Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Palgrave Macmillan

The Economy of Obligation

The Culture of Credit and Social Relations in Early Modern England

  • Book
  • © 1998

Overview

Authors:
  1. Craig Muldrew

    1. Department of History and Civilization, European University Institute, Florence, Italy

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Part of the book series: Early Modern History: Society and Culture (EMH)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (11 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction: Deconstructing Capitalism

    1. Introduction: Deconstructing Capitalism

      • Craig Muldrew
      Pages 1-11

  3. Economic Expansion and Structures

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 13-13
      Download chapter PDF

    2. The Sixteenth-Century Growth of the Market

      • Craig Muldrew
      Pages 15-36

    3. The Structure and Practice of Marketing Activity,and its Expansion

      • Craig Muldrew
      Pages 37-59

    4. Transactions on the Market

      • Craig Muldrew
      Pages 60-94

    5. The Structure of Credit Networks

      • Craig Muldrew
      Pages 95-119

  4. The Culture of Credit

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 121-121
      Download chapter PDF

    2. The Sociability of Credit and Commerce

      • Craig Muldrew
      Pages 123-147

    3. The Cultural Currency of Credit and the Construction of Reputation

      • Craig Muldrew
      Pages 148-172

    4. Unpaid Debts and Doubts about Trust

      • Craig Muldrew
      Pages 173-195

  5. Credit and its Discontents

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 197-197
      Download chapter PDF

    2. Disputes and Levels of Litigation

      • Craig Muldrew
      Pages 199-271

    3. Litigation and the Social Order: Debt and Downward Mobility

      • Craig Muldrew
      Pages 272-312

  6. Conclusion

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 313-313
      Download chapter PDF

    2. The Contractual Society

      • Craig Muldrew
      Pages 315-333

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 335-453
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

This book is an excellent work of scholarship. It seeks to redefine the early modern English economy by rejecting the concept of capitalism, and instead explores the cultural meaning of credit, resulting from the way in which it was economically structured. It is a major argument of the book that money was used only in a limited number of exchanges, and that credit in terms of household reputation, was a 'cultural currency' of trust used to transact most business. As the market expanded in the late-sixteenth century such trust became harder to maintain, leading to an explosion of debt litigation, which in turn resulted in social relations being partially redefined in terms of contractual equality.

Reviews

'Craig Muldrew has written an imaginatively conceived and richly researched study of the meaning and practice of credit in early modern England.' - David Harris Sacks, Reed College, Journal of Economic History

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of History and Civilization, European University Institute, Florence, Italy

    Craig Muldrew

About the author

CRAIG MULDREW is Lecturer in the History Department and member of Queens' College, University of Cambridge. He has been a lecturer at University of Exeter and a Jean Monnet fellow at the European University Institute, Florence.

Bibliographic Information

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation