Our Daily Bread: Christian Economies in the Early Medieval West

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Early medieval economy cannot be understood without acknowledging the role of the churches as rightful, widespread and fully fledged institutions, nor indeed can the churches contribution to the formation of medieval society be properly appreciated without considering the surrounding economic infrastructures of the many churches, abbeys and seats of religious authorities scattered all over Europe. Christianity had a socioeconomic and political impact that stretched far beyond its obvious religious importance: it was in fact a rather significant factor in remarking the distinction between the Roman Empire, in which religion contributed to the economic life in a substantial, but structurally different way, and the post-Roman period, in which churches played a major part in the processes of wealth accumulation and distribution. In this joint-project, we envisage Christian economy from the seventh to the early ninth century to be inherently different when compared to its germinal phase in the fourth-century Empire. Moreover, Christian economy was also susceptible to change within its own boundaries, depending on region and time, in the three centuries from 600 to 900, thus reflecting what Peter Brown has defined as the social variety of Micro-Christendoms.