The Widening Gate: Bristol and the Atlantic Economy, 1450-1700The history of capitalism is not to be explained in mere economic terms. David Harris Sacks here demonstrates that the modern Western economy was ushered in by broad processes of social, political, and cultural change. His study of Bristol as it opened it gate to national politics and the Atlantic economy reveals capitalism to be not just a species of economic order but a distinct form of life, governed by its own ethical norms and cultural practices. Availing himself of the methods of "thick description," socio-economic analysis, and political theory, Sacks examines the dynamics by which early modern Bristol moved from a medieval commercial economy to an early capitalist one. Throughout the period, the life of the city depended heavily on the successes of its great overseas merchants. But their quest for a monopoly of trade with the outside world, from the Atlantic seaboard to the Levant, came into conflict with the concerns of Bristol's artisans and retail shopkeepers. The battles of the two factions conditioned social and cultural developments in Bristol for two centuries. Locally, the conflict set the terms for developing conceptions of justice and authority. On a larger scale, it drew the community firmly into the great affairs of the realm and the wider world of expanding markets beyond. |
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Page xvi
... established positions . On the one hand , there has been a lengthy debate — primarily among Marx- ists — about whether the transition to capitalism arises principally from internal contradictions within the feudal order or from the ...
... established positions . On the one hand , there has been a lengthy debate — primarily among Marx- ists — about whether the transition to capitalism arises principally from internal contradictions within the feudal order or from the ...
Page xxi
... established in my seminar paper turned out to be illu- sory . What had seemed a plausible way to cover the facts I had gleaned from the books in Widener Library could in no way account for the evidence I had now discovered . Gradually ...
... established in my seminar paper turned out to be illu- sory . What had seemed a plausible way to cover the facts I had gleaned from the books in Widener Library could in no way account for the evidence I had now discovered . Gradually ...
Page 13
... established pat- tern of thought and action . In the great revolution in historical learning that accompanied the ... establish the standing of his town or county in the grand history of the kingdom ; they were local in their outlook ...
... established pat- tern of thought and action . In the great revolution in historical learning that accompanied the ... establish the standing of his town or county in the grand history of the kingdom ; they were local in their outlook ...
Page 32
... established Bristolians had substantial personal fortunes as well as deeply rooted personal connections in their home city . Withdrawal of their wealth was itself a significant blow to the city's prosperity , further reducing its at ...
... established Bristolians had substantial personal fortunes as well as deeply rooted personal connections in their home city . Withdrawal of their wealth was itself a significant blow to the city's prosperity , further reducing its at ...
Page 33
... from each transaction , or to find new products in which to deal . Trade to the Levant , if established on a regular basis , satisfied all these criteria . It not only provided a good outlet for cloth , but the Feats of Merchandise 33.
... from each transaction , or to find new products in which to deal . Trade to the Levant , if established on a regular basis , satisfied all these criteria . It not only provided a good outlet for cloth , but the Feats of Merchandise 33.
Contents
19 | |
54 | |
Organizing the Society | 85 |
In a Worshipful State 14501650 | 129 |
The Navel of the World | 131 |
The Sanctification of Power | 160 |
Little Businesses | 194 |
Looking Backward | 225 |
A Shoemakers Holiday | 251 |
Registering the Pilgrimage | 278 |
The Spirit World | 304 |
The Widening Gate of Capitalism | 331 |
Abbreviations | 363 |
Notes | 365 |
Index | 453 |
The Capitalism of the Spirit 16501700 | 249 |
Other editions - View all
The Widening Gate: Bristol and the Atlantic Economy, 1450-1700 David Harris Sacks Limited preview - 1991 |
The Widening Gate: Bristol and the Atlantic Economy, 1450-1700 David Harris Sacks Limited preview - 1991 |
The Widening Gate: Bristol and the Atlantic Economy, 1450-1700 David Harris Sacks Limited preview - 2023 |
Common terms and phrases
aldermen Aldworth American Andalusia Apprentice Book apprenticed apprentices authority Barbados Bishop Book Bristol Common Bristol Record Bristol's trade Bristolians Cambridge Carus-Wilson chant chap Church city's civic cloth colonial commerce Common Council Proceedings common councillors Company crafts customs dissenters E. A. Wrigley early modern early seventeenth century economic Edgeworth election England English exports fifteenth Gascony gild haue History Iberian peninsula Ibid important indentures industries J. G. A. Pocock James John John Whitson king Latimer leading entrepreneurs letters patent Lollards London mayor McGrath membership Merchant Venturers nomic occupations ordinances overseas trade Oxford Parliament percent period port profit Quakers religious retailers Ricart Robert Sacks sectaries servants ships shopkeepers sixteenth century Smythe soapmakers social Society and Politics Society of Merchant Spanish sugar Thomas tion tobacco total known town University Press urban wares weavers Whitson William wine woad