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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Meg, At 07:00 PM 11/15/2009, you wrote: >Surely this depends on what kind of merchants, artisans, and peasants? >It was my impression that blacksmiths were always respected (and indeed >are essential in an agricultural economy. I would think that merchants >who brought high quality goods to the nobility would also be well thought >of, though pedlers with packs on their backs who went from village to >village would be another matter. >Meg No. Repeat: Don't underestimate the changes in attitude brought about by the commercial revolution. Merchants were scorned; couldn't even be certain that they would collect from the aristocrats who coveted their imported merchandise. They certainly were not top priority to pay. Local production, even of products by artisans that could be profitably sold elsewhere, was held down by lack of innovations -- and rare indeed was the lord or bishop who was willing to help the artisans get the equipment that they would need to increase production. In fact, in France, an entire village bound its allegiance to another Lord, who was far-sighted and fostered innovation. And, yes, the village prospered and became a center of commerce. The list of those scorned for not being one of the three "classes" goes on and on and, incidentally, is one of the reasons behind the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Note that the revolt at Rome (then a "big" city of around 10,000 inhabitants) and the capture of the Pope was caused by the refusal of the Pope to allow self-government, innovations, and commerce to spread. Please also note that Venice, the most successful commercial city, was not founded by Rome. The book I recommended not only has a nice, relevant, bibliography, but goes into the subject quite thoroughly. Rochelle >-----Original Message----- >From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious >culture [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of rochelle >altman >Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2009 4:36 AM >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: [M-R] Attitudes Toward Labor and Commerce > >medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and >culture > >Jeffrey, > >Robert S. Lopez, The Commercial Revolution of the Middle Ages, >950-1350. CUP, (c) 1976, rprt. 13 times 1978... 2005. Bib. 169-175. > >Yes it does indeed address the Christian attitude towards laborers, >merchants, and artisans. In agricultural based societies, merchants >and artisans were classified lower than the peasantry. Don't >underestimate the changes in attitude brought about by the commercial >revolution. > >Rochelle > > > > >At 07:50 AM 11/15/2009, you wrote: > >medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and >culture > >Please forgive me for not being clear. > >My request should have read: > > > >I'm involved in examining the attitude toward commerce and work (as > >opposed to study and prayer) among medieval Jews in France and > >Germany. I'd appreciate any and all bibliographic and source > >references to the medieval Christian attitude toward Labor, Commerce > >and Artisanry (as activities). I've looked at LeGoff, Gurevitch and > >Ovitt. I'm especially interested in attitudes towards merchants and > >small artisans. > > > >Thank you in advance, > >Jeffrey Woolf > > > >--Facta, non Verba--- > > > >Dr. Jeffrey R. Woolf > >Senior Lecturer, Talmud Department > >Director, Center for the Study of Post-Talmudic Halakhah > >Director, The Rashi Project > >Bar-Ilan University > >Ramat Gan 52-900 Israel > >O. 972-3-531-8593 > >F. 972-3-535-1233 > >C. 972-52-274-7375 > >Website: ><http://myobiterdicta.blogspot.com>http://myobiterdicta.blogspot.com > >********************************************************************** ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html