814-1350: Social Class System and the Economy: Documentary Sources

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologka (1266–1273)—Includes a section on the sin of usury, or charging interest on loans.

Baldric or Baudry of Dol (Baldricus Dolensis), Vita Beati Roberti de Arbrissello or Vita Baldrici (Life of Blessed Robert of Arbrissel, circa 1117)—The more expansive of two biographies of the itinerant preacher and founder of Fontevrault, Robert of Abrissel. Commissioned by the second abbess of Fontevrault, Petronilla, it followed the standard hagiographie conventions of the time period as an account of a saintly person’s life designed to influence readers to be guided by and model themselves after the behavior of the “saint.” Its author, a celebrated poet and archbishop, attempted as well to provide a rhetorically powerful portrait glorifying Robert, which, it was hoped by the nuns of Fontevrault, would persuade the church establishment that Robert, recently deceased, was worthy of sainthood.

Barcelona Navigation Act (1227)—Barcelona was one of the leading ports of medieval Europe, and as such, James I of Aragon granted it a monopoly in the carrying trade.

Abbot Bernard of Reichenau, Plan of St. Gall (circa 815)—the schematic of an ideal monastery, this work is the earliest known “plan” drawing in European architectural history. It was apparently designed both to convey a monastery’s lay-out in accordance with the Benedictine Rule as interpreted by Charlemagne and to account for all structures required for the secluded life of the monk: cloister, church, refectory and dormitory, pilgrims’ hospice and an almshouse, school, workshops for craftsmen, and so forth.

Capitulary for the Jews (814)—Charlemagne’s ordinance limiting the trading activities of Jews in his kingdom.

Chartularium Universitatis Parisiensis (1200–1454)—A massive and detailed collection of the documentary history of the University of Paris. The volumes include letters and virtually every other type of text written in connection with the organization, the professors and students, the academic life, the relations with popes and kings, and the controversies of the University, during the period when Paris was the chief center of theological learning.

Chroniques des Comtes d’Anjou (Chronicle of the Counts of Anjou, circa 1100)—Probably compiled by a monk. It is a mythical account of the rise of the nobles in this western region of France from the tenth century to the late eleventh century.

Clericis laicos (1296)—a bull that forbade secular rulers to levy taxes on the clergy without papal consent.

Decree on Sale of Unfree Christians (922)—An edict passed by the Council of Koblenz. Anyone “who led away a Christian man and then sold him” was guilty of homicide.

Dialogue of the Exchequer (circa 1181)—Written by an official of the exchequer, a department of state in medieval England charged with the collection and management of the royal revenue. The dialogue is between a student and a high official concerning the office’s many rules and regulations.

The Domesday Book (1085–1086)—A survey of English lands ordered by William I following his conquest of England in 1066. The title is from the Norse word dome, which means “reckoning” (and from which the modern word doom is derived). It was one of the most comprehensive censuses ever undertaken in medieval Europe. Every English settlement, no matter how small, was listed and described. The result was a detailed assessment of the realm, which allowed William I to tax it accordingly.

Edict of Pistes (864)—One of the most complete documents on Carolingian coinage. Issued by Charles the Bald, this decree reduced the number of places in France that had the right to mint coins from nine to three. It also regulated the punishment for counterfeiting.

Grant of Market, Coinage, and Taxation Privileges to Bishopric of Osnabrück (952)—Decreed by Otto the Great as a favor to the Church.

An Inquiry into the Tolls of Raffelstettin (circa 905)—A statement on what tolls were customarily levied on the eastern frontier of the kingdom of King Louis the Child of Germany. Staple articles of exchange included livestock, salt, and serfs.

Leges Edwardis Confessons (Laws of Edward the Confessor, 1115)—Includes Tithable Products of the Land, a list of taxable agricultural goods.

Leges Henrici Primi (Laws of Henry I, circa 1109–1118)—Includes the Law of Partnerships, a statute that reflects Saxon views of business arrangements and their dissolution. It called for a fair division of all property in the presence of witnesses.

Modus Faciendi Homagium & Fidelitatem (The Manner of Doing Homage and Fealty, circa 1275)—A set of instructions on the proper words and ceremonies for a tenant swearing allegiance to his lord. By the mid 1300s more than half of all common law statute books had these instructions.

Munimenta Gildhallae Londoniensis, Volume III, Liber Horn (circa 1325)—A municipal record dealing mostly with trade in the city of London.

St. Omer Inheritance Law (1128)—Legal conditions by which an heir might lay claim to an inheritance in Alsace.

Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora (Great Chronicle, 1235–1259)—A world history in the form of a composite of annals, chronologies of the events of each significant year. Written in Latin, it was intended to serve as a summary of the important religious and political occurrences from the Creation until 1259. The chronicle records Matthew Paris’s own observations on current issues, institutions, ideas, customs, and even individuals from 1235 to 1259. Matthew Paris’s chronicle and his other works derivative from it, Historia Minor (Smaller History), Historia Anglorum (The History of the Angles), and History of St. Albans, present his contemporaries and later historians with so much rationalized detail that the images he formulated, such as the hostile one of the English king John, became a standard basis of “fact,” copied by historians until recent times.

Reginald of Durham, Life of St. Godric (circa 1175)—The biography that popularized the image of the wealthy merchant.

Roll-Book of the Arte Della Seta (1225)—A record of the guilds and their members associated with silk manufacturing in Florence.

Giovanni Scriba, Cartolario (1155–1164)—The Genoese version of a financial diary of the era: a commercial account book. In its pages were preserved documents of business venture contacts. It offered a glimpse of the parties and their witnesses in the export trade out of Genoa. Venetian merchants produced an earlier extant version of the trade contract, but none forms part of a whole account record like Scriba’s text. Investors from the highest merchant nobles of Venice to artisan tanners are recorded in contemporary contracts.

Walter of Henley, Husbandry (circa 1275)—A professional bailiff or manager of estates probably in the south of England, Walter uses the “how to” format to present his ideas on the successful management of the direct farming of medium to large estates. The work is divided into short sections on topics principally aimed at improving the return from the land and its chattels: surveying, management of servants and laborers, proper plowing and sowing techniques, the use of manure, keys to sound ox, pig and sheep breeding, exploitation of draft and milk animals, buying and selling in season, and keeping estate accounts.