodernfactors
such as the availabilityof land and populationgrowthbecame the
keyto understanding a premodernworld,19 makingcommercializa-
18Cf. Us 8c
Soly (1994: 366-69) but also Persson's(1988: 50-54) well-foundedcri-
tique on Mickwitz's(1936) viewof guildsand competition.
19
E.g., Postan (1966; 1973) and Postan 8c Hatcher(1985); on the supposedlynon-

tion,specialization,and technicalchange peripheraltopicsforthe

historyof a premodernsociety(Britnell8c Campbell, 1995: 8).
Unfortunately, manystillassociatethe MiddleAges withan age of
ignorance, backwardness, and generalunderdevelopment (Pernoud,
1992: 16; Geremek, 1994: 15) and,in doingso, upholda "traditional
pictureof medievalsocietyas feudal,hierarchical, deeplyconserva-
tiveand religiousand the economyas a self-sufficient subsistence
economy"(Fryde,1998: 207).20
Regardingtechnological progress,dynamism, and inventiveness,
premodern medieval labor formations cannot,as modernization
theorydoes, simplybe dismissedas beingpremodernas ifa major
gap woulddividethemfromour modernworld.How can one imag-
ine thatguilds,locatedat theheartofa medievalurbansociety,and
wouldhavebeen nothingmorebutincarna-
itspoliticalinstitutions,
tionsof conservative, stagnant,and unproductiveeconomicaction
withoutproperdynamismand innovation(Boone, 1994: 16)? Fur-
thermore, preindustrial century)marketswere
(i.e., pre-nineteenth
muchmore complexand variedthanis usuallyenvisaged(Epstein,
1993: 470). Yet, one should not onlyrethinkthe concept of the
IndustrialRevolution,praised(and conceptualized)by moderniza-
tion-development theory(Wallerstein,1984: 179-80), but thevery
termagriculturalrevolutionas well (Verhulst,1989a: 71-95; Ver-
hulst, 1990a: 17-28).21Unfortunately, modernizationtheorydis-
missesnot onlythe guild'sinfrastructure, but sometimeseven the
entirepremodern medieval era, "consigningit to a pre-industrial
limbo of gloom and inertia"(Dyer,1991: 7), as ifit wererigidand
suffering frompermanentsclerosis,a timeperiodonlywaitingto be
sweptawaybythetriumphoflaissez-faire economics.22
existence of technologicalprogress in this perspectivewhich frames"pre-industrial

agrarianeconomies in a sortof Ricardo-Malthus trap,"cf.Persson(1988: 3-4, 24-32).
™For a dismissalof
pessimisticassessmentsregardinglate medieval agricultural
productivityand proficiencycommon to both MaJthusianists and neo-Marxistscf.
Verhulst(1997: 91-92). For an excellentrevisionoftheideal typical"lymphatic
peasants"
à la Postan and the "lackadaisicallords whichsapped the agriculturalsectorof dynam-
ism" à la Brenner,cf.Campbell (1995a: 76-108).
21Some even situatethe
agriculturalrevolutionin the thirteenth-fourteenthcen-
turies(e.g., Dowd, 1961: 143-60 forItaly).
**For
manyscholars,medievalfeaturesare treatedeitheras obsolete remnants
fromthepast or as radicallytransformed vehiclesof earlymodernitywithalmostunrec-
ognizable origins"(Howell 8c Boone, 1996: 305).

238 EricMielants
However,everythingremainingdifferent,Marxismhas thesame
obsessionwithmodernity in emphasizingtheAgricultural Revolu-
tionand theIndustrialRevolutionin itsstagistperspectiveas mod-
ernizationtheory.Hence,itsdismissive thepremod-
attitudevis-a-vis
ern "long" sixteenthcenturyor medievalera is quite similar.Yet
manyMarxistand modernizationtheoriststendto forgetthatathe
industrialrevolutionwas not the source of modern economic
growth"(North& Thomas, 1973: 157) but ratherthe outcomeof
processeswhichhaveto be tracedbackin theperiodprior
different
to theIndustrialRevolution.23
WORLD-SYSTEMS ANALYSIS
World-systems analysis(WSA) attempts toexplaintheemergence

ofa capitalistworld-economy in Europeparallelwiththeincorpora-
tionof regionsthroughdominationand colonizationwhichin turn
resultsin an internationaldivisionoflaborand an interstate system.
At the same time,it debunksthenotionsof modernity and Indus-
trialRevolution.As a consequence,unlikemodernization theoryand
orthodoxMarxism,WSA cannotdisregardmedievalEurope in its
entiretysince it has to "reopen the questionof how and whenthe
capitalistworld-economy was created in the firstplace; whythe
28 "theviewthatonlyEngland,withitsIndustrialRevolution
Findlaystatesrightfully:
on domesticsoil and withhome-growntechnologywas trulyable to initiatethemodern
industrialworld is fundamentally mistakensince it adopts a 'national*instead of a
'systemic'perspective.One mustnot look at theconsequencesforindividualnationsor
states,but forEurope or the West as a whole" (1992: 160-61). Althoughmostscholars
continue to focus on the IndustrialRevolutionas the key historicalmoment (e.g.,
Grassby,1999: 63) whichbringsabout realgrowthin termsofa risein per capitaincome,
thereis ample historicalevidence thatthiswas occurringmuch earlierthan the eigh-
teenthcentury(e.g., Wee, 1988: 343-44; Jones,1988: 38). Some scholars(e.g., O'Brien,
1990; 1992) eventendto dismisstheprofitsderivedfrominternational tradepriorto the
IndustrialRevolution.It is, in myopinion,of major importancethatthewesternEuro-
pean core was able to industrializepreciselybecause itcould specializein theproduction
of goods with a higher value added, whereas the peripherycould not because its
industrializationprocess was thwarted,and colonial productionwas geared towards
supplyingraw materialsfor the core, as its marketswere forcedopen to the refined
products from the core. While the importanceof an internalmarketshould not be
underestimatedin order to create sustainedgrowth,the externalmarketand inter-
regionaltrade,theformeras a sourceofrawmaterialsand thelatterforthedemand for
servicesor finishedproductswitha highervalue added, are crucialforany economic
growth(Wee, 1988: 321, 337).

transitiontook place in feudalEurope and not elsewhere;whyit

tookplace whenit did and not earlieror later;whyearlierattempts
of transitionfailed"(Wallerstein,1979: 135). While WSA has not
dealt effectivelywiththe transitionproblem,it has broughtthe
medievalera back intothepicture.Anotherpositiveelementabout
WSA is thatit illustrateshow the BrennerDebate betweenclass
historyversustheso-called"objectiveeconomicforces,particularly
those derivingfromdemographicfluctuations and the growthof
tradeand markets"(Torras,1980: 253) can be overcomebyempha-
sizingthat
the exploitationof labor is not onlydeterminedby thewage
bundle and the extractionof labor fromlabor powerin the
productionprocess,butin substantial measurebythepricesat
whichgoods are exchangedbetweentheeconomiesthatmake
up theworld-system, or betweenthemodes of productionin
a giveneconomy(Bowles,1988: 434).
In thissense,WSA attemptsto integratethe Marxistfocuson
productionand the Smithianfocuson thecirculationof goods on
the marketin its relationalmodel to explain the emergenceof
Yet,as ThomasHall observes,manyscientists
capitalism.24 agreethat
"World-System Theory cannot be appliedwholesale to precapitalist
settings,beforeapproximately 1500 AD"(Hall, 1996: 444-49). This
leads us to the question:is thereno capitalistsystembefore the
"long" sixteenthcentury?The answer to this question depends
whetherone tendstoagreewitha spatialpredisposition, namelythat
therehas been a periodof transition fromfeudalismto capitalism
whereinthe existenceof multiplesystemsconvergeinto a single
24Brenner'sclaim thatWSA is circulationist

should be rejected.
While it mustbe admittedthatmuch of what goes on among Wallerstein's
zones of the capitalistworld-economy involvesexchange,much also involves
production.When,forexample,core capitalistsperipheralizea regionin order
to extractsurplusvalue fromit, theyare doing so throughthe directestab-
lishmentof productiveactivitiesthattheyultimatelycontrol.How can such an
economic relationshipbetweencore and peripherybe regardedas based only
on exchange?(Sanderson, 1995: 178).
It is importantto note thatit is thecombinationof profitsbased on theexploitationof
wage laborand unequal exchangethatconstitutea capitalistsystem.Profitsderivedfrom
surplusvalue are afterall notnecessarily"ofgreaterhistoricalsignificance"
(Heilbroner,
1985: 66) thanthose derivedfromunequal exchange.

240 EricMielants
world-system (a world-economy centeredaroundEuropeor western

Asia) and a temporalpredisposition, namelythatthistransition from
feudalismto capitalismoccurred somewherebetween 1450 and
1650. Let us focusfirston thetemporalpredisposition. For Waller-
stein,capitalismevolvedin Europe out of thecrisisof feudalismin
the "long"sixteenthcenturyand withtheworld-system, one single
new mode of productioncomes into existence.His workon the
"long"sixteenthcentury- the"periodof theworld-economy in crea-
tion"-(1974: 356) notwithstanding, hissummaryexplanationabout
thetransition (1974: 37) remainsunsatisfying. I agreewiththemeth-
odological criticismof Terlouw:
Duringthislongtraditional phase,feudalism was slowlytrans-
formedinto,and supersededby,capitalism. Thiscanonlymean
thatduringat least two centuriesfeudalismand capitalism
coexistedin one world-system. So whatWallerstein explicitly
denies (the coexistenceof two modes of productionin one
world-system) assumesfor the period between
he implicitly
1450 and 1650.If one acceptsthatduringa verylongperiod,
severalmodesofproduction coexistedinone singlesystem, itis
a small,and completely logical,step to admit thatat anymo-
mentin thehistory of theworld-system severalmodesof pro-
ductioncouldexistsimultaneously (1992: 57-58).
like Marxhimself, is moreinterested
Wallerstein in thefunction-
ingof thecapitalistworld-economy today. But this interest has some
unfortunate theoreticalimplications:
By focusinghis attentionon the emergenceof the present
world-system, Wallersteininadequatelytheorizesabout the
temporal borders betweenworld-systems. His fixationon the
unityof thepresentworldmakeshimblindto theintertwin-
ingofdifferent socialsystemsin thepast(Terlouw,1992:57).
Wallersteinwas of course veryaware of this problem.25But
callingthe transition
at a givenmomentin timecompleted(in the
sense thatcapitalismhas supersededothermodes ofproductionor
25"To
analyzetheperiod from1450 to 1750 as one long 4transition'
fromfeudalism
to capitalismrisksreifyingthe concept of transition,forwe thus steadilyreduce the
periodsof 'pure1capitalismand sooneror laterarriveat zero,beingleftwithnothingbut
transition"(Wallerstein,1980: 31).

ORIGINS OF MERCHANT CAPITALISM IN EUROPE 24 1
thatitslogic appears to be predominant)is hard to do, since "itis

alwayseasytofindpresumedinstancesof'non-capitalist' behaviorin
in
a capitalistworld-all overEurope 1650 and 1750 and 1950. The
mixture[of noncapitalistand capitalistbehavior]is the essence of
the capitalistsystemas a mode of production"(Wallerstein,1980:
32). So who can reallytell forsure when one systemprofoundly
takesover (incorporates)the otherone(s) at a specificmomentin
time?Unfortunately, theconfusiondoes notend here.Wallerstein's
reluctanceto applyconceptssuchas core and periphery beforethe
"long" sixteenthcentury, is a resultof how he the
interprets impor-
tance and impactof long-distance trade.However,the dichotomy
whichhe creates(and manyin WSA follow)betweenpreciosities
(luxuries)versus essentialsor utilities(mass or bulk trade) can
seriouslybe questioned,especiallypriorto 1500 (Schneider,1991:
48). Whatgoods can one exactlydefineas luxuryor bulktrade:does
one focuson thequantityofthegoods exchangedor emphasizethe
natureofgoods?And ifcertainluxuryitemsovertimebecomemass
commodities, beingwidelyboughtand sold due to a risingdemand
in themarket(forinstance,suchas wine,26 sugar,27and salt28),
when
26"In some
yearsaround1300,Englandexportedup to 15 millionpoundsofrawwool,
and a year'sexportof about 25 millionsgallonsof wine fromthe Garonne valleywas
recorded.The winetradefoundmarketsin Tunis and theBlackSea. Exoticcommodities
weremoreand moremovedinbulk"(Mundy,1991:91). Cf.also Craeybeckx (1958), Sivéry
(1969), and the impressiveessaysof Rénouard(1968: 225-359) and Maguin(1982) who
demonstratethe significanceof both regionalproductionand long-distancetrade.To
illustratetheexampleofmassiveproductionofwineforthemarketin themedievalera: "La
moyenneannuelle,pendantle premiertiersdu XlVe siècle,se chiffre à 747,000hectolitres-
850,000environen 1308-1309.Pourfixerles idées,en 1950,l'exportation totalede vinpar
la France est de 900,000 hectolitres.Et cela ne concerne que les seules sortiespar la
Gironde: Bordeaux et Libourne"(Pernoud,Gimpel &"Delatouche, 1986: 195); cf. also
Bochaca (1997: 20). Thus,one shouldnotunderestimate theimpactofthewineproduction
on the"monétarisation (Mousnier1997:
de l'économieruraleet l'accumulationde profits"
327). But notonlyFrenchwinewas exportedto England:Germanwine(Boer, 1996: 138),
Spanishwine(Childs,1978: 126-36; Ruiz 1992:DC,182) and Cretanwine(Scammell,1981:
105) was sold thereas well.For theimportanceof the"regular,large-scale, well-developed
tradebetweendistinctbut relatively integratedeconomies"of whichthewine tradewas
cf.also Menard(1997: 236-48) and hisbibliography.
illustrative, Paulydemonstrates dearly
thatwinein theearlyfourteenth centurycannotbe dismissedas a luxurycommodity:the
consumptionofwinewasso widespread-evenprisonersgotwine-thatone shouldconsider
it "un alimentde base de premièreimportance"(1998: 297-98). Despitethefactthatthe
wine trade probablydominatedthe commercefromsouthernFrenchcitiesto England
duringthelate thirteenth and earlyfourteenth manyotheritemswereof course
century,
sold as well,suchas pastel(fromBayonneand Toulouse),whileEnglishproductssuch as
fishand skins,and, laterin thefourteenth centuryincreasinglycloths,werebroughtback
to be sold at theFrenchmarketplace(Wolff,1954: 118-19).

242 EricMielants
does this criticaltransitionfroma luxurygood to a bulk good

occur?29In other words, when do luxuriesbecome necessities
(Wallerstein,1993b: 294)? Furthermore, to whatextentis itanalyti-
callyusefulprior to 1500 thatsuch a dichotomyis drawnbetween
thetwo?Schneider(1991: 52) and Adams(1974) are convincedthat
long distancetrade in luxuriesprior to 1500 was a "formidable
socioeconomic force ... in spite of its being confinedlargelyto
commoditiesofveryhighvalue . . . and in spiteofitsdirectly involv-
ingonly a smallpartofthe population"(Adams, 1974: 247). And can
of
the growingwealth Europe not be measuredby its increased
demandforluxuries?(Cheyney,1962: 10). Is itimpossibleto retain
the importanceand impact of luxurytrade withoutreducingit
conceptuallyto the same analyticallevel as bulk trade?Is it not
conceivablethatluxurytrade(and certainlythe seriousprofitsin-
volved)couldhaveprovidedessentialfinancialleverageforthesame
merchantentrepreneurs/families who also engaged(and invested)
prior 1500?And could one not argue
in bulk trade,specifically to
thatthisleveragewas quite necessary,if not essential,to further
stimulatetheincreasingtradein masscommodities, stimulating the
actualexpansionof capitalismin thisera of transition fromfeudal-
ismto capitalism?30A medievalsupercompanysuchas managedby
the Peruzzisor the Bardisaround 1300 in Italyinvestedand made
notable profitsin both textiletrade(the clothmarket)and large-
27For the
sugarindustryin late medievalSicily,cf.(Epstein,1992: 210-22); forthe
structureof the Levantinesugar industryin the late Middle Ages, "a true capitalistic
enterprise,withbig trustswhichsystematically pushed the smallenterprisesaside," cf.
Ashtor(1992b: ch. Ill, esp. 237).
28The salt trade asserted itselfas "one of the
unifyingelementsof the western
economy" (Mollat, 1993: 65) as it became the target special taxesall over Europe. Cf.
of
also theilluminatingessaysin Bautier(1992: chaps. V and VI); Mollat(1968; 1977: VI 8c
VIII) and, more important,themajor studiesbyHocquet (1979a; 1979b; 1985). For the
significanceof the salt tradein northwestern Europe, cf.Bridbury(1973: 22-39).
29Of course one
mightpose the same questionabout othercommoditiesthatwere
tradedin bulk in the fourteenthcentury,such as beer produced in northernGermany
(Hamburg,Bremen)and exportedtowardstheLow Countries(cf.Unger,1989: 121-35;
Aerts8c Unge-, 1990: 92-101; Uytven,1988: 548) as beer graduallyreplaced wine as a
major consumptionitem (Unger, 1998) or the major trade in lumber(e.g., North&
Thomas, 1973: 50).
90
Especiallyif one realizes thatat the time commercialexpansion and industrial
specializationbothrequiredunprecedentedinvestment ofcapital(Schumann,1986: 107).
For the importanceof both bulk trade and luxurytrade in the medievaleconomy,cf.
Bozorgnia's powerfularguments(1998: esp. chs. 4 and 5).

scale grain trading(Hunt, 1994: 244; Britnell,1993: 123; Wolff,

1959).31Besides,both bulk and luxurytraderstook advantageof
31"Since the latter

part of the Middle Ages, the range of articlesin long-distance
commercialcirculationwas alreadya verydiverse one, and encompassed consumer
goods whichwererelatively commonplace,[while]itdid notabsorbveryhightransaction
costs" (Torras, 1993: 202). Cf. also Sapori (1970) and Cherubini(1993) who rejectthe
SombartianperspectivethatWallersteinseemsto follow:"Whilerecognizingthefactthat
we are not dealing here [themarketin MedievalItaly]withquantitiescomparablewith
the figuresbrandishedforthe days leading up to the IndustrialRevolution,the circu-
lation[ofcommodities]did not onlyinvolveproductsof specifically highvalue,but also
the mostrun-of-the-mill goods ... we mustrejecttheimage of Italiancommerceduring
thisera as beingcenteredaround productssuchas spicesand otherhighly-priced items"
(Cherubini,1993: 282-83). Nor should one forgetthatthe "medievalusage of the term
spice could be highlyelastic"(Modelski8cThompson, 1996: 178) whichmeans it could
encompassmanydifferent materials(Scammell,1981: 101-02). Furthermore, "themass
traffic of heavyproducts,such as salt and grain,and of cumbersomeproducts,such as
wood, also correspondedto a certaindivisionof tasksbetweenthesea and land routes"
(Mollat,1993: 65). For some estimateson themagnitudeofprofitsfromItalianmaritime
tradewithEnglandin 1270-1530, cf.Fryde(1983: xiv-xvi).Essentially, one can saythat
"de plus en plus,il fautse convaincreque l'essentieldes traficsméditerranéensétaitfait
du sel, du blé, du vin,de l'huile,sans parlerdes cuirs,du bois, du fer,de l'alun, néces-
saires à la vie de tous les jours, et que c'est sur ces produitspondéreux,sur celui des
grainsen particulier,que l'attentiondoit se porter,bien plus encore que sur les épices
ouïes soieries"(Bautier,1992:VI, 224). Accordingto Unger(1980: 191),Miskimin(1975:
125), Scammel(1981:48), and Lewis8cRunyan(1985: 134-35) bulktradeevendominated
commercein northernEurope. Thus, itis a seriousexaggerationto claimthatindustrial
productionin theMiddleAges was "scattered,small-scale,and mostlygeared to a luxury
market"(Wallerstein1974: 123) and that"therewas no middle-distance divisionoflabor
. . . local zones did not generallydepend on or count on 'regional' (that is, middle-
distance)supplysources"(Wallerstein,1993a: 5) as ifmedievaltradewas nothingmore
than"local tradeand exchangein whichgoods moved withinrestrictedregions[while]
long-distancetradewas characterizedexclusivelyby valuables produced forthe elites"
(Wolf, 1982: 32). Althoughlocal productionand consumptionof grainsand textiles
remainedimportant(Munro, 1998: 275), regionalmarketsas wellas internationalones
wereat theheartof themedievaleconomy:both thecity-states' dependence on thegrain
trade(fortheconsumptionoftheurbanproletariat)and thetextilemarketillustratethis.
For instance,ca. 1400 French grain was transportedvia Ghent to Antwerp,where
ultimately Dutch merchantshad to pay tollto be able to transportit to Haarlem (Aerts,
Dupon 8cWee, 1985: 237; Brand,1996: 36). At thesame time,theimportof grainfrom
the Baltic to the Low Countries(accordingto Slichervan Bath [1963: 156] as earlyas
1250 and to England according to Fourquin [1979: 317] as early as the fourteenth
century),or fromthe Black Sea region to cities such as Genoa (Karpov, 1993; Unger,
1980: 183) or Montpellier(Reyerson,1998: 269) constitutedan essentialfeatureof the
urbansystem(Uytven,1985). Estimatingthatthe"averageinhabitantofa northernEuro-
pean townin theMiddleAges consumed300 kgofgrainannually"(Samsonowicz,1998:
306), one can imaginethe logisticalproblemsfora citywitha population of 50,000 or
more.Thus, as increasingamountsofrawmaterials(furs,timber,cattle)and lastbutnot
least grain were transportedfromthe East to the cities of the Low Countries(Tits-
Dieuaide, 1975: 150-66; Lewis,1978: DC,33-35), and occasionallyto Italyas well(Favier,
1996: 172-73), in returnthe"bulkofthecities'growingexportsweredirectedto Eastern
Europe" (Uytven,1983: 181). One can thinkof the divisionof labor betweentheurban

244 EricMielants
theirnetworks ofcirculation whichensuredtherapidspread

systems
of messages all across Europe fromthe fourteenthcenturyon
(Blockmans,1997: 41).
Chase-Dunn and Hall (1997) and Modelski and Thompson
(1996), forinstance,agreeon theexistenceand importanceoflong-
distance trade patternsand cyclesprior to 1500. A dichotomy
betweenluxurytradeand bulktradeis notas importantto themas
itis toWallerstein.
Completelydismissing a distinction betweenbulk
and luxurygoods fromthepresentto 5000 yearsago would imply
thatno transitionfromfeudalismto capitalismoccurred:indeed,
AndreGunderFrankand BarryK. Gills(1991; 1992; 1993a; 1993b)
completelydismissthe notionof transition in the MiddleAges,or
even in the "long"sixteenthcenturyforthatmatter.For them,no
sharpbreakor transition occursaround1500 (Frank& Gills,1993b:
297). In seekingto maketheiranalysis"as holisticas possible"Frank
intercitystatesystemof westernEurope and thecountrysideof easternEurope and the

Black Sea area (Balard, 1983: 45, 51) as an embryonicformof peripheralizationwhich
would culminatein the transformation of "East CentralEurope into a virtualcolonial
appendage of theEuropean heartland,supplyingrawmaterialsin exchangeforfinished
goods" (Rowan, 1994: 197-98); cf.also Turnock( 1988: 209); Asdracha8cMantran(1986:
348); Scammell (1981: 87); Tits-Dieuaide(1975: 160). For example, the Polish textile
industrycould not flourishin the long runbecause of thecontinuousinflowof textiles
fromthe westernEuropean city-states againstwhich theycould not compete (Wyro-
zumski,1981: 301; Kloczowski,1996: 471-73; Matowist,1957: 578). This had of course
the Polish urbanbourgeoisiecould not growas strongas in the
politicalramifications:
West,whichenabled the much more powerfulnobilityto implementa socioeconomic
policywhichturnedthecountryintoa peripheryvis-a-vis theWest(Samsonowicz,1981;
Bogucka, 1985: 101; Samsonowicz& Maczak, 1985) as, fromthe end of the fourteenth
centuryon, the Baltic area became more and more importantas the source of food
supplyand otherrawmaterialsformajorurbancentersin theLow Countries(Verhulst,
1963: 74-75). The continuousexpansionof thisEuropean divisionof labor throughout
the fourteenth-seventeenth centuriesis in my opinion an adequate explanation to
understandthe relationbetween the "unidirectionaldevelopmenttowardsincreased
agriculturalproduction"(Tarvel, 1990: 71) in eastern Europe on one hand and the
increasingnumbersof nonagricultural workersin westernEuropean citieson theother
hand (cf.also Wunder,1983: 270-71; Pal Pâch, 1994: ix-xi;Wee, 1988: 338). One should
nothomogenizeeasternand westernEurope,but thelateMiddleAges nevertheless have
to be regarded as the "crucialturningpoint [which]lead to divergentagrariandevel-
opmentin east and west"(Rôsener,1994: 106). The internaldivisionof labor in Europe
(Samsonowicz,1996: 50-52) was partofthesystematic constructionofa colonialperiph-
ery(cf.footnote57) whichis in turncrucialto explaintheemergenceof capitalism.TTiis
makes the claim of internaltransformations withina singlenation-state(a capitalismin
one countryphenomenon) quite presumptuous("the English economy in the early
modernperiod,drivenbythelogicofitsbasic productivesector,agriculture, was already
operatingto principlesand 'lawsof motion*different fromthoseprevailingin anyother
societysince the dawn of history"[Wood, 1999: 96]).

and Gillsenvisagethecontoursof a worldsystemthatexisted5000

yearsago (1993b: 45). Ironically,a narrative
offrozenhistory is con-
structed: since timeimmemorial, tradelinkedpeoples and tribesto-
gether, while some made profitsand otherswere exploited.Theyare
convincedthat"thelabor of the ancientlapis lazuli minersof Af-
ghanistanand the textileworkersin urban Sumeriawas all surely
interlinked in a worldeconomicsystemdivisionoflaborevenin the
fourthor thirdmillenniumBC"(1993b: 299). And so, mankindhas
alwayslived (and alwayswill live?) in a world capitalistsystem.32
Theirpositionis somewhatextremeand remainsa minority pointof
viewin theWSA school.In contrastto Frankand Gills,Wallerstein
does use the concept of transition,but in constructing WSA to
analyze historicalprocesses,he has problemspinning it down. How-
ever,thetransition to capitalismhe invokesc. 1500,becomes even
moreproblematicifone looks at other(non WSA) literature.
Manyhave acceptedthelate MiddleAges as a period of transi-
tionbetween1300 and 1520 (e.g., Ferguson,1962), or a period of
accelerationbetween1270and 1520(Fossier,1991:337-441). Some
havecoined theperiodbetween1100-1350/1500the"Commercial
Revolution"(Lopez, 1954: 615; Adelson,1962: 68-87; Jones,1997:
152-332; Lopez, 1976: 56-84) thatin turninitiatedtheera of cap-
italism33(and in thelong run,made the rise of theWestpossible),
disregardingwhethervariousformsof technologicalinnovations
(e.g.,White,1962;Mokyr,1990;Balard,1991: 113-23; Carus-Wilson,
1941) or a formofagrariandevelopmentand surplusextraction, in
itselfan outcomeof specificclassrelations(Brenner,1985: 11-12),
wereat theheartof thematter.34 Snookstracesthedeclineof feud-
alismbetweentheeleventhand thethirteenth centuries(1996: 191,
304). The Frenchagricultural historianAlainDervilleagrees,stating
thatthe transition fromfeudalismto capitalismin thecountryside
tookplace around 1150 AD(1995: 243-50). Severalstudiesfocusing
32Hence Wallerstein'swell-founded
critique:"Only if we keep the caesura [from
protocapitalismto theemergenceofa capitalistworld-system] in mindwillwe remember
that this historicalsystem,like all historicalsystems,not only had a beginning(or
genesis),but thatit willhave an end" (1993b: 295-96).
33
Aymardtracestheperiod of transitionfromfeudalismto capitalismin Italyback
to the thirteenthcentury(1982: 133).
M Some have attributedevents outside
Europe (i.e., technologicalstagnation
resultingfromthe fiscalpolicyof despotic governments)as crucial to the rise of the
West,but we cannot elaborateupon thishere (e.g., Ashtor,1992b: III, 266, 273-80).

246 EricMielants
on urban productionand trade35and agrarian productionfor

trade,36bulk/massand luxuriesalike,clearlyindicatea historical
continuity on all levelsbetweenthe late Middle Ages and the six-
teenthcentury, whichexplainsthepolitical,economic,and techno-
logicalevolutionsinterwoven withthetransitionfromfeudalismto
capitalism.37
Even a change in mentalités*8 the rationaldriveto achieve an
activitywhichone calls a ceaselessaccumulationof capital,can be
tracedbackto itsrootsin theMiddleAges(Le Mené, 1977: 160-90).
Jacques Le Goffconsidersthe theologicalcontroversy on usuryin
the thirteenthcenturyas "thelabor pains of capitalism"(1988: 9-
10). And he continues: of capitalismwereusurers:
"The instigators
merchantsof thefuture,sellersof time.The hope of escapingHell,
thanksto Purgatory, permittedthe usurerto propel the economy
and societyof the thirteenth centuryahead towardscapitalism"
(1988: 93).39Also, the mechanical clocks thatwere appearingon
35Cf. excellent
essayson urbaneconomies and putting-out productionin thefour-
teenthcenturyin Boone 8c Prevenier(1993); fora shortdescriptionof the putting-out
systemimplementedby medieval(merchant)capitalists,cf. Reynolds(1961: 236-43);
Stromer(1991); Holbach (1985; 1994); and Friedrichs(1975). For case studiesconcern-
ing constantlychangingmarketsof textileindustriesin Ghentand Douai, cf.Howell 8c
Boone (1996); forurban industriesin the Low Countriesand Italy,cf.Wee (1988); for
a generaleconomic historyof the Low Countries,cf.Houtte (1977).
36For
example, the studiescollectedin Wee 8c Cauwenberghe(1978) and Thoen
(1992; 1993).
37In
emphasizinghistoricalcontinuitythroughoutthisarticleI do not intend to
simplifythe complex historyof certainconjuncturesrelatedto certainproductsbeing
bought and sold at the marketplace, in which,of course,discontinuitiesoccur (as for
instanceMunro [1997] pointsout forthe new draperies).What I wantto stresshere is
theoverallcontinuity ofeconomicgrowthin thethirteenth to sixteenthcenturiesand the
natureof capitalistexploitationinherentto it.
38"Du Marx dans la
pratique,six cents ans avant Le Capital! ... La réussiteou
l'échec d'une vie se mesurentà l'importancedu capitalaccumulé"(Martin,1996: 357-
70). Cipolla notes thatby the fifteenth century"westernglass too was widelyexported
to the Near East and a tellingsymptomof the European Capitalist'spirit,unhampered
byreligiousconsiderations,was thefactthattheVenetiansmanufactured mosque lamps
forthe Near Easternmarketand decorated themwithboth westernfloraldesignsand
pious Koranicinscriptions" (1994: 210). As faras medievalBrugesis concerned,Murray
statesthat"thetermmedievalcapitalismshouldnot be rejectedout ofhand,fordespite
its tintof anachronism,capitalismdoes indeed describe the workingsof the Bruges
economyin the fourteenthcentury"(1990: 25).
39"C'est avec le
développementde l'économie monétaire,dès le Xlle siècle, que
l'usure va devenirun sujet de la plus grande importancepour l'Eglise. C'est au XlIIe
siècle que le problèmes'est avéré fondamental,alors que le capitalismeest en trainde
faireses premierspas, en usantprécisémentde pratiquescondamnéesparl'Eglisejusque-

churchesand townhallsin westernEurope fromthe beginningof

thefourteenth centuryonwards(Barnett,1998: 80), were"a histori-
cal revolutionin the measuringof time,withfar-reaching intellec-
tual,commercialand industrialconsequences"(Gimpel,1976: 165;
Pernoud,1992: 140). Indeed,"therationaloutlookofthemerchants
and bankerswas fundamentalto the installationof mechanical
clocks in the West. Withtheircapitalisticmentalitytheyhad ob-
servedthevalueof time"(Gimpel,1976: 170).40Besides,whatis the
là" (Greilsammer,1994: 810). But,quite important,"theurbanauthoritiesin the twelfth

and thirteenth centuriesdefendedthepracticeofusury.Synodsthatdenouncedcanonical
infractions such as usuryhardlyinstalledanyfearin the 'monde des affaires'" (Wyffels,
1991: 870-71) since "money-lending was freelypracticedin the Middle Ages among the
poor as wellas therich.Usurywas stillforbiddenbycanon law,but therewereall kindsof
subtledevicesforcloakingusurioustransactions"(Du Boulay,1970:59; cf.also Little,1978:
180-83), and one of themwas certainly on bankingactivities
carrying "underthecloak of
exchange"(Roover,1969:29). Essentially,"thechurch'scondemnationofusurydid nothing
to shacklethedevelopmentof capitalism"(Le Goff,1979: 25) since
medievallawyersand theirclientsbecame spectacularlyadept at circumventing
the lawsby disguisinginterestpayments.The churchitselfwas a borrower(and
occasionallya lender)and it,too,made use oftheingeniousmethodsofcasuistry
thathad been developed forpayinginterestwithoutappearingto pay interest.
In short,credit financinghad become too pervasiveand integrala part of
economic life-and an economicallyproductivefactof life-thatno amount of
theologicalargumentwas going to make go away. Althoughtheologiansand
scholarscontinuedto argue the moral finepointsof the usuryproblem,by the
mid fourteenthcenturytherewas a marked decrease in the Church's actual
prosecutionsof usury,and it even began to change its laws to allow moderate
interestrates(Barnett,1998: 60).
According to Little,"whatwas once deviantbehavior,whichby definitionis margi-

nal, was [by the mid thirteenthcentury]becoming standardpracticeand thus simul-
taneously,froman officialpointof view,increasingly to defineas deviant,par-
difficult
ticularlyas moreand moreofthosein positionsofauthority had mercantilebackground.
This is self-evidentin the case of the urban patriciate,but it was also true of the
ecclesiasticalhierarchy"(1978: 212). Cf. also Heers (1992: 253-56) and Mundy(1997:
196-202).
40 to
Or, quote Barnett,"God's timebegan to grantspace to thenewsecularizedidea
of timerequiredby a moneyeconomy"(1998: 61). For the far-reaching implicationsof
changes in the apprehensionof timein the period between 1300 and 1650, cf. E. P.
Thompson's classicchapter,"Time,Work-Disciplineand IndustrialCapitalism"(1993:
352-403) and the cited literaturethere.Time itselfbecame also a compartimentalized
and rationalizedcommodity(Le Goff,1991: 46-79; Martin,1996: 168-74). Cf. also
Epstein (1988a); Crosby (1997: 75-93); and Cipolla (1967). On the chronologyand
geographyofdiffusionofclocksin medievalEurope and theirimplications("Merchant's
Time" and "WorkTime and HourlyWage") cf.the studyby Dohrn-vanRossum(1996).
Landes explicitlylinksthe largescale productionof thetextileindustryto the diffusion
of workbells in themedievalurbancommunities(1983: 72-76). Accordingto Whitrow
it is importantto note that,unlike China and Mesoamerica,"in WesternEurope the

248 EncMielants
essentialdifference regardingVespritd'entreprise of a merchantlike

Jacques Coeur in themiddle of the fifteenth century(Mollat,1988),
and thatofmerchants likeJeanBoinebroke(Espinas,1933;Bernard,
1976: 311; Koenigsberger, 1987:223-24) and theGenoese capitalist
Symon de Gualterio (Face, 1969: 75-94) in the late thirteenth
century, or eventhatofa merchantlikeGuillaumeCade in themid-
twelfth century (Derville,1994: 52-54), all linkedto theemergence
41
ofcapitalism? Thisprovokesthequestion:whatis so newaboutthe
sixteenthcenturyas faras featuresof capitalismare concerned?
The capitalisticnatureof majorcommerceand international
financebecomes clearlyapparentin the fourteenth and fif-
teenthcenturies. The volumeofmedievaltradeand theamount
ofbusinessconductedwas negligiblebycomparisonwithpres-
ent-daytrade,but this means verylittle.It was substantial
consideringthesize of thepopulation,and therelativeimpor-
tanceofothersectorsoftheeconomy.In tonnage,somefigures
actuallysurpassedthoseof Seville'stradewithAmericain the
firsthalfof thesixteenth century (Bernard,1976:309-10).
It also should be clear thatthe concept"age of transition" im-
plies thatat least twocoexistingmodes of productionwere operat-
ing, and as time goes by,one becomes more dominantover the
other:ifwe wantto analyzetheriseofone mode ofproductionand
the demise of another,we have to acknowledgethemworkingto-
gether.If not,should one not have to argue thatfeudalismsimply
disappeared withinEurope duringthe "long" sixteenthcentury?
Instead,whynot argue thatthefeudalsystemwas verymuchalive
wellintothe nineteenthcentury, as well as some of itssocial struc-
tures?Wallerstein, however,insiststhatthecreationof themodern
mechanical clock firstappeared and with it a new type of civilizationbased on the

measurementof time"(1988: 96).
41On the
question:"Was themedievaleconomycapitalistic?theeconomichistorian
Heaton responds:tt14th<entury merchantswereconductingcomplicatedbusinesseswith
intelligence,foresight, and a detailed knowledgeof theirfinancialposition.There was
no lack of capitalisticspirit,organization,or techniquein the managementof great
estatesduringthe 13thcentury"(1948: 185-87). AlthoughI do not wantto stressthe
emergenceof a Weberian"capitalistspirit,"and do not agree withtheclaimthat"what
made European expansiondifferent and in some sense 'special*was . . . derivedfroma
seriesof religiousand culturalfactorswhichwere largelypeculiarto European society*1
(Phillips,1998: 243), the impactof a new commercialmentality in theeducationalfield
did occur (Delort, 1982: 247-48; Dahl, 1998: 67-68; Wolff,1989: 58-59).

capitalistworld-economy tookplace not earlierthan 1450 and not

laterthanthesixteenth century. Of course,he is verymuchawareof
major changesin Europe priorto 1450, statingthat"the crisisof
feudalismin Europein theperiodof 1300-1450 [was]a crisiswhose
resolutionwas thehistoricemergenceofa capitalistworld-economy
locatedin thatparticulargeographicarena" (1984: 23).
Yet he does not reallyelaborateon thisissue because Waller-
stein-even when he has to acknowledgethe existenceof some
featuresof capitalismin thelate MiddleAges-perceivesno funda-
mentallyimportanthistoricalcontinuityin Europe between the
period 1300 and c. 1500, whichcould help explainthe transition
fromfeudalismto capitalism:
Therewereno doubtothertimesthroughout whensuch
history
a transformation[intoa capitalist
world-economy] seemedto be
beginning,such as in theMediterranean basin between1150and
1300.And therewereparalleloccurrences at othermomentsin
otherregionsoftheworld.Butforvariousreasonsall theprior
transformationswereabortive(1979: 142).
This is a veryimportantstatement,meaningthatother regions,
unlikeEurope,did notwitnesstheemergenceof capitalism.It also
impliesthatwhathappenedbetween1150 and 1300 did notappear
to have an impacton the emergenceof capitalismin 1450, in Eu-
Butis therereallysuchan
rope,sincehe dismissesitas "abortive."42
extremebreak withthe past?43Is it not plausible that,precisely
becauseseveralfeaturesofcapitalismwerealreadystrongly apparent
priorto 1500 in Europe-more preciselybetween 1100 and 135044-
42An "earlier
attemptof transition[that]failed"(Wallerstein,1979: 135).
45In a more recentarticle,Wallersteinclaims thereis a fundamentaldifference
between "protocapitalist"systemswith capitalist features (investmentsof capital,
extensivecommodityproduction,wage labor and Weltanschauungen consonant with
capitalism)on one hand and the "genesisof a radicallynew after
system" 1400 out of the
"crisisoffeudalism"on theotherhand (1999: 34). I arguethatone shouldbe carefulnot
to misstheconstructionoftheembryonicEuropean capitalistsystemin theperiod 1200-
1400 preciselyto understanddevelopmentsin the world-economyin a much more
intensifiedpattern,and on a largerscale in the period 1400-1600. Unfortunately, in
Wallerstein's model, the sixteenthcenturycapitalistworld-economyis "virtuallya
creationex nihilo"(Sanderson, 1995: 159).
44For the
argumentof continuity frommedievalmercantilecapitalismoriginating
in northernItalyand theLow Countriesup to theemergenceof industrialcapitalismin
westernEurope, cf.See (1928: 7-56).

250 EricMielants
andbecauseoftheiroverallcontinuing growingimportance, thefeudal

system sunk a
into crisis?Not thatthefeudalsystem wassuddenlyand
completely replacedbya totallynewsystem ofaccumulation.Itfellinto
an agonizing,slowperiodof decay,and became supersededby the
dominantlogic of capitalism.In thissense,historicalcontinuity is
as
revealing, theeconomic historian
JohnDaypoints out:
Bythemid-14th century,merchantcapitalismhas alreadyper-
fectedtheinstruments ofeconomicpowerand businessorgan-
izationthatwere to serveit forthenextfourhundredyears:
foreignexchange, deposit banking,risk insurance,public
finance,internationaltradingcompanies,commercialbook-
keeping(1987: 199).45
Moreover,therewas alreadya validmoneymarketin the four-
teenthcentury,where the banking and tradingcompanies had
brancheswhichdealtin paper currency (and,likeeverymarket,was
governedby the laws of supply and demand and was subjectto
various seasonal and cyclicalfluctuations)(Bernard, 1976: 327).
AccordingtoBraudel,inhisconceptualization oftheéconomie-monde,
forms of capitalism-commercial,industrial,banking46- already
existedin thirteenth centuryFlorenceand has sincewidened itsgrip
overtheeconomy.47 UnlikeWallerstein,Braudelis not reluctantto
45The same is said Bouvierand Germain-Martin

by (1964: 21-22) and Lane (1977);
fortheimportanceofcreditinstruments in fourteenthcenturyoverseastrade,cf.Munro
(1994a: X, 67-79). Usingtransfers ofcreditbyexchangeinstruments exchange
"inter-city
bankers"could avoid movingbullionoverlongdistances(Blomiquist,1994: 345-46). For
theuse of bank moneyin medievalVenice,cf.Mueller(1981: 77-104). For rathershort
distances,moneychangerswereobviouslyveryimportant(Chevalier,1973: 153-60). For
a discussionon the usage of bookkeepingbyurbangovernmentsin westernEurope, cf.
Samsonowicz(1964: 207-21).
4b
Jacques Le Goffs conclusion of medievalbanking:"Par la masse d argentqu il
manie,par l'étendue de ses horizonsgéographiqueset économiques,par ses méthodes
commercialeset financières,le marchand-banquiermédiévalest un capitaliste.Il Test
aussi par son esprit,son genrede vie, par sa place dans la société"(1962: 41). Cf. also
Roover (1948; 1971) and Blomquist(1979: 53-75). In thelate thirteenth century,Genoa
introducedmaritimeinsurancecontracts,whichwere adopted quite rapidlyelsewhere
as well (Heers, 1959: 8-14; Wolff,1986: 136-39). For the links between insurance
practicesand the availabilityof credit,cf.Leone (1983).
47The of theFlorentineeconomyin thefourteenth
functioning centuryis brilliantly
exposed by Brucker:
The merchant-entrepreneur would buy the raw materials(wool and dyeing
substances,woad and alum) and marketthefinishedproductonce thewool had
passed throughthe various stages of cloth production.[First]the imported

applythetermcapitalismin theMiddleAges,48 noris he reluctantto

apply WSA concepts to that period.49Indeed, whynot use WSA
terminology suchas periphery, semiperiphery, core,incorporation,
etc.,earlierthanthesixteenth century,concerningtheemergenceof
capitalism(Wachter, 1996: 51-57)?
For Wallerstein, the"axialdivisionoflaborinvolving integrated
productionprocesses"is a conditionsine qua non whenone wants
toidentify a systemcapitalisticin nature(1993a: 294). Actually,
from
thelate eleventhcenturyon, energeticmerchant-entrepreneurs in
Flanders50 startedto produce standardized textile
goods which were
intendedfor large scale export.51This export industrydrew its
wool would arriveat thewashhouse, itwould thenproceed to thefactoryto be

carded and combed; out to thecountryto be spun; back intothecityforweav-
ing and dyeing;once again intothecountryto be fulledand thenback to town
finallyto be stretched,packed, checked, sealed and retailed or exported.
. . . Duringthisprocesshe would have recourseto workersdirectlyanswerable
to him. He would alwaysremainin chargeand would alwaysretainownership
became transformedinto doth. Spinnersand
of the wool, as it progressively
weavers remained financiallydependent on the lanaiolo: the looms were
borrowedor sold on a pro rata basis of paymentby installmentsof work,or
else theywere pledged to the lanaiolo in returnforwork(1998: 105).
On the power of thesetaiolo,the merchant-entrepreneur in the Italiansilkindustry,cf.
Piergiovanni (1993).
48Nor does Henri Pirenne
(1937: 19).
4y"The
European world-economyhas changed shape several times since the
thirteenth century,displacingthe core, rearrangingthe peripheries"(Braudel, 1992b:
70).
50 For the
importanceof cloth fromChampagne and Flanders to the Genoese
marketin the twelfth century,cf.Krueger(1987), Reynolds(1929; 1930), and Laurent
(1935: 1-20); forthesignificance ofScottishand Spanishwool productionforexport,cf.
Ewan (1990: 68-91), Childs (1978: 72-106), and Cipolla (1994:192); forthe impactof
marketfluctuations on transformations in thetextileindustry,cf.Munro(1991); forthe
evidence that northerncheap cloths exported towards the Mediterraneanin the
thirteenthcenturyexceeded those of luxurywoolens, not only in volume but also in
aggregatevalue, cf.Chorley(1987). The importanceof the tradein clothis confirmed
by Malanima: "In the 13thcenturylarge scale tradebecame increasingly linkedto the
tradein textiles:of all the goods thattraveledacross the Mediterraneanthesewere the
mostvaluable. In comparisonthe spice trade had become a secondaryaffair,withnot
onlya more limitedscale but also a muchlesservalue since a sack of Flemishclothswas
equivalentin value to betweenthreeand fivesacksof spices"(1987: 351). Accordingto
Ashtor,"the [long distance]trade of bulkycommodities,like cotton and alkali ashes,
yieldedmuch more thanthatof spices" (1985: 376).
51The was, of course,not onlyactivein
thirteenth-century merchant-entrepreneur
theLow Countries,but also in Englandand Italy:"Disposantde capitaux,il maîtriseles
importationsde matièrespremières,l'exportationdu produit fini,assume les risques
engendréspar la dispersiondes marchés,contrôletoutesles étapes de la productionet
en déterminele rythme"(Sosson, 1991: 280).

252 EricMielants
strength froma far-reaching divisionoflabor,bothemployingsemi-

skilledand even unskilledworkersin large numbers(Wee, 1988:
320).52Braudelstatesthattheboom of thethirteenth centuryarose
out of thenewlycreateddivisionof labor as it proliferated
(1992b:
315). This increasingdivisionof labor, especiallyapparentin the
textileindustrybut also in the miningindustry,53was quite signifi-
52Thus in theFlemishtextile
industry,fromthetwelfth centuryon, each of thetasks
described was performedby a specialist:breakers,beaters,washers,oilers, carders,
combers, spinners,weavers,fullers,tenderers,teaselers,shearmen,dyers,pressers,
pickers,greasers,and so on (Munro, 1988: 1-27). Even furtherspecializationwithina
singlemanufacturing processtookplace: "thedyers,forexample,subdividedthemselves
intogroupswhichconcentratedon a particularcolor" (Wee, 1975: 204). "These wereall
employees of the draper and subject to the regulationof the industrial'police' who
guaranteed the qualityof the product and were the agents of the drapers. The raw
materialswere owned, and the workdirected,by businessmen.The day laborerswere
actuallylittlemore than the kind of proletarianfactoryworkersof the 19thcentury"
(Gutmann,1988: 28-29).
Thus Flandersand northernItalyhad developed a genuinelycapitalistmode of
production in which the workershad effectively become wage earners, a
proletariat,owing nothingbut theirlabor, even thoughtherewas as yet no
factoriesand theworkersworkedin theirhomes,. . . theemploymentof these
workerswas subjectto thefluctuationsof theinternationalmarketwhichthey
did not understandand over whichtheyhad no control.It is not surprising
therefore,thatbothareaswerebeginningto experienceindustrialstrife:strikes
and urban revolts(Koenigsberger,1987: 225).
Nicholas(1992: 136) also mentionsnascentcapitalismin medievalFlandersbutdoes not
explain it. In 1356-58- afterthe greatplague (!>-between 59% and 67% of the popu-
lation in Ghent (64,000) was stillinvolvedin the clothindustry("membresdes métiers
de la laine") (Prevenier,1975: 276-79; Us 8c Soly,1979: 10). In Tournai, Maubeuge,
Valenciennes(Bruwier1992: 261) and Ypres (Uytven,1981: 289) thesituationwas more
or less similar.In fourteenth-centuryFlorence,minimum40% oftheworkingpopulation
was employedin the textileindustry(Uytven,1981: 292; Franceschi,1993: 103).Jacoby
(1994: 551) claimsthatin fifteenth-century Catalonia "between40 and 60% of thepopu-
lationwas engaged in the manufacturing ofwoolens."For fifteenth-century Leiden and
Oudenaarde one estimates34% and 50% ofthepopulationrespectively (Prevenier,1998:
82). For earlyfourteenth-century Bruges(more a commercialthanan industrialcity)the
professionally activepopulationemployedin thetextileindustry between31%
fluctuated
(Dumolyn,1999: 53) and 37% (Blockmans,1997b: 263).
55Cf. Braudel
(1992b: 321-25); Pounds (1994: 329); Molenda (1989); Braunstein
(1987). In earlyfourteenth-century Tuscany the impactof privatecapital fromurban
merchantswho investedin thecountrysidein orderto extractminerals,can be deduced
fromkeyclauses of mininglawswhichindicate"theseparationof land ownershipfrom
therightsto thesubsoil(whichallowsthedepositsto be exploitedbya personotherthan
the owner of the property)and the possibilitythatexploitationcan be undertakenby
several persons in a partnership,who adopt a capitalisticstructurecomprised of
partners,salariedworkers,and 'magistri'or directorsof theenterprise"(Piccinni,1994:
225). Whilemanymineswereinitially exploitedbythenobility,themedievalbourgeoisie
took over therole of exploitingtheminesby theearlyfourteenth century(Hesse, 1986:

cantregardingsocialstratification and polarization.The leatherand

metalindustries(lead,tin,copper,bronze,silver,gold,and iron)and
finishedproductsmade fromthem,were also important:"Metal-
workingguildshad dividedas earlyas the thirteenth centuryinto
severaldozen independentprofessions and trades"(Braudel,1992b:
315). Metal-working graduallyceased tobe a part-time occupationof
thefarmingcommunity, and became thefull-time pursuitofprofes-
sionaliron-workers. "Dans le secteurdu métall'Europe médiévalea
disposé d'une productionde masse,qui, par la structure de l'entre-
prise,les modalités du travail,l'offresur les ne
marchés, peut être
considéréesous l'angle de l'artisanat"(Braunstein,1994: 23). Mer-
chantcapitalistswho dealt in bar iron,firstinvestedin ironworks,
and thenleased and operatedthem(Pounds, 1994: 327).MAt the
same time,thesteadilyexpandingpopulationin Europe duringthe
economicupturnof themid-thirteenth centuryresultedin massive
land reclamation.55 As the new expandingurban centersplaced
greater demands on the agrarianeconomy(Mackenney,1987: 78-
79), reclamationof land fromthesea, especiallyaroundgreatriver
437-38). By c. 1400 leading miningtownssuch as Kutna Hora in Bohemia employed

4000 to 4500 miners(Pollard, 1997: 179).
54
Especiallyin thevalleyof the Meuse, at Huy and above all at Dinant-in the Low
Countries-metal-working contributedsignificantly to international trade( Jansen,1989:
360-61). By 1430, theexpansionof themetalindustryin thearea of Namur,Liège, and
the Haut-Palatinat(due to the constructionof everlarger"hautsfourneaux"),lead to a
takeoverof the industryby merchantcapitalists(Gillard,1971; Stromer,1991: 46-47).
But paper-,glass-,mirror-,and crystalmakingand, lastbutnotleast,shipbuilding(Wolff,
1989: 49-53; Favier,1996: 188) were also quite importantindustries.For Modelskiand
Thompson (1996: 237), the Venetian Arsenal "where standardizedgalleyswere con-
structedalong an assemblyline,can probablyclaim to be one of Europe's firstmodern
industrialfactories."For medieval internationaltrade and the "rise of an English
merchantclass,"cf.Miller&: Hatcher(1978: 79-83); Miller8cHatcher(1995: 181-254).
°° One can of
course,not denythe impactof a considerablepopulationgrowthin
the thirteenth century.One resultis thatnot everyonecould be fed fromhis own land,
which in turnled to more "self-employment, dependence upon trade and a greater
availabilityof wage labor" (Britnell1993: 104). The latteris, of course,veryimportant.
Accordingto Goldthwaite,the labor contractin medievalFlorencewas
thoroughlymonetized. The employercalculated wages entirelyin precise
monetaryterms,he rarelypaid in kind . . . paid no more forlongevityon the
job, and providedno social and healthbenefitsforunemployment, accidents
or old age . . . thateven the humblestof men thoughtabout theirwages and
daily purchasesin the abstractlanguage of moneysof account ratherthanin
termsof mediumof exchangeis a markof the extentto whichtheirattitudes
were conditioned by the practice of offsetting[or giro transferon private
accounts]withinthe framework of a writtenaccountingrecord(1991: 649).

254 EricMielants
estuaries,became veryimportant:once thesea had been excluded

fromthearea, theland provedexcellent,fertile, flat,and stone-free
soil (Ponting,1993: 125). This reclamationofland was veryimpres-
sive in Flanders and Holland (specificallyin the areas of peat
moors),56albeitthe greatestprogresswas being made in northern
Italy(Pounds, 1994: 170). Investments weremade in reclaimingthe
wetand fertilevalleyof the Po and creatingpoldersin the Low
in
Countries(Alberts& Jansen, 1964: 74-79; Tebrake, 1985). For
merchantsin fourteenth centuryMilan or Venice, or burghersin
Brugesor Ypres,conceivingland as a commodity whichone could
acquire,improve, and turn to became
profit, quitenatural(Pounds,
1994: 109-10; Ponting,1993: 154). Land reclamation(e.g.,Verhulst,
1990b:54-55) becamein itsturnthusan important aspectofcapital
formation(Smith,1991: 100). Speakingof theexploitationof land,
whatabout theincorporation ofnewarenas,byWSA definedas the
"historicalprocessbywhichnoncapitalistzones are absorbedinto
the capitalistworld-system [where]inhabitantsof territories that
havebeen outsideare broughtintothesystemthroughcolonization,
conquest, or economic and political domination"(Hopkins &
Wallerstein,1986 quoted in Dunaway,1996: 455)? Cannotthecrea-
tionof the Crusadingstatesin theLevantin thetwelfth century- a
region thatwas stronglyinterlinked with intercontinentaltrade-or
theReconquistaof theIberianPeninsula(endingin 1492) be inter-
pretedas an identicalformof expansion,subjugation,domination,
and exploitation57as Spain'sconquestoftheNewWorld,albeiton a
56The
productionof peat was not onlyveryimportantin theLow Countriesof the
sixteenthand seventeenthcenturies,butforthefourteenth centuriesas well
and fifteenth
(Leenders, 1989: 251-71).
57Cf. Bernard
(1976: 292-93) in general;cf. Le Mené (1977: 207), Thiriet(1977:
XIII 8c XV), and Jacoby(1999) forthe case of medieval Crete; Poisson (1995 8c 1997),
Abulafia(1993: 1,28-29), Day (1983: 198-200), and Tangheroni(1995) forthe case of
medievalSardiniawhichexportedprimarily grainand salt;Cancellieri(1989) forthecase
of Corsica; Hocquet (1990) for certainparts of Dalmatia; Ashtor(1978b: VI, 5-53),
Jacoby(1979: VII, 225-64), and Issawi(1970: 254-57) forthe case of the Levantin the
Middle Ages; cf.Thomson (1998: 49-50) forpartsof Greece,theAegean,and theBlack
Sea; the case of medievalSicily,however,is more doubtful(cf. Epstein,1989) and the
NorthAfricanstatesin the westernMediterraneanwerejust too strongforthe Italian
( Jehel,1993: 66; Dufourcq,1990: III). But thecolonialismwhichwas practiced
city-states
by city-statessuch as Venice in the eastern Mediterranean(Wolff,1986: 214-15), or
Genoa in the Black Sea area (Balard, 1978; 1992; Scammell,1981: 162), was notjust
politicalbut financialas well(Day, 1985). Manysimilarities existbetweentheseformsof
colonialismin the easternMediterraneanand laterformsin the Atlantic(cf. Balard 8c

smallerscale?58If all theseparallelsexist,thenwhatis actuallyso
Ducellier,1995; 1998; Balard 1989; 1990; Verlinden,1970). For instance,the "coloniza-

tionof the ByzantineEmpire" bytheItaliancitystates(Thomson, 1998: 63-96), cannot
be separatedfromtheacquisitionofrawmaterialssuchas alum"whichwas indispensable
for textileproductionin westernEurope" (Verhulst,1998: 110; Dahl, 1998: 40) and
cotton,vitalto both the textileand candle industries(Mazzaoui, 1981: 43-44, 102-03).
AccordingtoJacoby,thegovernmentin theVenetianmetropolis"focusedon theimmi-
grationof specificprofessionalgroups,witha clear emphasison textilecraftsmen,in
orderto promoteindustrialdevelopment"(1994: 558), whilein itscoloniesno industries
wereallowed thatcompetedwiththoseofVenice (Scammell,1981: 122). Essentially, the
sustenanceof major merchantcapitalistcity-states in Europe and the preservationof
their"recurringgrowth"cannotbe separatedfromthe continuous(re)constructionof
a colonized peripherywhichservedas a source of foodstuffs and rawmaterials(Jacoby,
1979: 1,45), and a marketforthecity-states' industries.Moreover,a close investigation
of sugarproductionon Cyprusand Cretein thefourteenth century,and on theMadeira
islands,the CanaryIslands,and theAzores in thefifteenth century,revealsthisstrategy
of capitalaccumulationwas copied and transplantedon a muchwiderscale in the New
Worldafter1500 (Heers, 1981: 12; Solow, 1987; Galloway,1977; Wartburg,1995), as was
the slave trade-in itselfa growingsource of profitduringthe Middle Ages (Verlinden,
1977)-whichwenthand in hand withit (Thiriet,1977: XIII, 63-64). Thus, insistingon
a fundamentaldifferencebetweentheseformsof medievaland moderncolonialismas
Bartlett(1993: 306-13) does, is not warranted(Lewis, 1978: DC,37). Last but not least,
one should not forgetto takeintoaccountthepracticesof colonialismimplementedby
the city-states theirrespectivehinterland,equally importantfor the supplyof
vis-a-vis
food and raw materialsto the city(Blomquist,1969: 69; cf.footnote77).
58To whatextentis it an understatement to claimthat"à la findu MoyenAge déjà,
s'étaitétabliun rapportpaysdéveloppés-payssous-développésentrel'Occidentchrétien
et les pays orientauxet maghrébins:l'empriseéconomique a précédé la domination
politique" (Ashtor,1992a: IV, 385)? Bozorgniastatesthat"soap and especiallywestern
textileswere so extensivelyexportedto the Middle East thatby the second halfof the
fourteenthcenturythe textileand soap industriesof Syriaand Egyptwere no longera
matchforthe manufacturers of Europe" (1998: 85). Cipolla agrees:
themake-upofinternational tradebetweenEast and Westseemsto pointto the
thirteenthand fourteenthcenturiesas the period when Europe gained the
upper hand In thetwelfthcenturytheWeststillexportedto theEast mostly
raw materials. . . and importedmanufacturedgoods [but] by the fourteenth
centurythe situationhad completelychanged (1994: 210).
By then,the
expansion of the westerntextileindustriesachieved a growingtechnological
edge over theireasterncompetitors.It was increasingly profitableto investin
the East in the purchase of industrialraw materialsintended for western
manufacturers, thanin finishedproducts.This shiftcontributedto thegradual
decline of the textileindustriesin Byzantiumand the Levant,includingEgypt
(Jacoby,1994: 558; cf.Malanima,1987: 337-51; Smith,1991: 54).
Bautier concludes: "L'Orient fournissaitles épices, mais aussi nombres de matières
premières:coton, lin,alun, laine; il recevaiten échange des produitsmanufacturésà la
fois coûteux et introduitsen grandes quantités:coton filé et toiles, draps de laine,
produitsde l'industriemétallurgique"(1992: IV, 301). This resultedin "l'enrichissement

256 EricMielants
modern,thatone can see originating onlyaround 1500 AD?59 This

criticism is notonlydirectedat theWallersteinian versionofworld-
systemsanalysis,but also to a certainextentat Arrighi(1994) who
(himselfan Italianbeingin favorofemphasizingtheimportanceof
medievalItaly)takesthestoryfurther backtocirca1400AD.60 Venice
may indeed have been the first"true prototype of the capitalist
state,"as Arrighi(1994) pointsout,butdid he notwantto date capi-
talismin Italyprior to 1400 because it did not properlyfitthe
explanatory modelofhisbook?Andwhylook onlyat theItaliancity-
states explaintheoriginsof capitalism?
to
In conclusion,the concept of commercialcapitalismis com-
pletelyapplicable in the late Middle Ages throughoutthe entire
intercity-statesystemof westernEurope (Chaunu, 1969: 311) and
historicalcontinuity is undeniable(De Vries& Woude, 1997: 159-
65; Hunt & Murray,1999). As a consequence,I suggestto rethink
the temporalpredispositionput forwardby WSA. But let us now
returntotheproblemsinvokedbythespatialpredisposition ofWSA:
theemergenceof capitalismwithinEurope.
ForWallerstein thetransitionfromfeudalismto capitalismtakes
place on theEuropean continent(1984: 23). This bringsus back to
whetherone shouldattributethe transitionto internalor external
transformations. Wallerstein (1974; 1980) focusedon thetransition
withinEurope, coincidingwith the impact of Europeans upon
de FOccidentaux dépens de lOrient,commencéen Syrie,poursuivià Constantinopleet

dans tous les comptoirséchelonnéssur les côtes de la mer Noire et de l'Asie Mineure**
(Bautier,1992: 304).
59In otherwords:
Des formesd'investissementque Ton peut qualifierdéjà de capitalistesétaient

assez largementconnuesetpratiquées,en milieururalcommeen milieuurbain,
sur terrecomme sur mer II importede reconnaîtreque le capitalisme
"protestant"et "nordique"des Temps modernesestlargementissudes formes
de capitalismebien plus qu'embryonnairesapparues pendant les derniers
siècles du MoyenÂge (Contamineet al., 1993: 403-09).
However,I do not denythe qualitativeshiftwhichtakesplace in the sixteenthcentury

whena globaldivisionoflabor takesplace and theinterstatesystemreplacestheintercity-
statesystem:indeed,city-stateswere too smallforthefurtherceaseless accumulationof
capital on an everwiderscale: Genoa or Venice could colonize and exploit theirrural
hinterlandor theircolonies(e.g., CretewhichsuppliedVenicewithgrain,timber,sugar,
wax,wine,and dye[Scammell,1981: 106]) in a core-periphery butobviously
relationship,
not theAmericas.
60So does Rénouard whenhe looks into "l'essordu
capitalismefinancieret indus-
trieldu XVe siècle" (1949: 197-250).

others,i.e., the"colonies"and theirsubsequenteconomiccontribu-

tionstoEuropeannations'economiesin general(1983: 580-83). But
otherWSA literatureattemptsto analyzethe impactof external
factorson Europe priorto the "long"sixteenthcentury. According
to Abu-Lughod,the existinglinkagesin the thirteenth and four-
teenthcenturiesconstituted a systemsince"all theseunitswerenot
only trading with one another and handlingthe transittrade of
others,but had begun reorganizepartsof theirinternalecono-
to
miesto meettheexigenciesofa worldmarket"(1989: 355), making
the effectsof thisinterdependenceso greatthatdeclinesin one
regioncontributed to declineselsewhere(1989: 359). Bycomparing
a clusterof interlinked regionswithone anotherand analyzingthe
commoncommercialnetworkof productionand exchange(1989:
13) and statingthat"itwouldbe wrongtoviewthe'Rise oftheWest*
as ... an eventwhose outcomewas attributableexclusivelyto the
internalcharacteristics ofEuropeansociety"(1989: 361), we can no
longerattempt explaintheemergenceof capitalismbyfocusing
to
exclusivelyon certaintransformations withinEurope, or rather,
withinnorthwestern Europe(Sweezy,1976;Takahashi,1976: 74), or
internal contradictionswithinEngland and France themselves
(Dobb, 1976: 59 and Brenner,1985a; 1985b). Indeed, one of the
mostvaluablecontributions of WSA is a coherentholisticperspec-
tive, whichundermines thenation-state
as unitofanalysisto explain
theemergenceofcapitalism.61 Butthisleavesopen thequestionwhy
capitalistfeaturestook place Europe,thatcolonizedAmerica,and
in
not in, for example, West Africa(Sanderson, 1996: 512).62Yet
certainspecificphenomenawithinmedievalEuropemayhavestimu-
lated the emergenceof capitalismthere,and not elsewhere.63 Al-
61In this was "the

perspective,itmakesno sense to claimthatone singlenation-state
cradle and nurseryof capitalism"(Macfarlane,1988: 185).
62The Eurocentric
critiqueposes thequestion: "Whyspeak of transitionto capital-
ism onlyforEurope? Indeed, whynot abandon the notion of transitionaltogetherin
favorof a constantevolutionof a systemin existencefora long while?"(Amin, 1993:
251). Blaut (1993) contendsthatbetween1000 and 1500 thewholeworldwas movingin
the directionof capitalism.
63Holton notes that
"capitalismof a modernkinddeveloped ratherin therelatively
decentralizedWest,wherepoliticalstructures werefarfrommonolithic,allowinginternal
differentiation" (1986: 134). Merringtonrefersto the "independentgrowthof urban
capital" in the Westerncityin contrastto the Easternone: "In China 'cityair*made
nobodyfree" (1976: 178). Cf.also Bairoch(1989: 227-31). For Hicks"thefactthatEuro-
pean civilizationhas passed through a city-statephase is the principal key to the

258 EricMielants
thoughsome in WSA haveadvocatedcivilizational underpinnings,I

wantto stresstheimportanceoftheEuropeanintercity-state system.
As in theinterstatesystem lateron, constant competition to the
due
"absenceofa unicentric that
polity, is, the existenceofa multicentric
politicalstructureover most its space" (Mandalios, 1996: 283) is
applicablein theMiddleAgesas well.Furthermore, recognizingthe
of
importance thepolitical natureof the systemin direct
city-state
symbiosiswiththeexistingeconomicsystemofmerchantcapitalism
(e.g., Epstein,1993), disarmsthe criticismthat WSA is "viewing
politicalprocessesas epiphenomenalin relationto economiccausa-
tion"(Zolberg,1981: 255). Let me at thispointmakeit clearto the
readerthatitis notmycontentionmerelyto "de-construct" theoreti-
cal perspectivesand plead fora mere returnto historicalarchival
researchin order to come closer to an "ObjectiveTruth"(e.g.,
Grassby,1999:61-73). Historians'incessantwarnings about"impru-
dent generalizations" (Sosson, 1990: 348) and "pretentiousand ill-
foundedgrandhypotheseslaunched by some sociologists"(Dyer,
1991: 1) due to the latter'sconstruction of "theoriesthatseem to
havebeen pluckedout oftheair"( 199 1: 1) is howevernota virtuein
itself,forwhatis historywithouttheory?
THE INTERCITY-STATESYSTEM OF THE MIDDLE AGES
I wouldlike to propose an alternative

theoreticalframework in
the remainderof thisarticle.After1100 AD,featuresof capitalism
becomemoreand moreapparentin Europe,themutualexistenceof
feudalismand capitalismwas entirelypossibleup to ca. 1350, and
thiswithinan intercity-state
system,beforea crisismade one logic
(the capitalistone) moredominantovertheother(thefeudalone).
Conceptually,most capitalisticphenomena64one findsin the six-
divergencebetweenthehistoryofEurope and thehistoryofAsia" (1969: 38). In focusing

on the European medieval intercity-state system,I do not wish to homogenize the
European townsinceitexistedin different forms(Delumeau, 1998). But all overEurope
the cities at some point reached a very high degree of autonomy, sometimes
independence,as theywereruledbytheirmerchant-elite. themfrom,
This distinguishes
forexample,Chinesecities(Deng, 1999: 108, 199),or Islamiccities(Udovitch,1993: 792)
wheremerchantscould not acquire significant politicalor militarypower.
M
Wage labor,whichis indeed centralto capitalism(Wood, 1999: 94), specialization
profitsfromtradederived
of industries,and a complexdivisionoflabor,class struggles,

teenthcenturyare alreadyapparentin the Middle Ages.65My hy-

pothesisis thatcapitalismwasappearinginwesternEuropefromthe
late twelfthcenturyonward.True, the intercity-state systemof the
twelfth-fifteenthcenturieshad moreinterregional tradecharacteris-
ticsthanthedominantly local autarchicproductionsthatcharacter-
ized Europe priorto the twelfth centuryor themore international
space of flows thatwould shape theworld-economy in thesixteenth
century.Yet, one shouldnot forgetthat"manyaspectsof thecom-
mercialexploitationof propertythathave been identifiedforthe
earlysixteenthcenturyhad interestingequivalentstwo centuries
earlier,at a time when the volume of commercewas probably
greater"(Britnell,1998: 115).66Therefore,I suggestto analyzethe
qualitativeshiftsthatoccurredin Europe in thetwelfth century(the
shaping of a politicalintercity-state
system within mostlyinterre-
gional trade networks and the emergence of the capitalistworld-
economy with an interstatesystemwith international- indeed
intercontinental- tradenetworksin the "long"sixteenthcentury).67
fromthe factthat entrepreneurswho own the means of production are involvedin

specializedproductionand competition,complexfinancialtechniquesand thesystematic
constructionofan exploitableperipheryto further theceaselessaccumulationofcapital,
are in myopinion the keyvariablesthatconstitutea capitalistsystem.
65To
quote Mollat:"L'intensité,la fréquenceen sontnouvelles[au 16e siècle],non
la chose. Progrèsquantitatifscertes;mais tonalitémédiévale" (1977: I, 45) or Mauro:
"dans le domaine des techniquesfinancières,commerciales,industrielles,rien de nou-
veau après 1500. Ce qui faitle changementc'est leurmultiplication" (1988: 758). Cf.also
Lopez's (1952: 320) statementsandjehel's (1993: 438-40) conclusionsin his impressive
studyon Genoese history.
66 tt
Therefore, theassumptionthatEnglishsocietywascommercializing morerapidly
[in the sixteenthcentury]thanduringearliercenturies"(Britnell,1998:115) has to be
abandoned. One should not forgeteither that the rural population of England and
France was possiblygreaterc. 1300 thanin the earlyeighteenthcentury(Titow, 1961:
218; Delatouche, 1989: 36). The volume of tradepriorto the outburstof the plague in
the mid-fourteenth century,should not be underestimated,evenwhencomparedto the
earlysixteenthcentury.For instance,scholarsmaymake muchof thebankingactivities
of the Medici in the late fifteenthcentury,but the capital at their disposal- their
economic power-was clearlyinferiorto that of the Peruzzi of the early fourteenth
century.This is also reflectedby the factthat"theiremployeesnumberedwell below
thoseof thePeruzziand werenotmuchmorenumerousthanthoseof theAcciaivoli,the
thirdrankingbank in the pre-plagueperiod" (Lopez & Miskimin,1962: 424-25).
67
Thus, thequalitativeshiftfroman intercity-statesystemto an interstatesystemcan
not be separatedfromthe creationof a capitalistwor&^economy. Withinthe emerging
European nation-state, themerchantclass could not onlyaspire to occupycrucialposts
in thebureaucracyand the administration (e.g., Prak,1992: 192; Galland, 1998), but it
could regularlyuse the (mercantile)state's strengthto support its own colonial and
capitaliststrategiesall over theworld,as thesepracticeswere rooted in the policies of

260 EricMielants
Acknowledging thatinitialcommercialspecializationin theeleventh

centurywas a featureof regionaldevelopment(Britnell,1995: 16,
24) and regionalmarkets,I suggestlookinginto regionalstudies
(such as Derville [1996], Tebrake [1985], Wachter [1996], and
others),whichmayin turnhelp us situateand analyzemore ade-
quatelythe emergenceof capitalismpriorto the "long"sixteenth
century,thatis, withinthe period of the MiddleAges (Morimoto,
1994: 17). Drawingon the Brennerianperspective,one can also
investigateto whatextentclass formations changeconstantly over
timeand when duringthe Middle Ages thejuridicalbasis of eco-
nomicpower(withinthefeudallogic)gradually becomesless signifi-
cantwhencapital accumulation becomes themore dominantlogicof
an increasingnumber of merchant-entrepreneurs. Anothervery
important and related issueis thecorrelation
between thenobility's
poweroveritspeasantsin a certainarea on one hand and theloca-
tion of thatarea withinthe geographic,socioeconomic,and geo-
politicalrealitiesof theearlymodernEuropeanregion.68
It seemsalso clearto me thatthemedievalintercity-state system
(twelfth-fifteenth centuries)had its specificpoliticalframework:
can
medievalcitystates(e.g., Baratier,1970: 338; Lopez, 1970: 347). Althoughcity-states
be foundelsewheresuch as on thelittoralof theIndian Ocean duringthewhole Middle
Ages (e.g., Lombard, 1988: 15; Curtin,1984: 121), itwas onlyin Europe thata transition
to an interstatesystemoccurred,in whichmerchantsretainedso much politicalpower
(cf. also Rodinson, 1970: 32).
™It for Britainpeasantscould run
is, example,quite clear thatin thirteenth-century
away fromthe land theylived on to escape a nobleman's oppression. But, as Britnell
pointsout,thisimplied"exchangingthelikelihoodofeconomicsecurityforthecertainty
of insecurity[since] even if he was sore pressed by the exactionsof his lord, custom
would normallyensure thata hereditarytenantcould feedhis familyfromyearto year.
To abandon thathereditaryrightwas to commithimselfto a lifedependentupon wage-
earning"(1993: 75). Indeed, quite riskyin thirteenth-centuryEngland,but muchless so
in thirteenth-century Flanders:the socioeconomic and geopoliticalrealityof peasants
livingin the proximityof the urban core was quite different. The far-reaching division
of labor thereand the employmentof large numbersof skilledand unskilledworkers
loweredthe riskforpeasants as faras
(especiallyin the textileindustries),significantly
themigrationto thecity(and wage-labor)was concerned.This in turnhad an impacton
the power of the nobility.Then one can raise the questionto whatextentthe risksand
opportunitiesof resistanceof Englishpeasants were altered depending on the hier-
archicalcore-periphery relationbetween,forinstance,Englandand theLow Countries
(in thethirteenthcentury)or in thefifteenthcentury, whenEngland'ssocioeconomicand
geopoliticalpositionwithintheearlymodernEuropean regionhad changed(cf.footnote
81). The same question can be raised regardingthe freedomof peasants in eastern
Europe and the urban core of the Low Countriesin the fourteenth-seventeenth cen-
turies(cf. footnote31).

i.e.,theoligarchy-
local authorities, from1200 ADessentially a com-
mercial capitalistclass-(Derville, 1997: 125), created deliberate
policiesregardingpoverty relieftoincreasea reservelaborforceand
depresswages.69 This povertyreliefbasicallykeptin checkthepoor
who "were not willingtojeopardize theirmiserableallowance.In
urbanrevolts,we findamongtheringleaderscraftsmen in well de-
finedcategorieswho had suffered loss ofincomeor status... itwas
not paupers who led the fraybut groups witha certainlevel of
prosperitywhichtheyfeltwas threatened"(Blockmans& Prevenier,
1978: 56-57; cf.also Rotz, 1976). This governmental policyis not
surprisingsinceregarding clothproduction(theeconomicbackbone
in theLow Countries)the "magistrate
of city-states workedhand in
glove withthe entrepreneurs"(Brand, 1992: 17; cf. also Jansen,
1982: 176 or Wee, 1975: 208). The same is truein the Italiancity
states(Mollat,1986:200) or in someGermancity-states (e.g.,Halaga,
1983; Stromer,1991: 44). In mostof Holland,theestablishedelites
succeeded in preventingthe guildsfrombecomingpowerfulpres-
suregroups:in 1313 CountWilliamIII evenforbadetheformation
ofguilds(Brand,1992:25).70The verystrictwagepoliciesin theLow
69This "social
policywas clearlyinspired,not by the principleof Christiancharity
but by those of capitalistenterprise... the partplayedby public poor reliefcontrolled
the relativesurplusof population in the townsand exercisedsupervisionof the labor-
market"(Blockmans8cPrevenier,1978: 56). Cf. also Soly (1975: 584-97).
70In the Dutch
cityof Leiden, accordingto Brand,drapers
weretheonlypeople withsufficient capitalto purchaserawmaterials,paywages
and to runsomerisks[while]spinning, carding,combing,fullingand dyeingwere
done mostlyby unskilledlaborers First,the producers,descendantsof the
circle of small independentartisans,managed to climb to the position of
merchantand capitalist.Second, some tradersbegan to controlproduction
directlyand thusbecame capitalistindustrialentrepreneurs. Wealthyartisans
focusedon the concentrationof labor,i.e., theyinvestedin centralworkshops
where laborerswere put to workfor low wages in order to marketthe final
productat the lowestpossibleprice.But entrepreneurs centralizedproduction
and dividedit into a broad spectrumof treatments. Since thevariousstagesof
productioncould be done byrelatively simplemeans,and muchof theworkwas
done withinthefamily, investments werelow.This systemhad manyadvantages
forthedrapersand strengthened theirpoweroverthepartmanufacturers; itwas
oftaskswhichresultedin littlemutualsolidarity
also a resultofthedifferentiation
among the waged laborers, so that any attemptto revolt could easily be
suppressed . . . the entrepreneurs(industrialcapitalistsworkingin close co-
operationwiththeurbangovernment) frustrated theemancipationofartisansby
way of the puttingout system and a repressive wage policy.The artisans'wayto
the marketwas cut offand theywererobbed of anypossibility of organizingin
politicallyinfluential
guilds(1992: 26-32).

262 EricMielants
Countrieswere actuallynot surprising:it was preciselythe fierce

competitionon theregionaland international markets,whichmade
the downwardpressuringof wages combinedwiththe increaseof
production,theonlyeffective wayto makeprofit.Thiswas done by
exploitingthe fullers(and to a lesserextentweavers)who even in
periodsofeconomicupturncouldhardlymakeendsmeet(Brand&
Stabel,1995:203-04, 219; Boone & Brand,1993).71Some thirteenth-
centurymerchantson thecontinentwerecapable of concentrating
much power in the workplace: theyboughtthe raw materialsto
make doth, controlledand superviseditsfabrication, and preoccu-
pied themselvesalso with the sellingof the producton the
finished
marketplace (Haquette,1997: 882).72It shouldalso be emphasized
Howell (1986) is thereforeincorrectto classifythe textileindustryin Leiden as small

commodityproduction(cf.Brand,1996: 169-80). The suggestionthatsmallcommodity
productionwas supportedby some urban eliteswho preferreda "moral community"
(DuPlessis & Howell, 1982: 80) over profitsand capitalistrelations,hinges upon the
erroneousdismissalofsubcontracting on one hand and theviewthatcorporatismwould
somehowbe antitheticalto merchantcapitalismon the otherhand (cf. also Lis 8cSoly,
1997a: 12-17; Derville,1987: 723; Stromer,1991: 35-38).
71aIn the Low
Countries,textileguildshad verylimitedpowersin controllingthe
supply and cost of their inputs, includinglabor, and thus in settingmost wages.
Furthermore,their price-setting powers were limited,since theycould not prevent
competitionin theirmajormarkets"(Munro, 1990: 44). "The so-calledweaver-guild was
in realityan association dominated by master weavers who, as the chief industrial
entrepreneurs,organizedproductionby a domesticputting-out system.Most of their
employeeswere unprotected,defenselessfemaleswhose piece-workwages the weaver-
draperscontrolledwithoutdifficulty" (Munro,1994a: 383-84). A commonfeaturefrom
the thirteenth centurywas "a steadymultiplication and fragmentation of guilds,[which
was] deliberatelyfosteredin places (Venice, Siena) by a calculatedmerchantpolicyto
divide and rule" (Jones, 1997: 250). Not only merchant-entrepreneurs, but also some
fourteenth-century German city-states (ruled by the commercialelite) even acted as
verleger,in employingpoor unemployedwomenas textileworkers(Stromer,1989: 877).
Effective resistencewithinthecity-states bytheworkingpoor was difficult. Accordingto
Geremek "the cost of raw materialsand the instabilityof the market,coupled with
increasinglycomplicated technologydemanding specialized skills and an extensive
divisionof labor,oftenforcedthecraftsmento submitand workforthemerchantsand
entrepreneurswho organizedproduction"(1994: 64-65). In addition,one should not
forgetmanyworkershad no controlover thepriceof primaryresources(wool) since it
had to be importedfromfaraway(forthecase of Flanders,firstEngland,Scotland,and
eventuallySpain).
72This also Holland (Kaptein, 1998: 43) and
applied for late fourteenth-century
thirteenth centuryEngland,whereentrepreneurs"boughtwool and had itwashed and
dyed; they gave it out to carders and spinners;theyemployed weavers and fullers
throughoutthetown,understringent supervision,at piece-ratesfixedbythemselves;and
they sold the finished clothat thegreatfairsofeasternEngland"(Miller8cHatcher,1995:
112). In herbrilliantstudyon regionaltradein medievalExeter,Kowaleskiclearlypoints
out that"a closerlook at thecommercialrelationshipbetweendoth merchantsand cloth

thatcapitalismnot onlyintensified in theclothindustry

of theLow
Countries,but also in the Italian competingin the ex-
city-states,
pandingEuropean market,73 whichin its turnwas partof a larger
workerssuggeststhatthecapitalistclothierso commonin thesixteenthand seventeenth

centurieshad begun to emergeby the late fourteenthcenturyin Exeter"(1995: 150).
Even small English towns such as Stratford-upon-Avon were quite affectedby the
internationaltextiletrade: for instance,athe monksof WinchcombeAbbey,who held
threemanorswithineasycartingdistancefromStratford, contractedto sell thewool of
theirwhole estatein theearlyfourteenth centuryto Italianmerchants"(Dyer,1997: 56-
57). Accordingto Lis 8cSoly(1994: 372-73), in fourteenth-centuryCologne and Florence
the "overwhelmingmajority"of weaverswere workingdirectlyor indirectlyas sub-
contractorsforwealthymerchant-weavers who "controlledall stagesof the production
process" (cf. also Favier,1998:185). Althoughcorporateregulationsdid exist,theydid
not hinderthe concentrationof productionthroughnetworksof small workshops.In
latefourteenth-century England,thepracticeofdyersworkingformerchants(or weavers
and fullersfor local gentryand ecclesiasticalinstitutions),on a contractualand sub-
contractualbasis,was quitewidespread.The resulting"dependence of clothworkerson
wages or paymentsfromclientswho contractedfortheirlabor [throughtaskworkor
piece work]"(Kowaleski,1995: 153) is striking. Actually,thepracticesof subcontracting
were even extended into the realm of warfareby the Italian city-states (France, 1999:
134).
73
Strengthenedbylargerprofitmargins,thegreaterfirmsswallowedup the
smaller,reducingmanypettymastersand independentcraftsmento the
pennilessstatusof wage-workers, proletariansottoposti.And as thework-
forceexpanded,theirtermsofemploymenthardened.Underthepressure
(or pretext)of competition,workinghours,includingnighthours,were
stretchedto the limitsof endurance,wage ratesloweredto whatin many
places bythefourteenthcenturywas near starvationlevel,and wage earn-
ings depressed by paymentin debased coin or by truckin overvalued
goods, and byloans and pay advanceswhichtiedworkersto employersas
much as peasantsto landlordsbyrigidbonds of povertyand debt (Jones,
1997: 251; cf.also Ferguson,1962: 271-72).
In fourteenth-century Parisartisansworkedup to sixteenor seventeenhoursper day in
thesummerand around elevenin thewinter(Epstein,1991: 189). In fourteenth-century
London thejourneymenworkingin theclothindustry"wereused as piece workers(paid
by the piece ratherthanby the day or week)" (Hilton, 1992: 84). Fullersin fourteenth-
centuryGhentwere mostlypaid bythepiece (Boone 8cBrand,1993: 173); so werewool
combersand cardersin thirteenth-century Genoa (Epstein,1988b: 120). This of course,
made theirincome unstable since it was subject to economic conjuncturesand price
fluctuations(Uytven,1982: 208). In fourteenth-century Florence one can also see the
contoursof "le salariatde l'époque moderne; ni artisans,ni serfs,ni salariés de l'arti-
sanat: contrôléspar un contremaître, nombreux,massifîés,interchangeables, libresde
vendre leurs bras pour un salaire. Les contemporainsne les appelaient pas ouvriers
salariés,ils avaientforgéun sobriquetde méprispour désignerleurcondition:Ciompi"
workforcein thecountry-
(Stella,1989: 544). The lowestsocial stratumoftheagricultural
side was not betteroffthantheurbanproletariat,since landlesslaborerswere also "de-
pendent onlyon wage income: . . . sawyerswere employedon a flatdaily-wageand at a
piece-ratepaid per 'hundred' feetof board sawn" (Clark, 1991: 234). Althoughmost
studies focus on the exploitationof urban-basedwage laborers,wage labor on the
countryside butexceptional:in fourteenth-century
was everything England,"thepropor-

264 EricMielants
worldeconomic system(Abu-Lughod,1989: 356-61). In addition,

due to the restructuring of marketsand because of a deliberate
of
policy entrepreneurs, constantreallocationsof capitalfromthe
urban centersto the countrysideoccurred(Heers, 1963: 121-24;
Saey & Verhoeve,1993: 107), since thelatter"offeredmore abun-
dant and cheaperpart-time agriculturallabor,witha lowercost of
living,virtually tax-free production,and an escape fromspecific
guildand urbanregulations"(Munro,1994a: 378; cf.also Geremek,
1994: 116).74This aspect of capitalreallocation(investments in the
countryside) whichcontinuedunabatedlyup tothesixteenth century
(e.g., Prevenier, Sosson & Boone, 1992: 164-66) also impliedin-
creasedinvestments in technologythere:forexample,windmills and
watermills.75In general,this "shiftto lowerwage zones and the
possibilityoffurther diversification"
intraregional (Wee, 1993:205-
08) was in directcompetitionwiththe urbanproletariat(Brand &
tionofpeoplewhoobtainedmostoftheirlivingfromwageworkmusthaveexceeded
a thirdofthewholecountry,
risingto two-thirds
in partsoftheeast"(Dyer,1989:213).
OnlyaftertheBlackDeath,didwagesgo up (Gavitt,1981),althoughthisshouldnotbe
exaggerated 1964:244-45).
(Perroy,
74Holbach,forinstance,
notesthat
laborcostswerethemainmotive fortherelativelyearlytransferofweaving into
thecountryside. Thetransplantation oflaborintensive taskstocheapercenters
of productionintensified in the late MiddleAges [and]jeopardizedthe
economyoftheoldercenters. In drawing thecountryside's resources intothe
productionprocess,"putting-out" presented(merchant and wealthy artisan)
entrepreneurs withconsiderable competitiveadvantages. Olderclothtowns
couldlosejobs tothecountryside [while]entrepreneurs hadmoreelbowroom
and could alwaystransfer productionto otherplaces in orderto evade
unpleasant stringent
regulation(1993:238-43).
According to Stabel in
"averagewages thecountryside wereonly60 to 70% ofthosein
thetownsofthesameregion"(1997:131)AsvanderWee(1998)pointsout,theremay
be a significantcorrelation
betweenincreasing reallocationprocessesin theLowCoun-
trieson one handand theimplementation ofa strategyofimport-substitution in four-
teenth-century Englandon theotherhand,as theislandwas transformed froma raw
producerofwoollensforthetextileindustry of theLow Countries, to a producerof
textiles,
herebyincreasing thecompetitionand thesubsequent needto reducewages
withintheLow Countries.
75These innovations and techniques
technological (mechanical fullingdisplacing
laborpowerwherewaterpowerwasavailable) becamewidespread intheearlyfourteenth
century (Carus-Wilson, 1952:410-11)andtheirsocioeconomic implications cannotbe
underestimated: infourteenth-century
England(population 6 million),
forevery 400-600
peopletherewasa mill;infourteenth-century France(population17.6million)thiswas
440 personsper mill(e.g., Langdon,1997: 284-85 and the citedliterature there).
According to Pacey,"by1250-1300,thefoundations hadalreadybeenlaidforthelater
technological ascendancy ofEurope"(1978:39).

Stabel,1995: 220), whichcaused theguildsof largertownssuch as

Brusselsand Ypresto organizefutile"warlikeexpeditionsto destroy
loomsin theruralareas aroundthetowns"(Wee, 1993: 209).76Only
withina radiusof a couple of miles,however,weretheguildscapa-
ble ofeliminating competition fromtheirimmediateruralsurround-
ings(Thoen & Verhulst,1986: 54).77The expansionofa putting-out
(Verlag)systembeyondthetownwallswas characteristic forprelimi-
naryhighlylabor intensivetaskslike "combing,carding,and wool-
spinning"(Holbach,1993:235-36). Manyurban-centered industries
eventually to
managed adapt themselves to changingsocioeconomic
situations(byspecializingin higherqualityproducts),butitis likely
thatin severalcities(especiallythosewhichhad no staplerightsfor
grain) the wages of manyunskilledand unorganizedworkersre-
mainedstructurally (Blockmans,1983: 88). Mosturban-
insufficient
based unskilledwage laborerswere quite vulnerable:the fear of
massive"downsizingavantla lettré" and long-term unemployment
was a dailyreality(Jones,1997: 253). Not surprisingly,
social explo-
sions could be sudden and violentduringperiods of economic
recession.Social discontentin urban centerswas focusedon the
76In theLow
Countries,onlyGhentwas verysuccessfulin controllingitsimmediate
ruralhinterland(Thoen, 1992: 56-57; Boone, 1990: 191-97). For an overviewofvarious
military expeditionsorganizedbyurbanmilitiasagainstcompetingdraperyproduction
in the countryside,cf.Nicholas,(1971: 75-116, 203-21).
77The
way Ypres and Ghent terrorizedtheirhinterlandin the earlyfourteenth
centuryto protecttheirmonopoly in cloth productionresemblesWallerstein'score-
peripherymodel (Prevenier,1997: 196). In general,theItaliancity-states were themost
successfulin subjugatingand dominatingtheir rural hinterland,the contado(e.g.,
Nicholas,1997: 87; Perrot,1983: 93-97; Bowsky,1970: 225-55; Stabel,1997: 73 ; Redon,
1994) althoughthe same can be said about manyFrenchcitiessuch as earlyfourteenth-
centuryToulouse (Mousnier, 1997: 347-79) or fourteenth-century Bordeaux and the
creationof its banlieue(Bochaca, 1997; 1998) or othercitieswitha vignoblium as equiv-
alentof a territorium(Le Goff,1998: 238-39). Since thecountrysidewas subordinatedto
in a hierarchicaldivisionof labor betweentownand countryside,and the
the city-state
city-stateenforced a virtualmonopolypositionregardingthedistribution ofgoods to the
urban and rural population alike (Stabel, 1992: 352), the rural industrieswere more
complementarythancompetitivewiththe urban ones. Oftenundesirableworksuch as
tanningwas performedin thecountryside because ofthe"annoyingsmellsand pollution
generatedbytheprocess"(Kowaleski,1995: 160). At thesame timeone shouldconsider
to whatextentthe so-calledupper class buitenpoorterij or bourgeoisie
foraine,those who
migratedfromthe city-whileretainingtheircitizenship-to the countryside,strength-
ened (juridically,socioeconomically,and politically)the control of the cityover its
surroundinghinterland(Thoen, 1988a: 448-49; 1988b: 480-90; Boone, 1996a: 715-25)
and to whatextentsimilarly the"landowningruralmembershipofan urbanguildlinked
the townwiththe politicallifeof itshinterland"(Carpenter,1997: 63).

266 EricMielants
issue of wages (Epstein 1991a: 116; Prevenier,1998: 83; Munro,

1979: 111) because of relativelyhighinflation,but also on abuses
such as truck.78 Occasionally, the protesteven took the formof
vague socialist
and communist aspirations,as whentheweaversand
fullersofValenciennesin 1225 deposed thegovernment, despoiled
theplutocrats, and declareda commune(Carus-Wilson, 1952:399).79
Accordingto Pirenne,virtually a revolutionary climatecame into
beingin thefourteenth century(1939: 226-45). Because ofitsinter-
connectionthroughtrade,Flemishradical doctrinesspread and
influencedWatt Tyler'smovementin England at the end of the
fourteenth century(Pirenne,1947: 199). Althoughsome of Piren-
ne's writingsweremeticulously questionedin thelasttwenty years,80
itis hardto denythesignificance ofsocialstriferelatedto livingand
workingconditionsin theMiddleAges.81The revoltof theCiompi
in Florenceis probablythe mostrenownedexamplethatrevealed
78Cf. Boone 8c Brand

(1993: 184), Yante (1990: 372), Boone, Brand 8c Prevenier
(1993: 73), Rosser(1997: 27) but also Holbach (1993: 229) and thecitedliteraturethere.
79The most violent turbulenceoccurred in the townswhichwere
economically
advanced: Douai in 1245, Arrasin 1253, Genoa in 1258 and 1276, Siena in 1257,Ypres
in 1280, Viterboin 1281, Bologna in 1289, Florencein 1293-95, all located in Flanders
and northernItaly(Mackenney,1987: 2; Pirenne,1963: 94-109).
80
E.g., Despy 8cVerhulst(1986); Verhulst(1989b).
81Britnell
pointsout that,as faras medievalEnglandwas concerned,one should
rejectthe suppositionthatstandardsof livingimprovedfor the whole popu-
lationbetween1180 and 1330 . . . thesubdivisionsofholdingsand competition
foremploymentpushed livingstandardsdownwardsforthe poorest families.
Piece rates deterioratedduring the period of commercialgrowthbetween
about 1270 and 1320 [while]the merchantclass was largerand wealthierin
1330 thanin 1180 (1993: 125-26).
This is preciselywhatoccurs in thecapitalistworld-economy on a globalscaletoday:the
standardof livingof a minority(located in the core) increases,while the majorityis
facingmore povertyand deprivationin theperiphery.This is of course no coincidence.
In 1100-1350 partsof England were peripheralto aie core of the urban nexus in the
Low Countries.Some scholarsevendefineitoutrightas an economiccolony(Rosenberg
& Birdzell,1986: 76; Cazel, 1966: 110). It was onlyafterimportsubstitutiontook place
in the late fourteenthcenturythat textileproduction for the internationalmarket
increasedwhileitgraduallydecreasedexportingwool (Gutmann,1988: 36). The factthat
up to the mid-fourteenth centurysome Englishregionswere peripheralrelativeto the
Low Countries, of course does not mean there was no substantialand successful
entrepreneurialmiddleclass,as we can finditin eighteenth-century Brazilor twentieth-
century Colombia. From the earlyfifteenth centuryonwards,the urban core of theLow
Countries turned to Spain to extractraw materials(wool) for its industries,with
profoundimplicationsforthelatter'ssocioeconomicdevelopment:in Castilealone 1.5
millionsheep have been estimatedto produce wool c. 1350,whileone centurylaterthe
numberwas 2.7 million(Favier,1996: 181).

quitewellthepresenceof deep social and politicalgrievances(e.g.,

Hay & Law, 1989: 249-51; Stella, 1993). The popular elementin
these revoltsis undeniable(Mollat 8c Wolff,1973: 7). Clearlythe
cities'dependenceon themarketfortextilesmade themvulnerable
forsocialunrest,especiallygiventhe"unbendinginterests ofexploit-
ativecapitalism"(Mackenney,1987:29). ForLestocquoy(1952: 131-
37) thesocialstruggles and the"egalitariansocialvisions"(Howell&
Boone, 1996: 322) which emerged in the second halfof the thir-
teenthcentury,even seem to resemblethese of the period 1830-
1848.82In essence,themedievalworkingclasswas a readilyavailable
pool of oftenseasonal extralabor, exploitedwhen seen fit.This
reservelabor pool was also increasedby childlabor: "Journeymen
workedin shops thathad a numberof boys or girls[working]for
meals and a place to sleep at night.These childrenservedalso to
remindthejourneymenthattheyhad competitionforwork,espe-
ciallyin theunskilledtrades"(Epstein,1991a: 120).83Needlesstosay,
not all productionsiteswere reallocatedto the countrysidesince
urbanlocationsalso offeredadvantagessuchas bettercoordination
and supervisionofspecializedlaborrequiredforhighqualityluxury
cloth,urban financing(Munro, 1990: 45), and lower transaction
costsif the textileswere made in an entrepotlike Bruges,84 which
had directlinksto theinternational market.The international com-
petitionwas veryreal indeed since it induced
ultimately the urban
textilecentersto shifttheirproductionof lowerqualitybulkgoods
82
Concerning the problem of the existingsocial strugglein the medieval ages,
Jacques Heers (1963: 315) warns us not to interpretwarringpartyfactionswiththe
expressionof social classes.Furthermore, classesdo not have a permanentreality:thus,
like all other social constructs,the emerging"bourgeoisie"should not be treatedas a
staticphenomenon,but as a designationofa classin theprocessofperpetualre-creation
and hence of constantchange of formand composition(Wallerstein,1979: 224, 286).
Despite thefactthatsocial strifein theMiddleAges cannotbe simplifiedto classwarfare
between the proletariatand the bourgeoisie as if theywere two homogenous entities
(Prevenier,1988: 57), and thatworkersdid not perceivethemselvessolelyin functionof
"social and economic distinctions"(Rosser, 1997), it is undeniablethatdie social issue,
symbolizedbyserioustensionsbetweenthelowerand highersocial stratawas extremely
important(Jordan,1998: 132-33), since ttthe dependence of cityeconomies to interna-
tionalmarketsmade theirstability (Britnell,1991: 29).
sensitiveto externaldisturbances'*
85 children low skilledworkin thetextile as they
Althoughmany performed industry,
wereeasilyexploitable,manywomen-althoughthiswasnotabsolute-werealso relegated
to thebottomof theoccupationalhierarchy.For thecomplexsexual divisionof labor in
the medievalLow Countries,cf.Howell (1997) and Kowaleski(1995: 153-54).
84
Brugesproduced clothforexportand was as an entrepot/gateway citycrucialfor
the internationaltradeflowinto the Flemishurban network(Stabel, 1995, 1997).

268 EricMielants
towardsmore exclusiveluxurygoods forwhichdemand was less

elastic,whilethecountryside oftentookovertherole of producing
lower-quality products(e.g., Stabel, 1997: 144; Abraham-Thisse,
1993b: 172-73). However,thequestionremainsto whatextent"the
international urbannetwork"(Bartlett,1993: 176) in thefourteenth
century was a one (Stabel,1997:72), althoughtraces
trulyintegrated
ofa certain"inter-urban specialization"can alreadybe found(Wee,
1975: 205). Regionaleconomieswerecertainly interconnected (e.g.,
Masschaele, 1997; Kowaleski,1995; Wolff, 1995: 65) and interna-
tionaltradewas becomingmoreimportantas well,85 but it remains
to be exploredtowhatdegree theeconomiesof scale and economic
differentiationin the MiddleAges have had a considerableimpact
on unevenregionaldevelopmentin thelongrun(e.g.,Ashtor,1983:
375-433 or Mokyr,1990: 44; cf.also the criticaltone of Abulafia
[1997: 36-39] or Galloway[1977]).Nevertheless, exploringthelong-
termimpactoftheintercity-state system on the evolution ofwestern
is a
Europeanhistory necessary endeavor. The medieval citywith"its
division of labor and its impulses on the monetaryeconomy,
broughtabouta fermentation processin thefeudalmode ofproduc-
tionthatdestroyedit in thelong run"(Le Goff,1998b: 15). There-
foreit has to be understoodas a crucialvariablein the long-term
historyofwesternEurope.86
85
Justone exampleis theEnglishwool produced forthetextileindustriesin theLow
Countriesand the Lombard towns.
By c. 1300 lords in the London regionwere sellingapproximatelyhalfof net

demesne productionand thefactthatbythisdate moneyrentsexceeded rents
in kind suggeststhatpeasantswere not backwardin sellingmuchof whatthey
produced. To take a single commodity:by the opening of the fourteenth
centurylords and peasantswere directlyor indirectlysellingabroad thewool
of over seven millionsheep (Campbell, 1995c: 553).
Even in 1273, when the vogue of [English]wool had hardlybegun, 44 Italian
merchantsin Englandexported8000 sacks(about 1325 tons);but thisamount
was sufficient
forthemanufactureof only24,000 pieces of cloths-a verysmall
percentageofthetotalofItalianproduction.In thefollowingyearsthedemand
forEnglishwool increased(Lopez, 1952: 329); cf.also Lloyd (1977).
It has to be emphasizedthatthewesternEuropean city-statesdid notonlyhave to import
theirfoodstuffs fromincreasingly greatdistances,butthattheurbanindustriesalso often
depended on long distance trade whichprocured them withvital "supplies of wool,
cotton,silk,alum and dyestuffs" (Britnell,1991: 29).
86
Referringto an intercity-state
system,I do not wishto downplaythe importance
of the countrysidein the Middle Ages. Afterall, most Europeans lived there.Yet "the

CONCLUSION(S)
The politicalsystemof city-states had a crucialimpacton the

long-term socioeconomic processes which occurredin Europe in
thatit enabled capitalism survive, grow,and ultimately
to to to ex-
pand into a capitalistworld-economy. Policies and techniquesof
dominationand exploitationwhich had been implementedand
experimentedwithbytheeliteswithinthemedievalEuropean city-
statesystemwereused by the elitesof nation-states duringthe six-
teenth-seventeenth centuriestofostertheceaselessaccumulationof
capital.FurthercomparativeresearchbetweenEuropean regions
and non-Europeanregions(China, India,Japan) willbringabout
newinsightson howsocioeconomichistory wasprofoundly affected
by different politicalsystems. One should also the
highlight impact
of medievalnon-Europeon Europe to avoidEurocentrist biases as if
medievaldevelopmentin Europewasnothingbutauto-development
(e.g., Delatouche,1989: 26), whileat the same timeone has to be
somewhatEurocentric so one can attemptto pin downcertainEuro-
pean specifics87 which contributedto a qualitativeshifton the
European continent in theperiod1000ADup to 1500AD.Of course,
thisdoes notimplythatotherregionswereless successfulin trade,
wagingwar,or achievingtechnologicalinnovationsin the Middle
Ages. Nor is it a valuejudgmentabout othercivilizations. It does
mean thatonlytheconvergenceof bothinternaland external(thus
relational)developmentscan provide a sound analyticalbasis to
explain whyand how featuresof capitalism(whichsubsequently
spread out over the world) came into being in certainparts of
Europe (or westernAsia;itis onlyforhermeneutic conveniencethat
I maintaintheusage ofthewordEurope). I do notchallengethefact
thatafter1500 thecapitalistlogicintensifiedbecause ofthe"thegreat
modernizationof the commercialinfrastructure was onlypossible afterthe emergence

of European citieswho createdevermore,new and optimalconditionsforan increase
ofproductivity and thusallowedsuccessiveseriesof increasinggrowth"(Wee, 1981: 14).
commerce[which]had become an extremely
Citiesare keyto the"international dynamic
sector,of a vitalimportanceto the growthof the European economy"(Wee, 1981: 10)
so theycan be accuratelylabeled as the "nodes of capitalism"(Rosenberg & Birdzell,
1986: 47). Much of the socioeconomic changesoccurringin the countrysidewere after
all "fueledbyurbandemand [which]stimulatedan intensiveand highlycommercialized
agriculture"(Yun, 1994: 116; Menant,1993: 293).
8/As a
consequence, the historicalevolutionof Europe cannot be copied in the
Third World as some modernizationtheoristswould argue.

270 EricMielants
maritimediscoveries"(See, 1928:41J88 and thesubsequentincreased

profitsfromtradeand exploitationcomingout of non-Europeto
Europe and westernAsia,89nor am I denyingtheemergenceof an
interstatesystemafter1500 or theshiftsbetweendifferent hegemo-
nies(e.g.,Arrighi,1994). How thencan one acceptgeneralconcepts
ofWSA,and also explaintheemergenceofcapitalismin theMiddle
Ages?90Ifone acceptsthatmerchantcapitalismwasalreadymaturing
in Europe priorto the"long"sixteenthcentury, thedevelopmentof
a trulyworld(encompassing)-system after1492 is not empirically
challenged.Whatneeds to be rethoughtand exploredis theemer-
gence of capitalismin medievalEurope beforeit expanded into a
worldcapitalisteconomy:exploitationofwagelabor,class struggle,
reallocationof capital,theexploitationof a peripheralcountryside
by an (urban) core, substitutionof labor power by technological
inventions(e.g., wind millsand watermills)in order to minimize
laborcostsand further theendlessaccumulationofcapital,thecorn-
modificationof the materialworld,and the rationalizationof the
spiritualworld,in short,modernfeaturesof contemporary capital-
ism, found theirvery roots in theMiddle Ages: aas thehighMiddle
Ages unfolded European societiesexperiencedimpressiveratesof
economicgrowthin termsof real GDP per capita" (Snooks, 1996:
305). And itwas preciselywithintheurbannexusof medievalwest-
ern Europe that economic "self-sustained growth"was realized
88The linkbetweenworldaccumulationin thesixteenth

centuryand capitalaccumu-
lation priorto the sixteenthcenturyhas been acknowledgedby Frank:uLa production
et la concentrationd'un capital marchandfondé sur la production dans les citésitali-
ennes étaient essentiellespour réaliser les voyages de découverte et créer pour la
premièrefoisun commerce mondialattirantet réalisable"(1977: 32). The question is:
how did thesefeaturesof capitalismappear in medieval(Italian) city-states?
89It is dear thatafter1492
the combined output of centralEuropean and Americanmines supplied the

treasuriesof westernEurope withlarge quantitiesof precious metals. The
accumulatedresourcesinduced them to increase theircommercialactivities
withthe East. In the course of time,the influxof silver,coupled withthehigh
value placed on thisspecie in the East,enabled Europeans to monopolize the
tradeof Asiaticcountriesand subordinatetheireconomies,therebylayingthe
foundationsof European domination and colonialism in the region. This
dominationultimately enabled theEuropeansto [channel]wealthand resources
fromeverycornerof thatcontinentback to Europe (Bozorgnia, 1998: 180).
90Without
usingan extremeformof holismthatAndre Gunder Frank'spost-1990
researchembodies.

(Uytven,1987: 127).91But recurringgrowthwas not an isolated

phenomenonlocatedwithina city-state and itscountryside:
thepres-
ence ofa largenumber of activities
industrial throughout whole
the
urban nexus fromsouthernEngland,the Low Countries,partsof
France and Germany,and northernItaly,such as mining,textile
production,glassmaking,shipbuilding,etc.,enhanced"substantially
thedemandforbothfoodstuffs and land" (Hatcher,1969: 217) and
therebycreated the possibilityfor a deepening of inter-regional
tradenetworks.92To claimthatwesternEurope managedto create
some kind of take-offdue to its internalfeatureswould be, of
course,a grossexaggerationsincethegrowthofitsurbaneconomies
cannotbe properlyunderstoodwithoutcapturingthe vitalimpor-
tanceof theinternationallong-distancetradebetweenEurope and
non-Europe,as Abu-Lughod(1989) pointed out,93nor can one
91For Blockmansthe eleventh

centuryis the keymomentin historywhichbrings
about recurringgrowth:
Le Xle siècle donna un nouveau visage à l'Europe et mit en branche un
dynamiquequi ne futplus interrompueet qui continue à se manifesterau-
jourd'hui à l'échelle mondiale. La croissanceà long termede la productionet
de la population,ainsique la formationd'Etatset le développementd'une éco-
nomie de marchécapitaliste,ont pris leurs départ à cetteépoque. Ces évolu-
tions eurent lieu plus tôt dans certainesrégions que dans d'autres,mais de
tellesrégionsdonnèrentle ton. La stagnationet la régressions'affirmèrent ici
et là, maisla dynamiquedes systèmesrestaeffective à long termeet l'estencore
aujourd'hui (1997: 30).
In his magnumopus on thelongueduréein Europe, Blockmanspresentsconvincingevi-
dence. What is, however,veryproblematicis his Eurocentrism:in dealingwithten cen-
turiesof European history,Blockmanspays hardlyany attentionat all to other civili-
zationsor even theissue of colonization,whichhe legitimizesbystatingthat"si l'on fait
exception du rayonnementde la science arabe en Espagne méridionaleet en Sicile
durantle MoyenAge, les influencesextérieuressubies par l'Europe ne sont devenues
décisivesqu'au XXe siècle" (1997: 30). A quite extremeinternalist positionof the Euro-
pean miracle in the late 1990's.
92The
example which Hatchter (1969) gives for medieval ports in the west of
Englandis quiteilluminating: preciselybecause of theirintegrationintoa widerregional
economy (as is illustratedby theirrelativediversifiedeconomies), theyseem to "have
weatheredthe economic storms"(1969: 226) of the postplagueperiod muchbetter.
95It is no coincidencethatbecause ofthePax
MongolicaovertheEurasianlandmass,
themarketexpanded forthewesternEuropean city-states, and subsequentlythedivision
of labor in most of theirindustriesincreasedc. 1250-1350 (Balard, 1983). Onlywhen
tradeacrossEurasiabecame moredifficult afterthedisintegration ofthePax Mongolica,
did the Europeans considerto reviveattemptsto circumnavigate theAfricancontinent
(Richard, 1970: 363). A major problemwithAbu-Lughod's(1989) studyis the entire
omissionofAfrica-withthenotableexceptionofEgypt-in thethirteenth and fourteenth
centuries.Africangold,transportedacrosstheSahara and Morocco,was veryimportant

272 EricMielants
separatethe ceaselessaccumulationof capitalin thecore fromthe

creationof multipleperipheries(colonial or neocolonialoverseas
territoriesprovidingcheap labor,raw materials,and markets).Al-
though "economistsgenerallyloathecontemplating theuses ofvio-
lence in theeconomicsphere[and] thereseemsto be a feelingthat
basis forany sustainedeco-
it cannotbe a 'true' or 'fundamental*
nomicgain"(Findlay,1992: 159) suchas recurringgrowth,thehistor-
ical realityofcapitalismproves otherwise.94
As I demonstrated, modernizationtheory,Marxism,"Brenner-
ism,"and WSA all have certainproblemswiththe emergenceof
capitalismin the medievalperiod.A recurrentthemeis the back-
wardnessof the Middle Ages: an artisan,rigid,stagnanteconomy
witha feudalsystemin crisiswaitingonlyto be sweptawayby the
modernera/modernity underthecloak of capitalism.Hence often
the artificialconstructionof an easy and misleadingdichotomy:a
feudalversusa capitalistera (Heers, 1992: 35-36). Unfortunately,
the"distinction betweenmedievaland moderntimes,entrenchedin
pedagogicaltraditionsincethedawnofformalhistoryteaching,"as
Britnell(1998: 113) puts it, is stillverymuch alive. Instead,one
should attemptto look at the MiddleAges withoutprejudicesand
see to whatextent,why,and how embryonicformsand featuresof
capitalismcameintobeing,matured,and werecapableoftransform-
ing themselves,while expanding and intensifying in the "long"
fortheEuropean economy:sincesilverwas massivelytransportedto theFar Eastbecause

ofa structural tradedeficit,gold became "theprimemetalforinternationaltransactions,
whethercommercialor political,and indeed forall considerablepayments... in thelast
centuryand a halfof theMiddleAges mostcountriesofwesternEurope had an adequate
stockof gold currency,howeverdebased and howeverdiminishedtheirsilvercurrency
mightbe" (Spufford,1988: 283-87). Cf. also Phillips:"theattractionof NorthAfricafor
European merchantsarose fromsuchbulkyitemsas highgrade merinowool and grain,
but above all fromgold bullion [which]was of greatimportanceto the developmentof
the medievalEuropean economy** (1998: 140), but,of course,also of greatimportance
fortheIslamiceconomies(Watson,1967; Bozorgnia,1998: 83-85, and 121-41). Lastbut
not least,the interestin gold and slaveswas crucialto the Portuguese/Genoeseefforts
of bypassingthe Muslim intermediariesand explore Africain the fifteenth century
(Phillips,1985: 135-36; Favier,1996: 198-99; Scammell,1981: 164).
94 Classical trade
theoryis utterlydivorcedfromthehistoricalrealitiesof
slaveshipsand silverargosies.The international divisionoflabordid not
resultfromthe operation of the law of comparativecosts because the
world's tradingnationswere neverequal partners.On the contrary,it
was centuriesofunequalexchange thatcreateda "chainof subordination"
and led to thedivisionoftheplanetintodevelopedand underdeveloped
regions(Day, 1999: 114. Italicsadded).

sixteenthcentury.Last but not least,I hope we can go beyondthe

limitedfocusofusingthenation-state as theexclusiveunitof analy-
sis in order to explain the "transition."
Only thenwillwe be able
betterto comprehendthecomplexessentialfeaturesofthecapitalist
world-economy in whichwe livetoday.
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Perspectives on the Origins of Merchant Capitalism in Europe

This content downloaded from 143.207.2.50 on Mon, 5 Aug 2013 11:37:08 AM

This content downloaded from 143.207.2.50 on Mon, 5 Aug 2013 11:37:08 AM

When orthodoxMarxismis used as a theoreticalperspectiveto

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The Brennerianapproach(unliketraditional orthodoxMarxism)

4 Does this statement

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classicalcapitalistrelationson thelandin England"(Brenner,1985b:

7 In a Brennerjuxtaposes thegeneralcrisis"on mostof

This content downloaded from 143.207.2.50 on Mon, 5 Aug 2013 11:37:08 AM

the importanceof demographicchange or the powerfuldynamic

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636-37). Nor does itmeanthat"surplusextracting bynon-economic

This content downloaded from 143.207.2.50 on Mon, 5 Aug 2013 11:37:08 AM

tions are only one (albeit crucial) determinantof market

A modernizationapproach16is also problematic,whetherit is

This content downloaded from 143.207.2.50 on Mon, 5 Aug 2013 11:37:08 AM

sance decadent medieval structureswhile installingmodernity

This content downloaded from 143.207.2.50 on Mon, 5 Aug 2013 11:37:08 AM

tion,specialization,and technicalchange peripheraltopicsforthe

existence of technologicalprogress in this perspectivewhich frames"pre-industrial

This content downloaded from 143.207.2.50 on Mon, 5 Aug 2013 11:37:08 AM

World-systems analysis(WSA) attempts toexplaintheemergence

This content downloaded from 143.207.2.50 on Mon, 5 Aug 2013 11:37:08 AM

transitiontook place in feudalEurope and not elsewhere;whyit

24Brenner'sclaim thatWSA is circulationist

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world-system (a world-economy centeredaroundEuropeor western

This content downloaded from 143.207.2.50 on Mon, 5 Aug 2013 11:37:08 AM

thatitslogic appears to be predominant)is hard to do, since "itis

This content downloaded from 143.207.2.50 on Mon, 5 Aug 2013 11:37:08 AM

does this criticaltransitionfroma luxurygood to a bulk good

This content downloaded from 143.207.2.50 on Mon, 5 Aug 2013 11:37:08 AM

scale grain trading(Hunt, 1994: 244; Britnell,1993: 123; Wolff,

31"Since the latter

This content downloaded from 143.207.2.50 on Mon, 5 Aug 2013 11:37:08 AM

theirnetworks ofcirculation whichensuredtherapidspread

intercitystatesystemof westernEurope and thecountrysideof easternEurope and the

This content downloaded from 143.207.2.50 on Mon, 5 Aug 2013 11:37:08 AM

and Gillsenvisagethecontoursof a worldsystemthatexisted5000

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on urban productionand trade35and agrarian productionfor

This content downloaded from 143.207.2.50 on Mon, 5 Aug 2013 11:37:08 AM

churchesand townhallsin westernEurope fromthe beginningof

là" (Greilsammer,1994: 810). But,quite important,"theurbanauthoritiesin the twelfth

According to Little,"whatwas once deviantbehavior,whichby definitionis margi-

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essentialdifference regardingVespritd'entreprise of a merchantlike

mechanical clock firstappeared and with it a new type of civilizationbased on the

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capitalistworld-economy tookplace not earlierthan 1450 and not

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andbecauseoftheiroverallcontinuing growingimportance, thefeudal

45The same is said Bouvierand Germain-Martin

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applythetermcapitalismin theMiddleAges,48 noris he reluctantto

wool would arriveat thewashhouse, itwould thenproceed to thefactoryto be

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strength froma far-reaching divisionoflabor,bothemployingsemi-

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cantregardingsocialstratification and polarization.The leatherand