Postgraduate Course: Beyond Feudalism: Economy and Society in the Global Middle Ages (PGHC11628)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course moves beyond Europe and simplistic ideas of "feudalism", to provide an in-depth overview of economic & social history in the Afro-Eurasian "Old World" c.600-1600. Students will be introduced to the practical problems of analysis across a range of regions and societies from Latin Christendom, to the Islamicate world and East Asia, including both source types and theoretical frameworks. Addressing problematics such as the differences between central taxing states and lordship, the rise of commercialisation and the place of enslavement, the centrality of gendered divisions of labour, and distinctions between the worlds of sedentary agriculture and steppe nomadism, students will gain a rich understanding of the complexity of socio-economic development in medieval Afro-Eurasia, and its immediate relevance to the modern capitalist world-economy. |
| Course description |
The economic structure of society from 600 to 1600 is normally summed up in a word: feudalism. Summoning images of lords in their castles directly expropriating the labour and produce of peasant serfs, the term is inevitably tied to the European experience of the Middle Ages. On the other hand, more triumphalist, liberal narratives do emphasise the growth of cities and the development of commerce, but largely as the prehistory of the "rise of Europe", especially in northern Italy. And all this is then implicitly or explicitly contrasted with the apparently stagnant states and societies of the Islamicate world and East Asia, places where the supposedly overbearing weight of the state forestalled economic growth.
In this course we'll tackle these narratives head on, by situating medieval European economic and social history in a comparative Afro-Eurasian perspective. We'll ask what really distinguishes lordship from the large, centrally taxing state systems that encompass most of the Afro-Eurasian "Old World" throughout the millennium, and reappraise both of their relations to phenomena like urbanisation and commercialisation. Students will gain an in-depth overview of the kinds of materials historians use to reconstruct socio-economic dynamics in the period, including documents, coinage and archaeology, as well as theoretical concepts from Marxism and World-Systems Analysis that can frame these dynamics on their own terms. Both will be brought into dedicated sessions on labour and systems of production, including enslavement, the fundamental place of gender and social reproduction in all economic systems, and the distinctions and similarities between socio-economic processes in the sedentary agrarian world and steppe nomadism. Ultimately the course demonstrates both the internal complexity, and the long-term relevance, of economy and society before the modern capitalist world-economy.
The study of History inevitably involves the study of difficult topics that we encourage students to approach in a respectful, scholarly, and sensitive manner. Nevertheless, we remain conscious that some students may wish to prepare themselves for the discussion of difficult topics. In particular, the course organiser has outlined that the following topics may be discussed in this course, whether in class or through required or recommended primary and secondary sources: slavery, forced labour, state violence, the exploitation of gendered labour and associated violence. While this list indicates sensitive topics students are likely to encounter, it is not exhaustive because course organisers cannot entirely predict the directions discussions may take in tutorials or seminars, or through the wider reading that students may conduct for the course.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 History courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. Applicants should note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course ** |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework:
1000 word Essay plan (20%)
4000 word long Essay (80%) |
| Feedback |
Students are expected to discuss their coursework with the Course Organiser at least once prior to submission, and are encouraged to do so more often. Meetings can take place with the Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment. Students will also receive feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Critically engage with the diverse economic & social history of various regions in Afro-Eurasia, c.600-1600.
- Develop socio-economic research projects either of a particular region, or comparatively across the landmass, including both the source base and a theoretical framing.
- Understand how gendered dynamics are essential for a full picture of socio-economic development.
- Situate non-sedentary lifeways such as steppe nomadism at the centre of medieval economic & social history.
- Engage with economic & social history over the long term, especially in the transition to a capitalist world-economy.
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Reading List
- Abu-Lughod, Janet, Before European Hegemony: The World-System A.D.1250-1350 (1989).
- Banaji, Jairus, Theory as History: Essays on Modes of Production & Exploitation (2010).
- Bernstein, Henry, Class Dynamics of Agrarian Change (2010).
- Chaudhuri, K. N., Asia Before Europe. Economy & Civilization in the Indian Ocean from the Rise of Islam to 1750 (1990).
- Goldberg, Jessica, Trade and Institutions in the Medieval Mediterranean: The Geniza Merchants and Their Business World (2012).
- Federici, Silvia, Caliban and the Witch. Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation (1999).
- McIntosh, Susan Keech (ed.), Beyond Chiefdoms: Pathways to Complexity in Africa (1999).
- Power, Eileen, The Wool Trade in English Medieval History (1941).
- Sneath, David, The Headless State. Aristocratic Orders, Kinship Society, & Misrepresentations of Nomadic Inner Asia (2007).
- Von Glahn, Richard, The Economic History of China (2016).
- Wickham, Chris, Framing the Early Middle Ages (2005).
- Wickham, Chris, The Donkey and the Boat. Reinterpreting the Mediterranean Economy 950-1150 (2023). |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
- An ability to interpret and evaluate diverse and challenging forms of historical evidence
- An ability to engage with critical theoretical frameworks for economic & social dynamics
- An ability to combine original source analysis and theoretical argumentation in concise and persuasive writing
- An ability to describe the interconnection of different historical periods over the long term |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Nik Matheou
Tel: (0131 6)50 2368
Email: nik.matheou@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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