Foundations of Gold and Silver

在中世纪早期（5至12世纪），货币经济处于低谷，但它坚持了下来：人们继续用货币单位来思考，并且——即使经常是小规模的——交换金银，为这些单位提供了物理形式。这个项目超越了最近对这一时期的评估，这些评估集中在货币的有限规模上，并询问为什么它在西罗马帝国的终结、新王国和帝国的崛起以及维京人的威胁中幸存下来。我们将从铸币作为权力与经济之间的中介所扮演的独特角色中寻找答案。在一个相对匮乏的时代，制造硬币，或者自愿或被迫地使用硬币，是一件非常有意义的事情。换句话说，这不仅仅是有多少硬币在流通的问题：而是人们为什么选择制造和使用它们，以及这样做的后果是什么。我将使用硬币来考虑其背后的人类互动，并认为铸币被广泛用于构建或重新定义各种社会关系，例如主张统治地位，展示平等等等。铸币是权力结构和地位以及经济的一个方面，而社会关系的变化可能影响铸造货币的使用（和需求），反之亦然。这项研究的结果将对中世纪早期的经济和社会历史做出重大贡献，为中世纪早期欧洲的货币化提供一种新的视角。为了展示硬币的角色是如何随着时间和空间的发展而发展的，我将汇集广泛的原始材料：硬币，关于硬币发现的上下文信息，以及各种各样的文本。这些问题将通过比较西欧的五个地区来解决，这些地区被选中代表了这一时期硬币生产和使用的不同概况：英格兰东部、弗兰西亚西北部、莱茵兰和莱茵河口、意大利中部和北部以及斯堪的纳维亚南部。在这个项目中，我将利用我在研究货币历史方面的丰富经验，对早期中世纪经济做出重要的新解释，并确立在该领域的领先地位。我的研究结果将被收录在普林斯顿大学出版社出版的一本专著中，并被收录在伦敦国王学院举行的一次顶尖专家研讨会的论文集中。我的领导地位将在项目的第二年进一步巩固，通过一系列相互关联的影响和推广活动，将研究的主题和结论打包，以供更广泛的公众消费。这些活动的对象将是对中世纪感兴趣的公众、收藏家和金属探测仪使用者，以及负责在几个欧洲国家发现宝藏的决策者。剑桥的菲茨威廉博物馆将举办一场展览，展示其世界领先的中世纪硬币收藏，以及该博物馆成功展示这一时期材料的良好记录。该活动还将为公众和学童举办一系列讲座和其他活动。本次展览开始时，将在菲茨威廉举行一个研讨会，主题是现代世界不同的法律和政策如何影响对中世纪早期硬币发现的解释。与会者和演讲者将来自欧洲各地，并将代表多个利益群体，包括学者，收藏家和金属探测器用户，以及政策制定者。本次研讨会的对话将考虑不同的观点，并提出最佳实践建议。这些建议（连同与中世纪硬币发现有关的关键政策和联系信息）将在一个公开的网站上公布。

The monetary economy was at a low ebb in the early Middle Ages (5th to 12th centuries), yet it persisted: people continued to think in terms of monetary units, and - even if often on a small scale - exchanged gold and silver pieces that gave physical form to those units. This project goes beyond recent assessments of the period that have focused on the limited scale of the currency to ask why it survived at all through the end of the western Roman Empire, the rise of new kingdoms and empires, and the viking threat. Answers will be sought in the unique role coined currency played as an intermediary between power and economy. To make coins, or to engage in use of them either by choice or compulsion, was a highly meaningful act at a time of relative scarcity. In other words, it is not just a matter of how many coins there were in circulation: it is a matter of why people chose to make and use them at all, and what the consequences were of doing so. I will use coins to consider the human interactions behind them, and argue that coined money was widely used to construct or redefine social ties of diverse kinds, such as assertions of dominance, demonstrations of equality and many others. Minting was a facet of power structures and status as well as economy, while changes in social relations could affect use of (and demand for) coined money - and vice versa. The results of this research will be a major contribution to early medieval economic and social history, arguing for a new way of looking at monetisation in early medieval Europe.To show how the role of coin developed over time and space, I will bring together a wide range of source materials: coins, the contextual information about coin-finds, and texts of diverse kinds. These will be approached by comparing five regions across western Europe, chosen to represent different profiles of coin production and use during this period: eastern England, northwest Francia, the Rhineland and Rhine mouth, central and northern Italy and southern Scandinavia.In this project I will capitalise on my extensive experience in researching aspects of monetary history to produce an important new interpretation of the early medieval economy, and establish a position as a leading voice in the field. My findings will be encapsulated in a monograph published by Princeton University Press, and in an edited volume of essays arising from a symposium of leading experts to be held at King's College London. My leadership position will be further consolidated in the second year of the project with a suite of interlinked impact and outreach activities that package the themes and conclusions of the research for wider public consumption. These activities will be directed towards members of the public interested in the Middle Ages, towards the community of collectors and metal-detector users, and towards policymakers responsible for treasure finds in several European countries. An exhibition will be held at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, drawing on its world-leading collection of medieval coinage, and on its strong record of successful displays of material from this period. It will be supported with a series of lectures and other events for the public and schoolchildren. A workshop will be held in the Fitzwilliam at the beginning of this exhibition on the theme of how different laws and policies in the modern world affect interpretation of early medieval coin-finds. Attendees and speakers will be drawn from across Europe, and will represent multiple interest groups, including scholars, collectors and metal-detector users, and policymakers. Dialogue at this workshop will consider different perspectives, and result in recommendations for best practice. These recommendations will be presented (along with key policy and contact information relating to medieval coin-finds) on a publicly available website.