Henry, J. European Economic History
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO
Department of Economics
Econ 112 John F. Henry
Fall 1990 Office: BUS 3029
Hours: TTH 12-12:45,
2:30-3:15 and by
appointment.
Phone: 278-6193
Economics 112: European Economic History
Required Texts:
1. Bernal, J.D., Science in History,Vol. 1
2. Dobb, M., Studies in the Development of Capitalism
3. Rule, J., The Labouring Classes in Early Industrial
England
4. Kemp, T., Industrialization in 19th Century Europe
5. Sayers, M. and Kahn, A., The Great Conspiracy
Course Outline and Readings:
1. Introduction: The Problem Stated
2. The Basis of Economic Organization and An Examination of
Pre-Civil Society, Bernal Part 2, Ch. 2
3. The Transition To Civil Society, Bernal, Ch. 3
4. Greece and Rome Briefly Considered, Bernal, Ch. 4
5. The Origins and Development of Medieval Feudalism,
Bernal Ch. 5-6; Dobb, Ch. 2
6. The Transition to Capitalist Society. Dobb, Chs. 1,3-6.
7. The Evolution of Capitalism Through the Stage of Oligopoly.
Rule, Parts 1,2,4; Kemp, Chs. 2,3,4,6.
8. Socialism. Kemp, Ch. 5; Sayers and Kahn
9. The World Between The Wars and The Future. Dobb, Ch. 8
Examinations:
Midterms: 1) Covers material through section 3
2) Covers material from sections 4 and 5
Final: Covers material from sections 6 through 9
NOTE WELL:
This is a demanding course. It requires careful and serious
study. I urge you to organize small groups for the purpose
of collectively reviewing the material. Do this on a systematic
basis. Never wait until the day before an examination to begin
your studies.
If you have problems, raise them in class or see me in the office
during office hours. Do not come in at the end of the semester
with some reason as to why you should receive a better grade than
that which you have earned.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
The writings in European economic history are enormous, and no attempt
is made to be even remotely complete in the following list. For more
extensive bibliographies, consult standard texts such as:
Shepard Clough, Economic History of Europe
Dudley Dillard, Economic Development of the North Atlantic
Community
Herbert Heaton, Economic History of Europe
As well, extensive citations are found in:
Cambridge Economic History of Europe, Six Volumes
Studies in Economic and Social Hisotry (Macmillan)
Essays in Economic History, E.M. Carus Wilson, ed.
In addition, there are a number of journals dealing expressly
with
European economic history and almost all economic journals
periodically contain articles in these areas. The citations in
the general works listed above will specify these. The following
are some of the more outstanding journals: Economic History
Review, Journal of Economic History, Past and Present.
What follows is a listing of some significant works many of which
will not be found in the standard references cited above.
SCOPE AND METHOD IN ECONOMIC HISTORY
Ashley, W.J. On the Study of Economic History, Quarterly
Journal of Economics, 7:115-36, Jan. 1983.
Ashton, T.S. "The Relation of Economic History to Economic
Theory," Economica, N.S. 13:81-96, May 1946.
Block, M. The Historian's Craft, 1941.
Burckhardt, J. Reflections on History, 1871.
Carr, Edward Hallett What is History?
Chandler, A. and Economic History: Retrospect and Prospect,
Journal Galambos, Editors of Economic History, 31, March 1971.
Childe, V. Gordon History,1947.
Childe, V. Gordon What is History?, 1953.
Clapham, J.H. "Economic History," Encyclopedia of the Social
Sciences III, 1937.
The Study of Economic History, 1929.
Cole, G.D.M. Introduction to Economic History, 1750-1950,New
York, St. Martin's Press, 1952.
Desai, M. "Some Issues in Econometric History," Economic
History Review, 21, April 1968.
Gay, E.F "The Tasks of Economic History," JEH/S 1:9-16,
Dec. 1941.
Gould, J.D "Hypothetical History," EHR, 22, 1969, 195-207.
Gras, Norman S.B. An Introduction to Economic History, 1922.
Gras, Norman S.B. "Stages in Economic History", Journal of Economic
and Business History, 2:395-418, May 1930.
Gras, Norman S.B. Business and Capitalism; An Introduction to
Business History, 1939.
Gras, Norman S.B. "The Present Condition of Economic History,"
QJE 34:209-24, Feb. 1920.
Gras, Norman S.B. "The Rise and Development of Economic
History," Economic History Review EHR 1:12-
34, Jan. 1927.
Hansen, A.H. "The Technological Interpretation of History,
" QJE, 36:72-83, Nov. 1921.
"The Diffusionist Interpretation of History,
"Modern Quartely, Summer 1947.
Heaton, Herbert "Criteria of Periodization in Economic
History," JEH, 15:267-72, Sept. 1955.
Heaton, Herbert "Stages in Economic History. Round Table
Conference"'AER/S, 20:3-9, Mar. 1930.
Heaton, Herbert "The Making of an Economic Historian," JEH
Supp., Vol IX, 1949.
Heckscher, E.F. "A Plea for Theory in Economic History,
Economic History 1:525-34, Jan. 1929.
Hicks, J.R. A Theory of Economic History, 1969.
Johnson, E.A.J. "Tools for the Economic Historian," JEH/S,
Dec. 1941.
Muller, Herbert, J. Uses of the Past, 1952.
Nef, John U. "What is Economic History?" JEH/S 4:1-19, Dec.
1944.
Pirenne, Henri "The Stages of the Social History of
Capitalism," American Historical Rev. 494-
515, April 1914.
Plekhanov, Georgii V. The Materialist Conception of History, 1901.
The Development of the Monist View of Hist
ory, 1895.
Postan, M.M. "Functions and Dialectic in Economic History,"
English Historical Review, XIV, 397-407 1962.
Robertson, A. How To Read History, 1952.
Rogers, James E. Thorold The Economic Interpretation of History, 1909.
Rostow, W.W. "The Interrelation of Theory and Economic
History,"JEH 17:509-23, Dec. 1957.
Schumpeter, J.A. "The Creative Response in Economic History,"
JEH 7:14-59, Nov. 1947.
See, Henri The Economic Interpretation of History, 1929.
Seligamn, Edwin R.A. The Economic Interpretation of History, 1961.
Sombart, W. "Economic Theory and Economic History, EHR, 2:1-
19, Jan.1929.
Stern, Fritz, Ed. The Varieties of History From Voltaire to the
Present, 1956.
Tawney, R.H. "The Study of Economic History," Ec, 13+1-21,
Feb. 1933
Thrupp, Sylvia L. "The Role of Comparison in the Development of
Economic Theory," JEH, Dec. 1957.
Usher, A.P. "The New Realism and Economic History, JPE,
June, 1927
Usher, A.P. "Institutional Methodology in Economic
History," JEH 1:88-96, May 1941.
Weber, Max. General Economic History, Collier Books, New
York, 1961
Wright, C.W. "The Nature and Objectives of Economic
History,"
JPE, 46:688-701, Oct. 1938.
TRIBAL SOCIETY
Briffault, Robert The Mothers (1931) 1 volume.
Briffault, Robert The Mothers (1927) 3 volumes.
Childe, V. Gordon Social Evolution (1951)
Engels, Frederick The Origin of the Family, etc.
Morgan, Lewis A. Ancient Society (1877)
Morgan, Lewis A. League of the Iroquois (1851)
Morgan, Lewis A. Houses and House-life of the American Aborigines
(1881)
Nesturkh, M. The Origin of Man (1959)
Thomson, George D. Studies in Ancient Greek Society (1949-1955) 2
volumes
White, Leslie A. The Evolution of Culture (1959)
ANCIENT SOCIETY
Briffault, Robert Rational Evolution (1930)
Bury, J.B. A History of Greece
Caesar, Julius The Gallic War and Other Writings
Childe, V. Gordon Man Makes Himself (1951)
Childe, V. Gordon What Happened in History (1942)
Childe, V. Gordon The Prehistory of European Society (1958)
Childe, V. Gordon Social Evolution (1951)
Childe, V. Gordon New Light on the Most Ancient East (1953)
Childe, V. Gordon The Dawn of European Civilization (1957)
Farrington, Benjamin Greek Science (1953)
Farrington, Benjamin Science and Politics in the Ancient World (1939)
Gibbon, Edward The Decline and Fall of the Romas Empire, 3
volumes.
Herodotus The Persian Wars
Plutarch Plutarch's Lives
Polybius Plutarch's Lives
Robertson, Archibald The Origins of Christianity (1962)
Robertson, Archibald How to Read History (1952)
Tacitus The Complete Works of Tacitus
Thucydides The Complete Writings of Thucydides
Tarn, W.W. Hellenistic Civilization (1952)
Tarn, W.W. et al. The Hellenistic Age (1923)
Walbank, F.W. The Decline of the Roman Empire in the West
(1946)
MEDIEVAL SOCIETY
Antal, Frederick Florentine Painting and Its Social Background
(1948)
Bloch, Marc Feudal Society, 2 volumes
Bloch, Marc French Rural History (1931)
Bradley, Harriet The Enclosures in England (1918)
Briffault, Robert Rational Evolution (1930)
Briffault, Robert The Troubadors
Chadwick, H. The Origin of the English Nation
Engels, Frederick The Peasant War in Germany
Grekov, Boris Kiev Rus (1959)
Hilton, R. and Fagan, H. The English Rising of 1381 (1950)
Kosminksy, E.A. Studies in the Agrarian History of England
(1956)
Macek, J. The Hussite Movement in Bohemia (1965)
Maitland, F.W. Domesday Book and Beyond (1897)
Michelet, J. Satanism and Witchcraft
Morris, William A Dream of John Ball
Morton, A.L. A People's History of England
Orwin, C.S. and C.S. The Open Fields (1954)
Pascal, Roy The Social Basis of the German Reformation
(1933)
Perroy, Edourd The Hundred Years War (1945)
Pirenne, H. The Early Democracies in the Low Countries
(1915)
Stenton, F. Anglo-Saxon England
Sweezy, Paul, et al. The Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism
(1963)
Vinogradoff, P. The Growth of the Manor (1911)
Vinogradoff, P. Villainage in England (1892)
Wallace-Hadrill, J.M. The Barbarian West (1962)
CAPITALIST AND SOCIALIST SOCIETIES
Baran, Paul The Political Economy of Growth (1957)
Bernstein, Victor Final Judgment (1947)
Brady, Robert Business as a System of Power (1943)
Brady, Robert The Spirit and Structure of German Fascism
(1937)
Briffault, Robert Breakdown (1935)
Briffault, Robert The Decline and Fall of the British Empire
(1938)
Burchett, Wilfred Cold War in Germany (1950)
Deborin, G. The Second World War
Dobb, M. Studies in the Development of Capitalism
Dobb, M. Soviet Economic Development Since 1917 (1948)
Dutt, R. Palme World Politics, 1918-1936 (1936)
Dutt, R. Palme The Problem of India (1943)
Dutt, R. Palme The Crisis of Britain and the British Empire
(1953)
Eremenko, A. False Witnesses (1959)
Foster, William Z. Outline History of the World Trade Union
Movement (1951)
Henri, E. Hilter Over Europe (1934)
Henri, E. Hitler Over Russia
Hill, Christopher The Century of Revolution, 1603-1714 (1961)
Hill, Christopher The English Revolution, 1640
Kunitz, Joshua The Giant That Came Last (1947)
Lenin, V.I. The State and Revolution
Lenin, V.I. Imperialism
Lissagaray The Paris Commune of 1871
Martin, James All Honorable Men (1950)
Marx, Karl Capital (1867) 3 volumes
Mathiez, A. The French Revolution (1928)
Mathiez, A. After Robespierre
Meikens, Gregory The Baltic Riddle (1943)
Reed, John Ten Days That Shook the World (1920)
Sasuly, Richard I.G. Farben (1947)
Sawicki, George From Nuremberg to the New Wehrmacht (1957)
Sayers, M. and Kahn, A. The Great Conspiracy (1946)
Smith, Adam The Wealth of Nations (1776)
Strong, A.L. The Stalin Era
Stone, I.F. The Hidden History of the Korean War (1952)
Tarle, Eugene Napoleon's Invasion of Russia (1942)
Tawney, R.H. The Agrarian Problem in the Sixteenth Century
(1912)
Webb, S. & B. Soviet Communism (1937)
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO
Department of Economics
Econ 112 Professor Henry
Exam #1A
Fall, 1990
Instructions: There are four parts to the examination. You will
observe that some questions do not draw on specific information as
detailed in either the text or in lectures: Use your general
knowledge to arrive at a logical, historically consistent answer.
Answer all questions on the examination paper.
Part A
Below, you will find five pairings related at various historical
junctures. Place a check next to that which appeared first
historically. (3 points each)
1. iron ____bronze ____
2. city ____ balance or scale ____
3. writing ____ mathematics ____
4. religion ____ writing ____
5. astrology ____ astronomy ____
Part B
Column A lists various developments that are related to or originate
from the technological developments listed in column B. Write the
appropriate answer (using the letter) from B next to the term in A.
Note: an answer from B may be used more than once or not at all. (3
points each)
Column A Column B
1. Geometry a. Agriculture
2. Chemistry b. Blow gun
3. Harp c. Weaving
4. "The Fall of Man" d. Bow
5. Basketry e. Pottery making
6. Cannon f. Digging stick
7. Mathematics g. Arrow (spear) making
8. Hoe h. Totem
Part C
The following statements are either true or false. If you think them
true, simply label them so. If you think them false, explain why
succinctly, using the theoretical and historical arguments of the
text and the lectures. (9 points each)
Econ 112 -2-Professor Henry
_____1. "Humans display a natural propensity to...exchange." (Adam
Smith)
_____2. The code of Hammurabi was the first great legal system that
applied to all members of society equally.
_____3. "War is part of our human make-up and hence lies beyond our
control." (John Fletcher)
_____4. The "urban revolution" was the principle cause of the
development of civilization.
_____5. "The poor ye shall have with ye always." (New Testament)
Econ 112 -3- Professor Henry
Part D
Answer any one of the following questions, specifying why the
relationship called for holds. (Answer on back of page. 16
points)
1. Explain the relationship between technology, surplus, and the
necessary formation of classless society in the paleolithic stage
of development.
2 . Why did savage society have to reach unanimity in its decision-
making process? (Relate to the underlying production relations)
3. Why did "bronze age" societies produce a rapid technological
growth initially, then quickly stagnate?
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Economics 112 Professor J. F. Henry
Examination #2A Invigilator
Fall, 1990
NAME_________________________________
Instructions: The examination consists of two parts. Read the
instructions to each part carefully.
Part A: True, False. (1 point each)
Use capital letters only, respond in space provided.
__ 1. Early iron age societies were concentrated near sea or ocean
trade routes.
__ 2. Iron manufacturing requires a greater concentration of economic
surplus than bronze.
__ 3. With iron-based technology, the scale of production tends to be
larger than that of bronze.
__ 4. With iron-based production, commodity production increases.
__ 5. Iron age cities were more complex than those based on bronze.
__ 6. With the introduction of commodity production and money in
common usage, there is a decline in poverty.
__ 7. The alphabet develops in response to the establishment of trade
relations among people with different languages.
__ 8. The roadways built by the Persians and Romans were mainly
designed to transport goods.
__ 9. Attica was a self-sufficient city state in terms of supplying
its own food requirements.
__ 10. The role of mathematics in Athenian culture was most helpful
in the later development of natural sciences.
__ 11. Technological development in Athens was greater than that of
the previous bronze age societies.
__ 12. Athenian democracy connoted that all members of that society
had equal rights.
__ 13. The early development and expansion of trade was one factor
causing the abandonment of the Greek scientific attitude.
__ 14. Thales argued that all of nature was produced out of water.
__ 15. Heraclitus developed the "law of opposites".
__ 16. For Heraclitus, once various forms are established, no further
change takes place in those forms.
__ 17. Ionian philosophy was essentially similar to religion.
__ 18. Pythagoras' mathematics leads necessarily to a materialist
mode of thought.
__ 19. Aristotle can be termed the first great natural scientist.
__ 20. Aristotle's general theory is in opposition to religion.
__ 21. With the Alexandrian Empire, technology increased.
__ 22. Roman Law was partially based on a matriarchal system of
family structure.
__ 23. In the second century A.D., the money economy declined in Rome.
Page 2
__ 24. The agricultural technology of Gaul was at a higher level than
that of Rome.
__ 25. Between the 5th and 9th centuries A.D., Western Europe became
more advanced than India and China.
__ 26. Early Islam was antithetical to science.
__ 27. There was a close relationship between Indian and Arab
mathematics.
__ 28. Modern optics traces its origin to Arab medicine.
__ 29. The people that best carried out the tradition of Greek
science were connected to Christian religious orders.
__ 30. The high point of Islamic science was in the 11th century.
__ 31. The economic relation between serf and lord is the same as
than of slave and slaveowner.
__ 32. Medieval towns were, generally speaking, under greater feudal
control than the rural areas.
__ 33. One of the economic advantages enjoyed by Western Europe was
the existence of heavy soils.
__ 34. The Dominican order arose among the poor who were suffering
economic distress under feudalism.
__ 35. Science was advanced with the establishment of the
universities in the 12th through the 14th centuries.
__ 36. A free peasant within the feudal society of Europe was one who
owed no obligations to a lord.
__ 37. The abandonment of the three-field rotation system by the 14th
century led to an increase in yields in that a greater specialization
of crops could take place.
__ 38. In the payment of labor rents, the nobility suffered a
reduction of income during periods of inflation.
__ 39. If output/acre declines and feudal rents fall at the same
time, then peasants share of total income must be rising.
__ 40. An increase in surplus requires an increase in output.
__ 41. If total output is rising, and feudal rents are increasing,
then the peasants share of total income must be falling.
__ 42. Guilds promote an increase in capitalist competition.
__ 43. According to Dobb, the growth in trade and markets was
important, perhaps decisive, in causing the collapse of feudalism.
__ 44. In the period following the Black Death, serfdom and labor
rents were intensified in Eastern Europe.
__ 45. In the period following the Black Death, the general trend in
Western Europe was toward an increase in labor rents.
__ 46. Smaller estates were more likely to commute labor rents to
money payments than larger estates.
__ 47. Following the Black Death, economic differentiation among the
peasantry grew.
__ 48. The growth in trade in the Mediterranean in the 11th and 12th
centuries was at least partly responsible for the growth of towns in
Europe.
__ 49. Religious officials, given their status in feudal society,
would abstain from engaging in trade relations.
__ 50. Guild organization was an important base of technological
advance in the Middle Ages.
Page 3
Part B. Essay. (20 points)
Answer the following question clearly and succinctly, making sure
to specify precisely the fundamental relations called for.
Answer in blue book.
Distinguish feudalism and slavery as economic organizations,
specifying the basic class or economic relations in each, and the
process by which surplus was extracted by the dominant class.
Part C: Essay. (15 points each)
Answer one of the questions from each of the paired questions
below. Answer clearly and succinctly, specifying why the
relationship called for holds. Answer in blue book.
1a. Explain the economic factors in determining why Athenian
philosophy was basically scientific in the 6th and 5th centuries, and
non-scientific in the 4th century.
OR
1b. What was the eventual consequence of successful military
expansion of the Roman Empire on the economic organization of Rome.
_____________
2a. Explain why feudalism as an economic organization collapsed in
Western Europe by the 14th century.
OR
2b. Examine the basic economic (class) forces involved in the English
Rising of 1381, and explain their economic motivations. CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Economics 112
Final Examination #1
Fall 1990
J.F. Henry, Invigilator
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS: Carefully read the instructions to each of
the following sections, following them precisely.
PART A: Answer both of the following questions, clearly and
precisely, specifying exactly what the question calls for.
1. Define capitalism; distinguish capitalism from slavery and
feudalism; explain very carefully the necessary social relations
between capitalists and workers. (15 points)
2. Examine the process that causes competitive capitalism to
eventually develop into oligopoly. Carefully specify all
the aspects of this process that you believe important,
explaining why this evolutionary development occurs. (20
points)
PART B: Answer one of the following questions, again clearly
explaining the relationship called for. (15 points)
1. Succinctly explain what the debate is surrounding the
standard of living of British workers during the
Industrial Revolution. Specify some of the major
writers in this debate, and identify the positions
they have taken.
2. Distinguish British trade unionism before 1800 and that of
after 1825, focussing on the distinction between machine
breaking and Chartism. Explain why this difference in
organizational and economic thrust exists.
PART C: Answer two of the following questions, again succinctly
explaining why the relationship called for holds. (15
points each)
1. Explain the relationship between the land redistribution
that resulted from the French Revolution and the impact
that this had on 19th century industrialization in France.
2. Why was German industrialization so rapid in the last third
of the 19th century. In your response, include an examination
of the agricultural reform, the Zollverein,
the role of the government.
3. What was the economic impact of the emancipation of the
serfs in Russia in 1861? Explain the significance of this
development on the development of capitalism in Russia.
Page 2
4. Explain the Stolypin Reforms of 1906, specifying the impact
of these reforms on the subsequent development of
capitalism in that country.
PART D: Identify five of the following, clearly specifying the role
of each in the development of the Soviet Union. (Note: you
must identify each so that he or it can be clearly
distinguished from any other character or event.)
(20 points)
Bukharin
Trotsky
Sidney Reilly
Gen. Wm. Graves
Alfred Rosenberg
The Vickers Engineers
Zinoviev
Henry Yagoda
Joseph Davies
The Fourth International
PART E: Extra Credit: 10 points
Did you read any of the works cited in the supplementary reading
list or mentioned in class? If so, specify the
author, title, and briefly state something about the contents
of the work.
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY,
SACRAMENTO
Department of Economics
Econ 112 J. F. Henry,
Exam #2B Invigilator
Fall 1987
PART I
Below you will find six quotes or principles, followed by a
list of authorities. Match the quote or principle to the
proper authority by placing the letter attached to the
authority next to the quote in question. Note: You will
not have read or been informed of these quotes. Think! Use
your general knowledge to specify who could have been
associated with the positions taken. (3 points each)
____ It is clear, then, that some men are by nature free,
and others slaves, and that for these latter,
slavery is both expedient and right.
____ Consider the effects and the nature of number
according to the power that resides in the decad.
It is . . . the first principle and the guide in
life to God.
____ When we have seen that nothing can be produced from
nothing, we shall then more correctly ascertain that
which we are seeking, both the elements out of which
every thing can be produced and the manner in which
all things are done without the hands of the gods.
____ It seems to me that the disease called sacred is no
more divine than any other. It has a natural cause,
just as other diseases have. Men think it divine
because they do not understand it . . . In nature
all things are alike in this, that they can be
traced to preceding causes.
____ . . . if the rulers find a child of their own whose
metal is alloyed with iron or brass, they must,
without pity, assign him the station proper to his
nature, and thrust him out among the craftsmen and
farmers.
____ Doctrine of the four humours.
A. "Hippocrates" F.
Philolaus, a
Pythagorean
B. Plato
mathematician
C. Aristotle G.Socrates
D. Empedocles, a Pythagorean H.John Ball
doctor I. Thomas Aquinas
E. Lucretius, a Roman follower J. Abelard
of the Athenian materialists
PART II (3 points each)
Match the authorities specified with the area of research or
principle with which they are associated by placing the
letter associated with the principle next to the appropriate
authority in the space provided.
Econ 112 -2-
J.F. Henry
___ Zeno A. Astronomy
___ Democritus B. Theory of political democracy
___ Aristotle C. Geometry
___ Archimedes D. Subservience of reason to faith
___ Ptolemy E. Mathematical paradoxes
___ Euclid F. Atomic physics
___ Thomas Quinas G. Biology
H. Mechanics
I. Economics
J. Separation of church and state.
PART III
Simply indicate whether the following statements are true or
false by placing a T or F in the space provided. (2 points
each)
Iron manufacturing requires a greater concentration of
economic surplus than bronze.
Slave labor tends to be more productive than that of
free labor.
With the expansion of the Roman Empire, Roman craftsmen
saw a growth in the market for their output.
As the Roman Empire expanded, international trade
relations grew
Athenian democracy connoted that all members of that
society had equal rights.
Roman law was the first legal code to secure "fair and
equal dealings between people."
The early development and expansion of trade was one
factor causing the abandonment of the Greek scientific
attitude.
According to Edward Gibbon, the introduction of
Christianity into the Roman state was a cause of the
disintegration of Rome.
Solon's reforms of 573/2 retarded Athenian economic
development as the promoted the interests of the large
landowners.
The materialist outlook of Thales, Anaximander,
Heraclites, etc. meant greater emphasis on consumption
for consumption's sake.
Thucydides found the root cause of human events in the
actions of the gods.
Plato proposed an egalitarian distribution of income and
wealth as a solution to the Athenian economic crisis of
the 4th century.
By 200 A.D., Gaul was at a higher level of economic
development than most of Italy.
Econ 112 -3- J.F.
Henry
The rise of Islam served as a brake on Arabic science
and economic growth.
The economic relation between the serf and lord is the
same as that between slave and slaveowner.
A free peasant within the feudal society of Western
Europe was defined as one who owed no obligations to a
lord.
The lower nobility sought to break up the old tribal
village.
In Western European feudalism, all ownership of land was
vested in the king.
In the payment of labor rents, the nobility suffered
economic losses during periods of inflation.
The lower nobility promoted the payment of money rents.
The abandonment of the three-field rotation system by
the 14th century led to an increase in yield/acre given
that a greater specialization of crops took place.
If yields/acre decline and feudal rents fall at the same
time, then peasants share of total output must be
rising.
An increase in the amount of surplus produced requires
an increase in total output.
The medieval church attacked medicine.
The English Rising of 1381 was an isolated event caused
by an unique set of circumstances in that country.
Guilds promoted an increase in capitalist competition.
As a general rule, given John Ball's occupation, one
would expect him to support the nobility.
If the original bookland of the German barbarians had
been worked by prisoners of war, this would have
hastened the transition to feudalism.
The peasant revolt of 1381 destroyed
the feudal state in England.
If total output is increasing, and feudal rents are
rising, the lords share of total income must be
rising as well.