The Medieval Church and the Emergence of Capitalism

Abstract

Abstract The medieval Catholic Church was an institution with an avowed public interest that nevertheless consistently behaved in a manner that promoted its particular interests. As the foregoing chapters have shown, these particular interests were most often rooted in economic considerations, such as the preservation of market power, the accumulation of wealth, and the pursuit of profits. Consequently, the medieval Church readily lends itself to economic analysis as well as to theological, philosophical, historical and sociological analysis. Many Church historians have understood the economic dimensions of medieval Church behavior, but few have had the economic training and expertise to analyze Church history within the paradigm of modern economic theory. This book attempts to raise the level of earlier analysis that emphasized the economic aspects of religion.