First published in 2005. This original study the author writing in 1936 has tried to sketch the character and general movement of the economic and social evolution of Western Europe from the end of the Roman Empire to the middle of the fifteenth century.
Introduction
Chpt. 1: The Revival of Commerce
i. The Meditteranean
ii. The North Sea and the Baltic
iii. The Revival of Commerce
Chpt. 2: The Towns
i. The Revival of Urban Life
ii. Merchants and the Bourgeoisie
iii. Urban Institutions and the Law
Chpt. 3: Land and the Rural Classes
i. Manorial Organisation and Serfdom
ii. Changes in Agriculture from the Beginning of the Twelfth Century
Chpt. 4: Commerce to the End of the Thirteenth Century
i. The Movement of Trade
ii. The Fairs
iii. Money
iv. Credit and the Traffic in Money
Chpt. 5: International Trade to the End of the Thirteenth Century
i. Commodities and Directions of International Trade
ii. The Capitalistic Character of International Trade
Chpt. 6: Urban Economy and the Regulation of Industry
i. The Towns as Economic Centres. The Provisioning of the Towns
ii. Urban Industry
Chpt. 7: The Economic Changes of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries
i. Catastrophes and Social Disturbances
ii. Protectionism, Capitalism and Mercantilism
Biography
Henri Pirenne Membre de L'academie Royale de Belgique, Professor Emertimus De l'Unversitie de Gand.