European Studies 321 - Eur Economy, 750-1750

(Offered as HIST-321 [EU^P] and EUST-321) The economic history of pre-modern Europe is usually understood as the singular and exceptional rise of the first modern economy. Yet recent research in economic history and shifts in the world economy have provided new perspectives to reconsider the rise of the European economy.  From this long-term and global viewpoint, the story of Europe’s economic take-off becomes the remarkable story of a backwater that became mainstream.  How was Europe able to reposition itself from a periphery of the Eurasian economy to a central node of the global economy?  What drove Europeans further and further into the East and how did their incursion disrupt previous trade networks and practices?  How did the exports and imports of Europe change as their relation to the world economy changed? By considering these questions, the course will cast the familiar histories of the rise of the Carolingians, the course of the Crusades, and the Age of Discovery in new light. We will situate the economic take-off of Europe in the context of the transformation of the world economy. Course materials will include past travel logs, eyewitness reports, and customs receipts, as well as the analysis and synthesis of modern historians.  Two class meetings per week. 

Fall semester. Visiting Professor Cho.