Conference Program
Friday, November 11
11:30 to 1:00: Lunch
1:00 to 2:30: The (New) View From Asia
Chair: Terry Sicular (University of Western Ontario)
- Ethan Segal (Michigan State University): Polished Coins and Samurai Swords: Trade and State Relations in Medieval East Asia
- Andrew Wareham (King’s College, London; Paper Presenter), Guanglin Liu (Harvard University; Paper Presenter) and Xiangdong Wei (Lingnan University): England and China Compared c.900 - 1250: Taxation and the Economy
2:30 to 3:00: Coffee Break
3:00 to 5:00: Medieval Growth and International Markets
Chair: Richard Britnell (University of Durham)
- Avner Greif (Stanford University): Commitment, Coercion, and Markets: The Nature and Dynamics of Medieval Institutions Supporting Exchange
- George Grantham (McGill University): Integrating Commodities in the Medieval Economy
- Diego Puga (University of Toronto) and Daniel Trefler (University of Toronto; Paper Presenter): International Trade and Domestic Institutions: Lessons from Medieval Venetian Globalization
5:00 to 5:30: Coffee Break
5:30 to 7:00: International Prices Changes and National Consequences
Chair: Pierre Reynard (University of Western Ontario)
- Mauricio Drelichman (University of British Columbia): Getting the Mesta Right: Spanish Wool Production and Trade in the Medieval and Early Modern Eras
- John Munro (University of Toronto): Flemish Woollens and German Commerce During the Later Middle Ages: Changing Trends in Cloth Prices and Markets, 1290-1550
7:00 to 7:30: Cash Bar, mingle and meet
7:30: Dinner
Saturday, November 12
9:30 to 11:00: Two Major Theories of Medieval Development: Two Case Studies
Chair: Ben Forster (Chair, Department of History, University of Western Ontario)
- William Caferro (Vanderbilt University): War and the Italian Economy (1350-1450): An Examination of the Evidence
- Eona Karakacili (University of Western Ontario): Rethinking the Role of Agriculture in Growth in the Middle Ages and Beyond: England During the 14th Century
11:00 to 11:30: Coffee Break
11:30 to 1:00: Saving, Spending and Spurs to Medieval Growth
Chair: John Langdon (University of Alberta)
- Karine van der Beek–Gabay (graduate student, Hebrew University of Jerusalem): Coercion Power, Property Rights and Technological Adoption: Investment in Watermills in France, 11th and 12th Centuries
- Anne McCants (M.I.T.): Public Goods Versus Private Spending: Surplus Production, Capital Accumulation, and Monumental Architecture in Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean
1:00 to 2:30: Lunch
2:30 to 4:00: Islamic Regions and the World: Alternative Perspectives
Chair: Ivana Elbl (Trent University)
- Maya Shatzmiller (University of Western Ontario): A Misconstrued Link: Europe and The Economic History of Islamic Trade
- Ian Straughn (graduate student, University of Chicago): Islamic Spatial Logics and the Economics of Empire: Rethinking the Peripheralization of Greater Syria (Bilad ash-Sham) 750-950E
4:00 to 4:30: Coffee Break
4:30 to 6:30: Some National Affects of Medieval Globalization
Chair: Karl Gunnar Persson (University of Copenhagen)
- Haggay Etkes (graduate student, Hebrew University of Jerusalem): International Trade and Structural Changes of Ottoman Provinces: The Case of Ottoman Jerusalem and Gaza
- Sevket Pamuk (Bogazici University): International Comparisons of Urban Wages in the Late Medieval Era
- Kevin H. O’Rourke (Trinity College, Dublin) and Jeffrey G. Williamson (Harvard University; Paper Presenter): Did Vasco da Gama Matter to European Markets? Testing Frederick Lane's Hypothesis Fifty Years Later
6:30 to 7:30: Cash Bar, mingle and meet
7:30: Dinner
Sunday, November 13
9:00 to 11:00: Wealth and Poverty in the Middle Ages
Chair: Eona Karakacili (University of Western Ontario)
- Branko Milanovic (World Bank): An Estimate of Average Income and Inequality in Byzantium Around 1000
- Nathan Sussman (Hebrew University of Jerusalem): Income Inequality in Paris in the Heyday of the Commercial Revolution
- Jeffrey Fynn-Paul (Universities of Connecticut and Hartford): Of Prosperous Spaniards and Unhappy Italians: A Comparison of Wealth, Debt, and Capitalization in the Medium-Sized Cities of Catalonia and Tuscany circa 1420
11:00 to 11:15: Coffee Break
11:15 to 12:15 Open Floor Discussion on Medieval Global Economies, New Directions
Chair: Al Slivinski (Chair, Department of Economics, University of Western Ontario)
Panel: Richard Britnell, Avner Grief and Karl Gunnar Persson