Power and Property in Medieval Germany: Economic and Social Change C.900-1300

In Power and Property in Medieval Germany Professor Arnold takes a fresh look at the problems posed by power and property in a medieval society, in this case the German kingdom. In a series of interrelated studies, Arnold explains the ongoing social and economic relationships between classes and institutions, peasants and lords, the royal court, towns and townsfolk, and the Church and aristocracy.
In Power and Property in Medieval Germany Professor Arnold takes a fresh look at the problems posed by power and property in a medieval society, in this case the German kingdom. In a series of interrelated studies covering the period 700-1500, but concentrating on the tenth to thirteenth centuries, Arnold explores the social and economic changes that influenced the real lives of people living in Germany.

A number of themes are examined, including the kind of society that emerged along the Rhine and to the east of it in a period when it is hard to identify a Germany; the complex relationship between peasant and lord; the finances and resources of the German crown, the largest single landowner; the social and economic impact of the urban milieu with its towns large and small; and the entanglement of Church and aristocracy.

Whilst medieval people did not share mercantilist or post-Adam Smith concepts of economic forces at work in society, Arnold fruitfully applies the ideas and rationalizations of modern economics to medieval evidence, leading, at times, to unexpected conclusions.