Selected Materials on Economic Thought in Medieval Europe

Author: Wu Baosan
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1998-05-01
Features: The purpose of editing this volume of materials, as I mentioned in the "Preface" of the "Selected Materials on Economic Thought of Ancient Greece and Rome," is because general histories of economic thought only provide brief discussions on the economic thought of ancient Greece, Rome, and medieval Europe, making it difficult to gain a deeper understanding from them. From the perspective of writing a comprehensive history of economic thought, this is not unreasonable. The development of economic science becomes richer as it approaches modern times, requiring more space for elaboration. At the same time, the various economic theories of modern times are more helpful in understanding and researching current economic issues, so a more detailed discussion of modern economic theories is necessary. Therefore, the common practice of general histories of economic thought to focus more on the present and less on the past is entirely necessary. However, as a researcher and reader of the history of economic thought, if one wants to know more about various aspects of ancient economic thought, it is difficult to meet this demand from currently published works on the history of economic thought or the history of economic theories, whether domestic or foreign. In addition to general histories of economic thought, there are very few concise works that allow readers to gain a glimpse of ancient Western economic thought. For example, Monro's Early Economic Thought is a reference book that provides some original materials on ancient Western economic thought, making it highly suitable for readers who wish to learn more about it. However, the limited selection of materials in this book is its only drawback. For instance, it lacks materials on ancient Roman economic thought. In terms of ancient Greece and the Middle Ages, the selected materials are also insufficient. We compiled the Selected Materials on Economic Thought of Ancient Greece and Rome and this volume, the Selected Materials on Economic Thought of Medieval Europe, to provide readers and researchers with more materials on this topic. Due to the differences in traditional Chinese and Western cultures, it may be very necessary for Chinese readers to learn more about the West. This is especially true for Chinese researchers who, when conducting comparative studies of ancient Chinese and Western economic thought, need a deeper understanding of ancient Western economic thought. The two volumes we compiled can only be considered preliminary materials. There are several issues that need to be explained regarding the compilation of this volume. First, regarding the chronological boundaries of the Middle Ages. The upper limit starts from the late 5th century with the fall of the Roman Empire, with no differing opinions. As for the lower limit, many historians believe it ends in the mid-17th century, just before the English bourgeois revolution, while others set it at the end of the 15th century, considering the 16th and 17th centuries as the period of transition from feudal society to capitalism. We basically adopt the latter method of division, but we also include Bodin's works from the 16th century. This is because Chinese writers often compare the monetary thought in the Guanzi with Bodin, and Bodin also lived during the early period of the transition from feudal society to capitalism in Western Europe. Including his works can facilitate comparative research. Second, regarding the selection of materials for this volume. In the three or four centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire and the invasion of the Germanic tribes, Western European cities were reduced to ruins, and cultural and artistic heritage was completely destroyed. Except for a small number of monks, almost no one could read Latin. Under such circumstances, it was naturally impossible to have any academic works from that time. However, after the Germanic tribes established feudal kingdoms, written records such as tribal codes, feudal manorial decrees, guild regulations, and urban legislation gradually appeared. These documents naturally contained economic thought related to these areas, becoming the basic materials for studying medieval European economic thought. It was not until the 12th and 13th centuries that theologians began to write works interpreting various secular issues from the perspective of Christian doctrine, including economic issues. These can be considered the first works by medieval Western thinkers on economic issues, with the outstanding exception of the great theologian Aquinas's Summa Theologica, a monumental work that explains theology and Christian philosophy, including human economic behavior. By the 14th and 15th centuries, specialized works on economic issues began to appear gradually. In summary, the specialized writings of medieval European thinkers on economic issues were few, with only some appearing in the later period. Therefore, this volume includes only four original works by thinkers from that time. The other parts of the volume consist of secondary materials, that is, the results of later research on the economic thought of that era. However, from the perspective of understanding the overall picture and characteristics of medieval European economic thought, these studies, which are compiled and analyzed from vast economic historical materials, can provide great help to readers. For example, the discussion by Brunschwig on medieval European economic thought in this volume provides a systematic and comprehensive picture of the development of economic thought throughout the medieval period in Europe, which is quite rare. Although his discussion often contains more historical facts than economic thought, this is because the economic thought of the early and middle medieval period could only be discovered through legal codes, decrees, regulations, and legislation, as mentioned above. There were no specialized works on economic issues except for some later theological discussions. At the same time, the socio-economic conditions of medieval Europe were extremely complex, and for Chinese readers, understanding the emergence and development of economic thought based on the history of economic development would be more helpful. Therefore, works like Brunschwig's history of medieval economic thought, although somewhat outdated (it is an early pioneering work in the history of economic thought), are still considered very beneficial for readers and researchers. Regarding the works of later researchers on medieval European economic thought that are highly regarded by academia, there is Endemann's (W. Endemann) Economic and Legal Studies on Roman Church Legislation (in German, volume published in 1874, the second volume in 1883). However, the research findings of this book have already been absorbed by later scholars, so we did not translate it and instead chose Ashley's later work, which is widely recognized as the best research on medieval European economic thought. There is one more point to explain, which is about the four works selected from Monro's Early Economic Thought for translation. This book now has a translated version available. This volume should ideally use this translation or not include these four works, as the translated version is already available for reference. However, we independently translated these four works from Monro's book, and now it appears that the two translations can be used for reference and are beneficial to readers. At the same time, having these four works in this volume is also more convenient for readers. Therefore, we still include the four works from Monro's book and continue to use our original translations. The compilation method of this volume follows the same approach as the previous volume (Selected Materials on Economic Thought of Ancient Greece and Rome): unified planning and division of labor, with the editor-in-chief reviewing the work. The translation and proofreading were carried out by a team of colleagues, including Fu Jujin, Wu Kuigang, Li Siping, Li Zengde, Li Qingde, Deng Zhong, Lu Qi, and Li Haichun, among others. Fu Jujin and Wu Kuigang bore the heaviest workload, participating not only in translation but also in proofreading. The names of the translators and proofreaders are indicated after each work. The translated manuscript was also reviewed by Wang Shurong, who provided many valuable suggestions. We are grateful to her for this. There are still many areas in the selection of materials and translations that need improvement, and we welcome readers to provide valuable feedback. Wu Baosan, August 29, 1988