Research

We do research on the history of European societies in the Middle Ages out of an interest in diversity: How did pre-modern capital markets function without banks? What did the world look like before the triumph of the idea of the nation state in the 19th century? How did societies organise themselves at a time when there were no universally valid definitions of national borders, national unity and national identities? How did societies function without standardised norms in language, writing, culture, currency or methods of payment?
They functioned – that is beyond question. How did they function? We do research in concrete individual studies from different regions of Europe in economy, politics and society. Currently, we are mainly working on projects on pre-modern forms of organisation in economic life.