EH.N: Call for Participants: Experts on Germany and the Low Countries needed for international conference

[Harry Kitsikopoulos]

An international conference will take place at Villa LaPietra (NYU's 
site in Florence) in May 2008. The topic of the conference is "Europe 
in the Late Middle Ages: Patterns of Economic Growth and Crisis".

We would like each participant of the conference, an expert in a 
country/region, to tailor his/her contribution along two themes. 
First, to provide an account of the variables that shaped economic 
growth during the period 1200-1500, although the time frame can be 
flexible given the particularities of each country/region. Reference 
ought to be made to the spatial configuration of field systems and 
individual technologies, crop productivity, relations among peasants 
and landlords, and the degree of commercial disposal, among others. 
We anticipate these references to reach a level of sophistication 
that would be familiar to an expert on the medieval economy, in order 
to facilitate communication among the participants, but accessible 
enough to someone who lacks expertise on a specific country/region.

The second part of each contribution, and we consider this to be the 
primary objective of the conference, ought to be a discussion of the 
theme of crisis. In particular, participants will be asked to address 
the question as to whether the institutional characteristics of 
feudalism brought its eventual demise or whether it was the exogenous 
impact of the Black Death (or some other factor) that led to the 
disintegration of the system. We anticipate this to be the most 
exciting aspect of the conference given the multitude of experiences 
witnessed by different regions in the late Middle Ages.

Eight of the ten participants have been found but we are still 
seeking experts on Germany and the Low Countries.

The organizers will cover airfare and accomodations at LaPietra.

Those interested should send an e-mail, along with a cv, to Harry 
Kitsikopoulos, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Economics, 
NYU (hk20 at nyu.edu). Further information will be provided.