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The medieval economy and society: An economic history of Britain in the Middle Ages
Book itself is "like new", but dj has tiny tears at top corners, one at bottom front.1972, first edition. No marks. Private collection. We ship daily.
296 pages, Paperback
First published December 7, 1972
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About the author
M.M. Postan
26 books4 followersSir Michael Moissey Postan FBA was an economic historian specialising in the economic history of medieval Europe.
He was born to a Jewish family in Bendery, Bessarabia, in the Russian Empire, and studied at the St Vladimir University in Kiev, leaving the USSR after the October Revolution and settling in the UK. He had positions at University College London and at the London School of Economics, before being appointed Professor of Economic History at the University of Cambridge, from 1937. He was known worldwide as an economic historian of medieval Europe.
He was married first to historian Eileen Power, then after her death he remarried to Lady Cynthia Rosalie Keppel.
He was born to a Jewish family in Bendery, Bessarabia, in the Russian Empire, and studied at the St Vladimir University in Kiev, leaving the USSR after the October Revolution and settling in the UK. He had positions at University College London and at the London School of Economics, before being appointed Professor of Economic History at the University of Cambridge, from 1937. He was known worldwide as an economic historian of medieval Europe.
He was married first to historian Eileen Power, then after her death he remarried to Lady Cynthia Rosalie Keppel.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 7, 2020
In The Medieval Economy and Society: An Economic History of Britain 1100-1500, M. M. Postan provides a survey of the economy of England covering four hundred years roughly from the Norman conquest to the end of the medieval period. Postan aims to present an account of the British economy that is both readable to the unread and representative of the state of knowledge when the book was written.
By attempting to present an accessible survey of the medieval British economy, Postan refrains, for the most part, from forming a strong stance of his own. Instead, Postan's writing is marked by a general caution towards overgeneralization. When he critiques specific interpretations by other historians, he resists bending the stick in the other direction. In terms of his views, Postan ascribes to a restrained Malthusian view of the economy in which population determines the economy and overall quality of life. In the spirit of his cautious method, Postan recognizes that population shifts are not the only determinate in the economy.
The text is structured into thirteen chapters with a preface at its start. The preface establishes the scope of the book and Postan's overall intention. Chapter One, "The Roman Heritage," examines the level of material culture from Roman Britain that continued into the Anglo-Saxon era against the inclinations in specific sectors of academia in deemphasizing the role of Roman occupation on British society. Chapter Two, "The Land: Settlement and Reclamation," charts the process of land reclamation under Anglo-Saxon rule and the later decline of this process from the increasing untenability of assartments from third-rate land. Next, "Population" shows Postan's Malthusian sympathies as he argues that, due to overpopulation, a slump in England's demographic growth preceded the further decimation by the Black Death. In Chapter Four, "Land Use and Technology," Postan examines the level of technological innovation within medieval England as well as arguing for the overall declining living standards over the medieval period due to various trends in land use.
Chapter Five, "The Manor: Origins," argues that the manor system and feudalism arose out of the Roman practice of commendation rather than some form of Germanic social organization and that the manorialization of England occurred entirely during the Anglo Saxon era. Chapter Six, "The Manor: Variations and Changes," analyzes why and how manors varied rather than focusing on the classical conception of the manorial system. Chapter Seven, "The Village," follows how medieval villages regulated agricultural activity as well as acknowledging the variation. Chapter Eight, "The Villagers: Economic Conditions," emphasizes that economic circumstances affected peasants' quality of life rather than whether they were legally free or unfree. Chapter Nine, "The Villagers: Serfdom and Freedom," acknowledges the existence of legal burdens on the English peasantry while charting the decline and eventual disappearance of serfdom from the twelfth century onwards. Chapter Ten, "The Landlords," discusses the divisions within the middle classes, such as the gentry and the freeholding peasantry, as well as divisions within the landlord class.
Chapter Eleven, "Trade and Industry," frames the question of trade during medieval Europe as a pattern of fluctuations in response to changes in society and the economy rather than the narrative of constant growth. Chapter Twelve, "Markets, Towns, and Gilds," transitions to the centers of trade to discuss the legal and economic rights of commercial towns, the gilds that emerged from them, as well as merchant organizations. Chapter Thirteen, "Prices," follows the fluctuations of prices in the high and late medieval period and attempts to find their long term causes.
The end of the book has an appendix, select bibliography, and index. Citations appear in this book in the form of endnotes at the terminus of every chapter. Overall, Postan utilizes a minimum of scholarly apparatuses due to the nature of the work. As Postan explains in the preface, he avoids using sources and instead relies solely upon previous yet up-to-date scholarship. He believes this will make the book accessible to students and the uninitiated as he only provides an overview of the current scholarship rather than providing a new argument of his own.
In terms of Postan's attempt to write an accessible work on the economics of high and late medieval England, The Medieval Economy and Society: An Economic History of Britain 1100-1500 succeeds. The work is readable and does not get tied down by technical discussions except when necessary. Postan's aversion to overgeneralizations and cautious method also benefits the work as he avoids presenting information uncritically without overstating his case. However, one of the text's issues is the uneven handling of urban life and commerce compared to the agricultural side of society. While medieval England was primarily agricultural, less than a quarter of the work surveying the towns' role in society results in the book coming out uneven with specific topics under-discussed and underdeveloped. Regardless, as a book attempting to introduce the medieval English economy to the uninformed, Postan's work succeeds.
By attempting to present an accessible survey of the medieval British economy, Postan refrains, for the most part, from forming a strong stance of his own. Instead, Postan's writing is marked by a general caution towards overgeneralization. When he critiques specific interpretations by other historians, he resists bending the stick in the other direction. In terms of his views, Postan ascribes to a restrained Malthusian view of the economy in which population determines the economy and overall quality of life. In the spirit of his cautious method, Postan recognizes that population shifts are not the only determinate in the economy.
The text is structured into thirteen chapters with a preface at its start. The preface establishes the scope of the book and Postan's overall intention. Chapter One, "The Roman Heritage," examines the level of material culture from Roman Britain that continued into the Anglo-Saxon era against the inclinations in specific sectors of academia in deemphasizing the role of Roman occupation on British society. Chapter Two, "The Land: Settlement and Reclamation," charts the process of land reclamation under Anglo-Saxon rule and the later decline of this process from the increasing untenability of assartments from third-rate land. Next, "Population" shows Postan's Malthusian sympathies as he argues that, due to overpopulation, a slump in England's demographic growth preceded the further decimation by the Black Death. In Chapter Four, "Land Use and Technology," Postan examines the level of technological innovation within medieval England as well as arguing for the overall declining living standards over the medieval period due to various trends in land use.
Chapter Five, "The Manor: Origins," argues that the manor system and feudalism arose out of the Roman practice of commendation rather than some form of Germanic social organization and that the manorialization of England occurred entirely during the Anglo Saxon era. Chapter Six, "The Manor: Variations and Changes," analyzes why and how manors varied rather than focusing on the classical conception of the manorial system. Chapter Seven, "The Village," follows how medieval villages regulated agricultural activity as well as acknowledging the variation. Chapter Eight, "The Villagers: Economic Conditions," emphasizes that economic circumstances affected peasants' quality of life rather than whether they were legally free or unfree. Chapter Nine, "The Villagers: Serfdom and Freedom," acknowledges the existence of legal burdens on the English peasantry while charting the decline and eventual disappearance of serfdom from the twelfth century onwards. Chapter Ten, "The Landlords," discusses the divisions within the middle classes, such as the gentry and the freeholding peasantry, as well as divisions within the landlord class.
Chapter Eleven, "Trade and Industry," frames the question of trade during medieval Europe as a pattern of fluctuations in response to changes in society and the economy rather than the narrative of constant growth. Chapter Twelve, "Markets, Towns, and Gilds," transitions to the centers of trade to discuss the legal and economic rights of commercial towns, the gilds that emerged from them, as well as merchant organizations. Chapter Thirteen, "Prices," follows the fluctuations of prices in the high and late medieval period and attempts to find their long term causes.
The end of the book has an appendix, select bibliography, and index. Citations appear in this book in the form of endnotes at the terminus of every chapter. Overall, Postan utilizes a minimum of scholarly apparatuses due to the nature of the work. As Postan explains in the preface, he avoids using sources and instead relies solely upon previous yet up-to-date scholarship. He believes this will make the book accessible to students and the uninitiated as he only provides an overview of the current scholarship rather than providing a new argument of his own.
In terms of Postan's attempt to write an accessible work on the economics of high and late medieval England, The Medieval Economy and Society: An Economic History of Britain 1100-1500 succeeds. The work is readable and does not get tied down by technical discussions except when necessary. Postan's aversion to overgeneralizations and cautious method also benefits the work as he avoids presenting information uncritically without overstating his case. However, one of the text's issues is the uneven handling of urban life and commerce compared to the agricultural side of society. While medieval England was primarily agricultural, less than a quarter of the work surveying the towns' role in society results in the book coming out uneven with specific topics under-discussed and underdeveloped. Regardless, as a book attempting to introduce the medieval English economy to the uninformed, Postan's work succeeds.
June 15, 2025
A bit dry, found it hard to follow in places.
January 16, 2016
Postan’s text on economic life in medieval England is both incredibly informative, but is, at times, very dry and academic.
Each chapter is nearly self-contained into a subject-based mini-essay, which is a strength as a resource to refer back to, but when combined with the detached, professorial tone it can also make it more challenging to read in its entirety. Diagrams, charts and tables were sorely lacking until the final chapter and would have helped tremendously reinforce the concepts and trends that Postan discusses.
In the end, I think it is a very valuable primer into the topic of the medieval economy. The book provides important nuance to a complex issue that is popularly understood in broad stereotypes, but he also readily points out places where our knowledge is not sufficient to jump to conclusions related to the sweep of economic history in medieval England. I recommend it to those who want to start to get to know the era a little better, but with a warning that value you get out of it requires a proportional amount of investment.
Each chapter is nearly self-contained into a subject-based mini-essay, which is a strength as a resource to refer back to, but when combined with the detached, professorial tone it can also make it more challenging to read in its entirety. Diagrams, charts and tables were sorely lacking until the final chapter and would have helped tremendously reinforce the concepts and trends that Postan discusses.
In the end, I think it is a very valuable primer into the topic of the medieval economy. The book provides important nuance to a complex issue that is popularly understood in broad stereotypes, but he also readily points out places where our knowledge is not sufficient to jump to conclusions related to the sweep of economic history in medieval England. I recommend it to those who want to start to get to know the era a little better, but with a warning that value you get out of it requires a proportional amount of investment.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews