A Cultural History of Shopping in the Middle Ages

Throughout Europe, the collapse of Roman authority from the 5th century fractured existing networks of commerce and trade including shopping. The infrastructure of trade was slowly rebuilt over the centuries that followed with the growth of beach markets, emporia, seasonal fairs and periodic markets until, in the late Middle Ages, the permanent shop re-emerged as an established part of market spaces, both in towns and larger urban centers. Medieval society was a ''display culture'' and by the 14th century there was a marked increase in the consumption of manufactures and imported goods among the lower classes as well as the elite. This volume surveys our understanding of medieval retail markets, shops and shopping from a range of perspectives - spatial, material culture, literary, archaeological and economic. presents an overview of the period with themes addressing practices and processes; spaces and places; shoppers and identities; luxury and everyday; home and family; visual and literary representations; reputation, trust and credit; and governance, regulation and the state.>

Product details

• Authors: James Davis, Jon Stobart
• Assisted by: James Davis (Editor), Rappaport Erika (Editor), Jon Stobart (Editor of the series), Stobart Jon (Editor of the series)
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 27.06.2024
• EAN: 9781350026971
• ISBN: 978-1-350-02697-1
• No. of pages: 256
• Dimensions: 170 mm x 246 mm x 18 mm
• Series: The Cultural Histories Series
• Subjects: BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Economics / Microeconomics, Microeconomics