ABSTRACT
The purpose of this article is to revise Karl Marx’s model for the formation of capitalism in light of new research. In Das Kapital, Marx focused his study in England through parliamentary documents. The present article examines not only the English situation, but also that of other areas, especially Castile, through village documents. It demonstrates that the new relations of production developed within the functioning process of feudalism. Therefore, there was only one contradictory logic for the reproduction of feudalism and the genesis of capitalism. This leads to the reconsideration of the role of class struggle in the transition.
Acknowledgements
This article was translated by Ana Ras from Los Angeles, California, USA.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on Contributor
Carlos Astarita is a professor of Medieval History at the University of Buenos Aires and University of La Plata. He has specialized in the economic and social history of the Middle Ages. His published works include Desarrollo desigual en los orígenes del capitalismo (Buenos Aires, 1992), Del feudalismo al capitalismo (Valencia, 2005), and approximately 70 papers in specialized journals.
Notes
1. For a general overview of this issue see Seccombe (Citation1995); to the contrary, Marx (Citation1976, vol. 1, 453) believed that those cast out from the land joined fledgling manufacturing operations.
2. This gave rise to opposing views: Some authors considered that capitalism had developed in Italy in the 14th and 15th centuries, for example, Rutenburg (Citation1966, Citation1971), while others denied that this development took place (such as Melis Citation1966). For theoretical aspects, see Procacci (Citation1955).
3. The paragraphs below summarize the research contained in Astarita (Citation2005, 151ff.). The documents studied date from the 13th to the 16th centuries and correspond to municipalities and religious institutions in Ávila, Sepúlveda, Zamora, Ledesma, Madrid, Cuellar, Riaza, Salamanca, Mombeltrán, Alba de Tormes, Villalpando and Santa Clara de Villalobos in Zamora, Ciudad Rodrigo, Segovia, Cuenca, Piedrahíta, and the villages of Ávila de San Bartolomé de Pinares, Villatoro, La Adrada, Candelada, Higuera de las Dueñas and Sotillo de la Adrada.
4. Thirty percent of those who sold land in the 14th century in the area of Cuenca were widows (Sánchez Benito Citation1994, 134).
5. On the difference between Kaufsystem and Verlagssystem see Kriedte, Medick, and Schlumbohm (Citation1981). Schlumbohm in particular considers Verlagssystem as a capitalist form.
6. In Zamora, where there was no Verlagssystem but a system of small producers who sold to merchants, between 1477 and 1495 the sales tax for cloth increased from 80,000 maravedíes to 188,000 and the taxes on spun wool sold for weaving doubled. Circulation taxes only give us an approximate idea of the true importance of rural manufacturing since many operations evaded controls (Iradiel Murugarren Citation1974, 338; Citation1995, 528–529). Regarding this for the case of England, see Dyer (Citation2000, 304–27).
7. The concept of only one contradictory logic was proposed by Bois (Citation1976), albeit within a theoretical framework influenced by Malthus and Ricardo that the author applied in combination with Marxian concepts. Bois’ analysis of the movement of feudalism in phases of demographic expansion and contraction from which wage labor emerged has been an influence in the study of the origins of Verlagssystem. See Kriedte (Citation1980).
8. This question was suggested by one of the referees of this article.
9. Also, rich peasants led the revolt in the countryside (Gutiérrez Nieto Citation1973).
10. A matter summarized by Smith (Citation2007, 700): “It is to the alcabala [merchandise trade tax] . . . the ruin of the manufactures of Spain.” See also García Sanz (Citation1977).
11. Examples of histories of the Middle Ages that deny the importance of the revolutions of medieval communities: Monsalvo Antón (Citation1997), Baschet (Citation2009), and Wickham (Citation2016).
13. This is observed in different chronicles. See for example, on the rebellion of the bourgeois of Cologne in 1074, Migne (Citation1878b); on the rebellion of Sahagún between 1110 and 1117, see Puyol y Alonso (Citation1920); on the one in Santiago de Compostela in the year 1117, see Migne (Citation1878a).
Seccombe, W. 1995. A Millennium of Family Change: Feudalism to Capitalism in Northwestern Europe. London: Verso. Marx, K. 1976. Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie [ Capital: A Critique of Political Economy]. 3 vols. Frankfurt am Main: Verlag marxistische Blätter. Rutenburg, V. 1966. “Tre volumi sul Datini. Rassegna bibliografica sulle origini del capitalismo in Italia” [ Three Volumes on Datini: Bibliographical Review on the Origins of Capitalism in Italy]. Nuova Rivista Storica 5–6: 666–681. Rutenburg, V. 1971. Popolo e movimenti popolari nell’Italia del ‘300 e ’400 [ People and Popular Movements in Italy of the 14th and 15th Centuries]. Bologna: Il mulino. Melis, F. 1966. “Il problema Datini. Una necessaria messa a punto” [ The Datini Problem: A Necessary Set-Up]. Nuova Rivista Storica 5–6: 682–709. Procacci, G. 1955. “Dal feudalesimo al capitalismo: una discussione storica” [ From Feudalism to Capitalism: A Historical Discussion]. Società 9 (1): 126–138. Astarita, C. 2005. Del feudalismo al capitalismo. Cambio social y político en Castilla y Europa occidental. 1250–1520 [ From Feudalism to Capitalism: Social and Political Change in Castile and Western Europe: 1250–1520]. Valencia: Publicacions de la Universitat de València and Editorial Universidad de Granada. Sánchez Benito, J. M. 1994. Las tierras de Cuenca y Huete en el siglo XIV. Historia económica [ The Lands of Cuenca and Huete in the Fourteenth Century: Economic History]. Cuenca: Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha. Kriedte, P., H. Medick, and J. Schlumbohm. 1981. Industrialization before Industrialization: Rural Industry in the Genesis of Capitalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Iradiel Murugarren, P. 1974. Evolución de la industria textil castellana en los siglos XIII-XIV. Factores de desarrollo, organización y costes de producción manufacturera en Cuenca [ Evolution of the Castilian Textile Industry in the XIII-XIV Centuries: Factors of Development, Organization and Manufacturing Production Costs in Cuenca]. Salamanca: Universidad de Salamanca. Iradiel Murugarren, P. 1995. “El desarrollo del comercio y de la industria: mercados, mercaderes y artesanos” [ The Development of Commerce and Industry: Markets, Merchants and Craftsmen]. In De los orígenes al final del medioevo [ From the Origins to the End of the Middle Ages], vol. 1 of Historia de Zamora [History of Zamora], edited by G. Delibe Castro, 505–542. Zamora: Instituto de Estudios Zamoranos. Dyer, C. 2000. Everyday Life in Medieval England. London/New York: Cambridge University Press. Bois, G. 1976. Crise du féodalisme. Economie rurale et démographie en Normandie Orientale du début du 14e au milieu du 16e siècle [ Crisis of Feudalism: Rural Economy and Demography in Eastern Normandy from the Early 14th to the Mid-16th Century]. Paris: Editions de l’Ecole des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. Kriedte, P. 1980. Grundlinien der europäischen Wirtschaftsgeschichte vom 16. bis zum Ausgang des 18. Jahrhunderts [ Fundamental Lines of European Economic History from the 16th Century to the End of the 18th Century]. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. Gutiérrez Nieto, J. I. 1973. Las comunidades como movimiento antiseñorial [ The Communities as an Anti-Lord Movement]. Barcelona: Planeta. García Sanz, A. 1977. Desarrollo y crisis del Antiguo Régimen en Castilla la vieja. Economía y sociedad en tierras de Segovia. 1500–1814 [ Development and Crisis of the Old Regime in Old Castile: 1500–1814]. Madrid: Akal universitaria. Monsalvo Antón, J. M. 1997. Las ciudades europeas del medioevo [ The European Cities of the Middle Ages]. Madrid: Síntesis. Baschet, J. 2009. La civilización feudal. Europa del año mil a la colonización de América [ The Feudal Civilization: Europe of the Year One Thousand to the Colonization of America]. México D. F.: Fondo de Cultura Económica. Wickham, C. 2016. Medieval Europe. New Haven: Yale University Press. Kofler, L. 1948. Zur Geschichte der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft. Versuch einer “verstehenden” Betrachtung der Neuzeit nach dem historischen Materialismus [ About the History of Bourgeois Society: Essay of a “Comprehensive” Vision of the Modern Era According to the Historical Materialism]. Halle-Saale: Mitteldeutsche Druckerei und Verlagsanstalt. Romero, J. L. 1967. La revolución burguesa en el mundo feudal [ The Bourgeois Revolution in the Feudal World]. Buenos Aires: Sudamericana. Migne, J. P., ed. 1878b. Lamberti Hersfeldensis Annales [ Annals of Lambert of Hersfeld]. Paris: Patrologia Latina [Latin Patrology] vol. 194: col. 1027–1248. Puyol y Alonso, J., ed. 1920. “Crónicas Anónimas de Sahagún” [ Anonymous Sahagún Chronicles]. Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia 76: 7–26, 111–126, 242–257, 339–356, 395–419, 512–519; and 77: 51–59, 162–192. Migne, J. P., ed. 1878a. Historia Compostelana [ Compostelana History]. Paris: Patrologia Latina [Latin Patrology] vol. 170: col. 889–1235.