The Christian Economy of the Early Medieval West: Towards a Temple Society

Ian Wood
punctum books
2022-02-17

The establishment of Christianity in the late- and post-Roman world caused an economic as well as a religious revolution, but, while a great deal of attention has been paid to the religious developments of the period, the impact of the establishment of the Church on the economy has attracted remarkably little attention. The Christian Economy of the Early Medieval West: Towards a Temple Society examines the chronology of the Church’s acquisition of wealth, and particularly of landed property, as well as the distribution of its income, in the period between the conversion of Constantine and the eighth century.

In this book, the society that emerged as a result of the Church’s acquisition of land is interpreted in the light of the anthropological model of the “Temple Society,” a concept developed from Karl Marx’s so-called “Asiatic Mode of Production.” The emergence of a socio-economic system dominated by the Church is presented as a crucial development in the history of western Europe.

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Keywords

  • Economic history
  • Christianity
  • Temple Society
  • Church history
  • Christian life & practice
  • JBSR
  • Economic history
  • NHTB
  • European history: medieval period, middle ages
  • Christian Churches, denominations, groups
  • c 400 to c 600 (period of Germanic and Visigoth invasions of Spain)
  • 3KH-ES-A
  • religion and power
  • Church history
  • early middle ages
  • economic history
  • late antiquity
  • Mediterranean

The Christian Economy of the Early Medieval West: Towards a Temple Society

Ian Wood

punctum books

2022-02-17

CC BY-NC-SA

The establishment of Christianity in the late- and post-Roman world caused an economic as well as a religious revolution, but, while a great deal of attention has been paid to the religious developments of the period, the impact of the establishment of the Church on the economy has attracted remarkably little attention. The Christian Economy of the Early Medieval West: Towards a Temple Society examines the chronology of the Church’s acquisition of wealth, and particularly of landed property, as well as the distribution of its income, in the period between the conversion of Constantine and the eighth century.

In this book, the society that emerged as a result of the Church’s acquisition of land is interpreted in the light of the anthropological model of the “Temple Society,” a concept developed from Karl Marx’s so-called “Asiatic Mode of Production.” The emergence of a socio-economic system dominated by the Church is presented as a crucial development in the history of western Europe.

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Included in Packages

Topics

  • Economic history
  • Christianity
  • Temple Society
  • Church history
  • Christian life & practice
  • JBSR
  • Economic history
  • NHTB
  • European history: medieval period, middle ages
  • Christian Churches, denominations, groups
  • c 400 to c 600 (period of Germanic and Visigoth invasions of Spain)
  • 3KH-ES-A
  • religion and power
  • Church history
  • early middle ages
  • economic history
  • late antiquity
  • Mediterranean