“Renaissance Florence and the Origins of Capitalism: A Business History Perspective” with Francesca Trivellato
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The Stanford Center for Law and History will hold its third workshop of the Quarter on Tuesday, May 10, from 12:45-2:00 PM (Pacific). Francesca Trivellato, Institute for Advanced Study, School of Historical Studies, will present, Renaissance Florence and the Origins of Capitalism: A Business History Perspective.
The workshop will be a hybrid event held in-person (Room 320D) and via Zoom. As a reminder, we ask that you RSVP for each workshop in advance so that we can circulate the paper, provide the Zoom link to the event, and for food ordering purposes for those of you who wish to join us in-person. Please read the paper in advance.
Current guidelines do not allow us to bring food into events. For those who attend in-person, however, lunch will be provided at 12:25PM, 20 minutes before the workshop outside of Room 320D.
We also ask all those who attend in-person to comply with current Stanford event guidelines which can be found here.
To RSVP, click here. Those who confirm their attendance will receive a separate email containing the paper and link to the event.
Abstract:
From the 1940s to the 1970s, the commercial revolution of the Middle Ages was a historiographical concept with considerable traction. This article revisits the literature that brought about and engaged with that concept, with specific reference to Florence. In so doing, it draws attention to the place once held by business history in the study of Europe’s takeoff. It also discusses the preliminary results of an ongoing project on limited partnerships in early modern Tuscany, which reaffirms the relevance of business history for understanding preindustrial economies but steers away from a teleological search for the origins of modern capitalism.