Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T11:47:06.606Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

CHAPTER I - The Historical Study of Economic Growth and Decline in Early Modern History

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

By
C. H. Wilson
Edited by
E. E. Rich  and
C. H. Wilson
General editor
D. C. Coleman ,
P. Mathias  and
M. M. Postan
C. H. Wilson
Affiliation:
Professor of Modern History in the University of Cambridge, and Professor of History and Civilization in the European University Institute at Florence
Get access

Summary

The Ends and Means of Economic History: Some Changing Concepts

Recent Decades have seen important changes in the objectives, techniques and methodologies of economic history. As a confluence of two different streams of thought and practice – that of the economic theorists on the one hand and that of the general or political historians on the other – economic history often meandered uncertainly in its course, urged sometimes more by one tributary, sometimes more by the other. Each national ‘school’ reflected the characteristics of its diverse ancestry, but in all the traditional pull of ‘institutional’ history was strong. The habit of proceeding by the more or less disparate analysis of celebrated institutions already familiar through their political importance – gilds, companies, colonial trading organizations, public banks, etc. – went hand in hand with an adumbration of the macro-economy of this or that state, again vaguely familiar (if only in outline) from the earlier study of the political history of the different nations. To be sure, this latter varied in interest and influence with the actual history of the individual state. It assumed a lower profile in a country like the Netherlands with its obstinate traditions of local municipal autonomy and provincial federation than it did in the economic history of modern Germany, where late but swift and revolutionary industrialization was reflected in the strong political and strategic orientations of the school of Gustav Schmoller and the ‘historical economists’. At the same time the strength of the German tradition of idealist philosophy was also vividly reflected in the socio-economic analysis of German historians like Max Weber, Werner Sombart and Artur Spiethoff: hence the ‘ideal types’ of the first, the ‘systems’ of the second and the isolation by the third of Gestalt theory – ‘the closest possible approximation [of theory] to observable reality’.

Keywords

economic growthmercantilismDutch Republicearly modern EuropeSpainnational economiessocio-economic developmentseventeenth-century France
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Economic History of Europe , pp. 1 - 41
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1977

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ashton, T. S., Economic Fluctuations in England 1700–1800. Oxford, 1959.
Ashton, T. S., The Industrial Revolution. London, 1954.
Ashton, T. S. and Schumpeter, Elizabeth Boody. English Overseas Trade Statistics 1697—1808. Oxford, 1960.
Bailyn, B., The New England Merchants in the Seventeenth Century. New York, 1955.
Bennassar, B., Recherches sur les grandes épidémies dans le nord de l'Espagne à la fin du XVIe siècle. Paris, 1969.
Beveridge, William, (Ist Baron). Prices and Wages from the Twelfth to the Nineteenth Century. London, 1965.
Block, Marc. ‘Pour une histoire comparée des sociétés européennes.’ Revue de Synthèse Historique, XLVI, 1928.Google Scholar
Bogucka, Maria. ‘The monetary crisis in XVIIth century Poland and its social and psychological consequences.’ Journal of European Economic History, IV: I, 1975.Google Scholar
Boxer, C. R., The Dutch Seaborne Empire 1600–1800. New York, 1965.
Braudel, F., Capitalism and Material Life 1400–1800. Trans, by Kochan, M.. London, 1973.
Brown, H. Phelps and Hopkins, S., ‘Seven centuries of the prices of consumables, compared with builders’ wage-rates.’ Economica, 1956.Google Scholar
Cipolla, Carlo. Public Health and the Medical Profession in the Renaissance. Cambridge, 1976.
Cipolla, Carlo. The Economic Decline of Empires. London, 1970.
Clapham, J. H., The Economic Development of France and Germany 1815–1914 (3rd ed., 1928), p..
Clapham, Sir J. H., ‘Economic history as a discipline.’ Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, Vol. 5. New York, 1930.Google Scholar
Clark, G. N., The Wealth of England 1496–1760. London, 1946.
Coleman, D. C., ‘An innovation and its diffusion: the “New Draperies”.’ Economic History Review, 1969.Google Scholar
Coleman, D. C., ‘Eli Heckscher and the idea of mercantilism.’ Scandinavian Economic History Review, V: I, 1957.Google Scholar
Coleman, D. C., The Rise of the British Paper Industry 1495–1850. 1958.
Cunningham, , Alien Immigrants to England (first published 1897; second edition, with Introduction by Charles Wilson, 1969).
Cunningham, W., The Growth of English Industry and Commerce. 5th ed. Cambridge, 1922.
Davies, N. Z., ‘The rites of violence: religious riots in 16th century France.’ Past and Present, May 1973.Google Scholar
Davis, Ralph. The Rise of the Atlantic Economies. 1973.
Dechesne, L., Histoire économique et sociale de la Belgique. Paris-Liege, 1932.
Duby, George. Early Growth of the European Economy. London, 1974.
Elliott, J. H., ‘The decline of Spain.’ Past and Present, 1961.Google Scholar
Felix, D., ‘Profit inflation and industrial growth: the historic record and contemporary analogies.’ Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1956.Google Scholar
Fisher, F. J., Economic History Review (February, 1975), p..
Flinn, Michael. ‘The stabilisation of mortality in pre-industrial western Europe.’ Journal of European Economic History, III: 2, 1974.Google Scholar
Floud, R. (ed.). Essays in Quantitative Economic History. Oxford, 1974.
Fogel, R. W. and Engerman, S. L., The Reinterpretation of American Economic History. New York, 1971.
Glamann, K., European Trade 1500–1750 (Fontana Economic History, ed. Cipolla, C. M.). London, 1971.
Gorski, Karol. ‘La Mentalité Polonaise du XVI–XVIIIe siècle.’ (Paper as yet unpublished, in preparation for the International Congress at Los Angeles 1975 and read in preliminary form to the Istituto Internazionale di Storia Economica Francesco Datini, Prato, Italy, May, 1974.)Google Scholar
Goubert, P., ‘Historical demography and the re-interpretation of early modern French history: a research review.’ Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 1, 1970–1971.Google Scholar
Goubert, P., ‘Les Fondements démographiques.’ In Braudel, F. and Labrousse, E. (eds.), Histoire économique et sociale de la France, II, Paris, 1970.Google Scholar
Griffiths, G. Talbot. Population Problems of the Age of Malthus. Cambridge, 1926.
Hale, J. R., Renaissance Europe 1480—1520. London, 1971.
Hamilton, E. J., “Profit, inflation and the industrial revolution 1751–1800.’ Quarterly Journal of Economics, LVI, 1942.Google Scholar
Hamilton, E. J., “The decline of Spain.” Economic History Review, VIII, 1938.Google Scholar
Hamilton, E. J., ‘American treasure and the rise of capitalism.’ Economica, VII, 1929.Google Scholar
Hammarström, Ingrid. “The price revolution of the sixteenth century: some Swedish evidence.” Scandinavian Economic History Review, 1957.Google Scholar
Harper, L. A., The English Navigation Laws. New York, 1939.
Heckscher, E., ‘A plea for theory in economic history.’ Economic History (Supplement to the Economic Journal, I, 1926–9).Google Scholar
Heckscher, E., Mercantilism, 2 vols. Trans, by Schapiro, M.. London, 1931. Rev. ed. 1955, edited by Söderlund, E. F..
Hicks, J. R., A Theory of Economic History. Oxford, 1969.
Hoffmann, W., British Industry 1700–1930. Trans, by Chaloner, W. H. and Henderson, W. O.. 1955.
Houtte, J. A. Van. Economische en sociale geschiedenis van de lage landen. Ziest, Antwerp, 1964.
Jones, E. L., ‘Institutional determinism and the rise of the western world.’ Economic Enquiry, XII: I, 1974.Google Scholar
Keynes, J. M., Treatise on Money, II (London, 1930).
King, Gregory. “Natural and Political Observations,’ 1696 (reprinted in Hollander, J. H. (ed.). Two Tracts by Gregory King (Baltimore, 1936).Google Scholar
Kohlbrugge, J. H. F., ‘Over den invloed der steden op hare bewoners en op de bewoners van het land’, De Economist LVI (1907)Google Scholar
Labrousse, C. E., Esquisse du mouvement des prix et des revenus en France au XVIIIe siècle. Paris, 1933.
Lane, F. C. and Riemersma, J. C. (eds.). Enterprise and Secular Change. Homewood, Ill., 1953.
Le Roy Ladurie, E., Les Pay sans de Languedoc. Paris, 1966.
Maczak, Antoni. “Progress and under-developmcnt in the eyes of Renaissance and Baroque man.’ Studia Historiae Oeconomicae, DC, Poznan, 1974.Google Scholar
Maddalhna, A. De. Rural Europe 1500—1750 (Fontana Economic History, ed. Cipolla, C. M.). London, 1970.Google Scholar
Makkai, L., “The Hungarian Puritans and the English Revolution.’ Acta Historica, v: 1–2, Budapest, 1958.Google Scholar
Mathias, P., The Brewing Industry in England 1700–1830. Cambridge, 1959.
Meredith, H. O., Outlines of the Economic History of England. 1927.
Meuvret, J., ‘Les crises de subsistances et la démographic de la France d'ancien régime.’ Population, I, 1946.Google Scholar
Meuvret, J., Études d'histoire économique; recueil d'articles. Paris, 1971.
Mols, R., Introduction à la démographie historiaue des villes d'Europe du XIVMe au XVIIIe siècle. Louvain, 1955.
Nadal, J., ‘La revolución de los precios españoles en el siglo XVI.’ Hispania, 1959.Google Scholar
Nef, J. U., ‘Prices and industrial capitalism 1940–1640.’ Economic History Review, VII, 1937.Google Scholar
North, D. C. and Thomas, R. P., The Rise of the Western World: A New Economic History. New York and Cambridge, 1973.
Ogg, David. England in the Reigns of James the Second and William the Third. Oxford, 1955.
Parker, N. G., The Army of Flanders and the Spanish Road 1567–1659. Cambridge, 1972.
Pike, Ruth. Aristocrats & Traders: Sevillian Society in the Sixteenth Century. New York, 1972.
Pirenne, H., “The place of the Netherlands in the economic history of medieval Europe.’ English Historical Review, II, 1929.Google Scholar
Postan, M. M., ‘Sir John Clapham: the economic historian.’ University of Leeds Review, XVII: I, 1974.Google Scholar
Postan, M. M., The Historical Method in Social Science. Cambridge, 1939.
Posthumus, N. W., Inquiry into the History of Prices in Holland. 2 vols. Leiden, 1971.
Pullan, B., Crisis and Change in the Venetian Economy in the Sixteenth & Seventeenth Centuries. London, 1968.
Pullan, B., Rich and Poor in Renaissance Venice. Oxford, 1971.
Renter, G., The Dutch Nation. London, 1944.
Rogers, J. E. Thorold. History of Agriculture and Prices. 6 vols. Oxford, 1866–1887.
Roper, H. R. Trevor. The Gentry 1540–1640. Supplement to the Economic History Review, London, 1953.Google Scholar
Roper, H. R. Trevor. Religion, the Reformation and Social Change. London, 1967.
Rostow, W. W., The Stages of Economic Growth. Cambridge, 1960.
Schmoller, Gustav. ‘Volkswirtschaft, Volkswirtchaftslehre und -methode.’ Handwörterbuch der Staatswissenschaften, VIII, 1911.Google Scholar
Sella, D., ‘Industrial production in 17th-century Italy: a reappraisal.’ Explorations in Entrepreneurial History, 1969.Google Scholar
Simiand, F., ‘La Causalité en histoire.’ Bulletin de la Société Français de Philosophie, VI, 1906.Google Scholar
Spiethoff, A., ‘Anschauliche und reine Volkswirtschaftliche Theorie und ihr Verhälmis zueinander.’ Festgabe für Alfred Weber, Heidelberg, 1948.Google Scholar
Stols, E. De, Spaanse Brabanders. Brussels, 1971.
Supple, B. E., Commercial Crisis and Change in England 1600–1642. Cambridge, 1959.
Tawney, R. H., Religion and the Rise of Capitalism. London, 1926.
Thirsk, Joan. ‘Industries in the countryside.’ In Essays in the Economic and Social History of Tudor and Stuart England, ed. Fisher, F. J., Cambridge, 1961.Google Scholar
Thirsk, Joan. ‘Seventeenth century agriculture in England.’ Agricultural History Review, 1970.Google Scholar
Thirsk, Joan. English Peasant Farming. London, 1957.
Thirsk, Joan. (ed.). Agrarian History of England and Wales 1500–1640, Vol. IV, Cambridge, 1967.
Tooke, T. and Newmarch, W. A., A History of Prices and the State of the Circulation 1792–1856. (Ed. with intro. by Gregory, T. E..) Reprinted London, 1928.
Uztariz, Gieronymo. The Theory and Practice of Commerce and Maritime Affairs. (Trans, by Kippax, J..) London, 1751.
Verlinden, C., Craeybeck, J. and Scholliers, E., ‘Mouvement des prix et des salaires en Belgique au XVIe siécle.’ Annales, X, 1955.Google Scholar
Vicens Vrves, Jaime. An Economic History of Spain. Princeton, New Jersey, 1969.
Vilar, Jean. ‘Docteurs et marchands: l'école de Tolédo 1615–1630.’ Ve Congrés International d'Histoire Economique, 1970.Google Scholar
Vilar, Jean. ‘L'Espagne au temps de Philippe II.’ Ages d'Or et Réalités, Paris, 1965.Google Scholar
Vries, Jan. The Dutch Rural Economy in the Golden Age 1500–1700. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1974.
Weber, Max. Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Wissenschaftslehre. Tübingen, 1922.
Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. English trans. 1930.
Weisser, M., “The decline of Castile revisited: the case of Toledo.’ Journal of European Economic History, II: 2, 1973.Google Scholar
Wiebe, G., Zur Geschichte der Preisrevolution des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts. Leipzig, 1895.
Wilson, C., Anglo-Dutch Commerce and Finance in the Eighteenth Century. Cambridge, 1941.
Wilson, Charles. ‘Taxation and the decline of empire.’ In Economic History and the Historian, 1969.Google Scholar
Wilson, Charles. ‘Transport as a factor in the history of economic development.’ Journal of European Economic History, II: 2, 1973.Google Scholar
Wilson, Charles. Economic History and the Historian — Collected Essays. London, 1969.
Wilson, Charles. England's Apprenticeship. London, 1965.
Wilson, Charles. The Dutch Republic and the Civilisation of the Seventeenth Century. London, 1969.
Woude, A. M. Van Der. “The A. A. G. Bijdragen and the study of Dutch rural history.’ Journal of European Economic History, IV: I, 1975.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×