Medieval Merchants: York, Beverley and Hull in the Later Middle Ages: 38 (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series, Series Number 38) - Softcover

Kermode, Jenny

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521522749 ISBN 13: 9780521522748

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2002

Synopsis

This book is based on some 1400 individuals who lived in three northern English towns during the later middle ages. It analyses the many aspects of merchant society visible to the historian: achievements in politics, attitudes towards religion, the family, wider circles of friends and business acquaintances, and the nature and conduct of trade at every level. Merchants were at the core of urban society, accumulating more wealth than most other townsfolk and developing a distinctive outlook and entrepreneurship in response to the opportunities and pressures of long-distance trade. They played a central role in the development of urban mentalite using political rhetoric to promote a corporatist view of urban society, while their spending on charity, on public works, and on religious observance shaped social attitudes.

About this title

Review:

'... a solid piece of work which one can recommend unreservedly'. Alan Dyer, Economic History Review

Book Description:

Merchants were the most important political and commercial group in medieval towns. This book adopts a holistic approach by integrating a very wide range of evidence to provide an inclusive picture of merchant society through the lives of over 1400 individuals.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0521522749
• ISBN 13: 9780521522748
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 404