070162 SE Seminar (2018S)

This seminar offers a broad introduction to scholarly debates, different methodological approaches and current research trends at the intersection of urban, social and economic history, focusing on several thematic aspects of early, high and late medieval Central European regions. Against this background, the course aims at the critical analysis and common discussion of selected publications (articles, chapters from monographs, and unpublished documents) and the individual presentations of the seminar participants. The readings deal with general economic trends, trading and communication networks and their changes during the medieval period up to the early modern era. The comparative perspective will be highly integrated in the readings, in the discussion and preferably also in the presentations. The discussion, on the one hand, focuses on the economic side, namely the specific traded goods, resources, and markets, and on the other hand, on the social side, namely the different guilds and their social contexts.