We are delighted to announce the programme for the next online workshop organised by the
Medieval Finance Network. This will be on the subject of ‘The Costs of Catastrophe’. This
workshop is an opportunity for Postgraduate and Early Career Researchers to share current
research on the theme of the Costs of Catastrophe. Natural disasters – pandemics, poor harvests,
floods, droughts, earthquakes - were a feature of the medieval world but how did these affect the
finances of Governments, corporate institutions, communities and individual households, and
how did they respond? Is it possible to quantify the costs of such catastrophes and conversely,
what financial opportunities and benefits did they generate?
The workshop will be run online. For details of how to join the workshop, please email
andyford.marlow[at]btinternet.com. The programme is set out below. All times are GMT.
09.00-09.05: Welcome
09.05-10.00: Keynote talk followed by questions:
Dr Elise Dermineur Reutersward (Stockholm University): ‘Credit Networks in
Renaissance Florence: Revisiting the Catasto of 1427. A Research Project in the Making.’
10.00-11.00: Session 1 (Chair: Dr Tony Moore, University of Reading)
Dr Alex Spike Gibbs (London School of Economics), Dr Stephan Nicolussi-Köhler
(University of Innsbruck), Dr Lienhard Thaler (University of Vienna): ‘Catastrophic
Costs and Rural Resilience. Or: How Vulnerable were Medieval Communities?’
Dr Stef Espeel (ULBruxelles/State Archives Belgium): ‘Falling into Poverty: Living
Standards during the Grain Price Crises of 14th-century Flanders.’
11.00-11.15: Break
11.15-12.15: Session 2 (Chair: Dr Jaco Zuijderduijn, Lund University)
Dr Fabrizio Alias (University of Sassari): ‘Economy, Finance and Taxation in the Crown
of Aragon after the Black Death: The Case of the Kingdom of Sardinia’.
Nicolò Zennaro (University of Antwerp): ‘Che Idio perdoni a morti e ristori i perdenti: The
Plague Effects on Venetian Mercantile Society in 1400’.
12.15-13.00: Session 3: Shorter Papers and General Discussion (Chair: Dr Jaco
Zuijderduijn, Lund University)
Yihuan Xu (Shanghai University): ‘The Credit Networks of a Village in Fourteenth-
Century England: A Case Study of Walsham le Willows.'
Dr Tony Moore (University of Reading): ‘Debt prosecutions before the Common Pleas in
1349.’