Definition of capitalism

Capitalism is a topic with many thematic strands and both geographical and chronological dimensions. As a result, its definition and interpretation have generated a significant amount of discussion. Regarding thematic strands, some scholars have focused on the political dimension, for example, and others the financial (including Hall and Soskice, 2001; Murphy, 2009; Neal and Williamson, 2014; Piketty, 2014; Kocka, 2016; Banaji, 2020; Lipartito and Jacobson, 2020). Assessments of capitalism's impact are also diverse. While aiding economic growth for some sectors and individuals, significant questions remain regarding the extent to which capitalism has had a positive or negative impact on society as a whole (Piketty, 2014; Beckert, 2015; Lipartito and Jacobson, 2020; Yazdani and Menon, 2020).

It is generally accepted that to understand capitalism fully we should situate it in a wider historical context (Cain and Hopkins, 1986). Marx's analysis of capitalism went back to the Middle Ages, although his primary focus was on the 19th century. Sombart (1927) proposed that a capitalist spirit originated in medieval rulers, administrators, noble estate owners and military leaders, and was disseminated from them to the wider population. Braudel and Britnell saw the Middle Ages as an important step in the transition from a market economy to a later capitalist one. Examining 1000– 1500, Britnell (1993) used the concept of commercialization to describe economic transformation that led to urbanization, entrepreneurship and the provision of a strong institutional framework. Braudel (1981, 1982, 1985) described how, during the 15th– 18th centuries, an informal ‘everyday’ economy developed into a market one and subsequently a capitalist one. In Braudel's analysis finance, in the form of access to credit, created a more sophisticated economy and aided a transition to capitalism by allowing merchants to participate in international markets, where higher profits could be made (Braudel, 1982: 81, 91, 100).

Weber identified the Reformation as a key transition point. He associated capitalism with the ‘accumulation of wealth for its own sake, rather than for the material rewards it can serve to bring’ (Weber, 2001: xi, 18). Protestantism, Weber argued, encouraged individuals to engage with ‘worldly affairs’ rather than try to transcend them (Weber, 2001: xii).

Introduction

The extent to which capitalism has increased or decreased inequality has generated significant debate from the 18th century onwards. The capitalist system allows people to derive income and wealth from assets that they own. The most valuable assets are those that are scarce. For 18th-and early 19th-century classical economists such as Smith and Mill good quality agricultural land was the scarce asset and therefore the most important source of income and wealth (Smith, 1791; Mill, 1848). However, from the mid-19th century onwards, in the light of the Industrial Revolution, Marx and neoclassical economists emphasized the importance of capital with which to purchase machinery and factory buildings, and finance inventory (Marx, 1961). Gradually skills possessed by the individual moved to the fore. The second Industrial Revolution in the US emphasized the desirability of skill in organizing large businesses and trusts and in foretelling the future through speculation (Hayek, 1949; Kirzner, 1973). Scarcity factors have become more intangible over time. From the 1930s onwards ‘knowledge’ as possessed by professional managers and scientist became a value asset (Harper, 1995). Finally, from the 1970s onwards, entrepreneurship began to be recognized as a scarce factor.

The change in emphasis on scarce assets had the potential to remove the inequality that had existed whereby income and wealth were concentrated in the hands of large landowners. Land was passed on through inheritance, meaning that subsequent generations started in an advantageous position as they did not have to allocate time and money to acquire assets from scratch and the acquisition was not dependent on their personal performance (for example their skill as a cultivator). Skills-based assets, in contrast, were based to a greater extent on merit. This had implications for social mobility. The acquisition of land acquired significant amounts of capital and it was hard for an outsider to break into the landowning elite. The acquisition of skills required less up-front capital. However, background could still provide a competitive advantage, as a good education enhanced the skills based. Opportunities for social mobility were more difficult for children, whose education was curtailed because they had to enter the workplace at a young age.

This volume has proposed that the evolution of capitalism was connected to the emergence of five distinct economic functions: entrepreneurship, finance, management, workers and political leaders. Some functions emerged as more dominant in particular locations and periods, and other functions in different locations and periods. Thus capitalism can be seen as a series of evolutions rather than a single one. This chapter will review the evidence in the book that informs on selected aspects of these functions. It will then highlight two key takeaways from the volume: geographical dimensions and values and beliefs. Finally, directions for future research will be proposed.

The book has reinforced the importance of situating capitalism in a wider historical context. Chapter 2 proposed that the modern market economy developed in 13th-century European towns and was stimulated by local and national regulation. Building on that analysis, Chapter 3 argued that during the 16th and 17th centuries elements of a shared philosophy pertaining to markets and their place in society can be identified in Continental Europe. Key themes were monetary regulation, customs and trade policies aimed at nurturing certain industries or branches of economy that were considered vital for the common good, and market regulation, in particular of urban product markets. These strategies and philosophies of market were invented, applied and modified centuries before modern capitalism, but were an importance influence on it.

While Chapters 2 and 3 emphasized the convergence of market regulation practices across locations, Chapters 4, 5 and 6 explored situations where countries developed different trajectories. Chapter 4 examined how the Scandinavian countries of Sweden and Norway developed ownership structures that differed both from the dominant US, UK and Continental models, but also from each other. Chapter 5 examined how merchants in Asia and Africa adopted cross-cultural and communal, rather than national or institutional, frameworks to underpin their global exchange with English and Portuguese merchants. This represented a different model to that employed in most instances of global trade, in which countries adopted a formal institutional framework for market regulation and aligned their practices with that of their trading partners. Chapter 6 demonstrated that a diversity of approaches also emerged in South America, Asia and Africa during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Feet of Fines: Selected Cases Relevant to the Town of Cambridge

Introduction

Chapter 2 demonstrated that variation in rent levels between parishes was one characteristic of the Cambridge property market. This chapter examines the economic topography of late 13th-century Cambridge and considers the features that may have contributed to that variation. It analyses both the occupational structure and the parochial structure of the town, and relates the two. It presents a statistical profile of occupations and parishes, based on the information in the Hundred Rolls. It examines locational specialization in both trades and professions. It distinguishes between parishes that specialized mainly in trade and those that were mainly professional. It compares the Cambridge evidence with that for other towns and identifies similarities and differences.

The second part of the chapter provides profiles of every parish in the town (Figure 3.1). This is the first comprehensive set of parish profiles ever published for the town because it is the only one that is based on a complete set of the Cambridge Hundred Rolls. In particular, it conveys important new information about the parishes to the south and east of the town. The evidence on parishes revealed in the Hundred Rolls is compared with the relative wealth of the town's parishes as revealed in the valuations of the income of the English Church produced during the 13th century.

Overall, the chapter affords insights into occupational diversity and geographical clustering of occupations, and the extent to which particular parishes specialized in particular trades and professions. It considers some of the factors that may explain the specific patterns of specialization found in Cambridge.

The diversity of occupations

The Commercial Revolution of the 13th century generated a remarkable increase in the variety of occupations within the English economy, which led to successful specialization for some and to increased casualization of work for others. Medieval towns with the greatest range of skills and specialities in this period were those where opportunities coexisted for serving large households, supplying the surrounding region and servicing overseas trade. In the case of Cambridge, Barnwell Priory and the nascent university generated demand; the town was a natural market centre for its surrounding region and the riverside trade with its coastal links provided opportunities for overseas trade.

The sheriff renders account for £53 3s 10d for the mercy of the men of the town and hundred [of Cambridge] whose names and debts and the causes of their debts are given in the following roll and how much they have delivered to the treasury.

This volume provides a translation from the original of the Hundred Rolls for Cambridge, TNA SC5/CAMBS/TOWER/1, Parts 1–3 and Barnwell SC5/CAMBS/TOWER/2. Each part corresponds to a particular roll. The rolls are in reasonably good condition, although some of the text is darkened and a few small portions of text (indicated in the translation by a row of dots) are missing.

The transcriptions from which the translation was made were checked against the Record Commission edition, with the exception of Cambridge part 3, which was not available to the Commission. The sequencing of the responses to the enquiry makes it clear that part 3 actually follows part 1 and precedes part 2. However, we have retained the sequence used by TNA to avoid confusion and to maintain correspondence with the Record Commission edition. The fact that it was the middle roll rather than the final roll that was missing probably explains why the omission was not recognized until fairly recently.

Each item (or paragraph) has been given a reference number. The use of reference numbers simplifies the referencing of the rolls in the main text of the book, and it should be of value to future researchers. Some numbers are prefaced by a letter. No letter signifies an individual property or a pair of linked properties (e.g. a messuage with land attached, or a pair of adjacent messuages). A preface R indicates a stream of rental income; P indicates a portfolio of properties where only the total rent is given and individual rents are difficult to impute; A indicates that there is no information on either location or rent; and F indicates contextual information that is not directly relevant to specific properties. Numbering is sequential within each category. All items prefaced R, P and A are excluded from the regression analysis of rents in Chapter 2 ‘Dynamics of the Property Market’ in Compassionate Capitalism: Business and Community in Medieval England; they are examined elsewhere in the main text. For items with no letter the reference number corresponds to a row in an Excel spreadsheet of rental payments; because the Excel spreadsheet has headings in row 1, the numbering begins at 2.