2024 - 2025
EUROPEAN ECOMOMIC HISTORY
EXAM SUMMARY
KOEN HANEGREEFS
,Table of Contents:
Table of Contents: ___________________________________________________________________ 1
Foreword: ___________________________________________________________________________ 6
Setting the Scene ____________________________________________________________________ 7
Setting the scene: ‘European’ ‘Economic’ ‘History’ __________________________________________ 7
Defining ‘European’: ______________________________________________________________________________ 7
Growth of the EU: _________________________________________________________________________________ 7
‘European’ in the context of the European Union: ____________________________________________________ 8
Quid Canada: __________________________________________________________________________________ 8
The Council of Europe: ____________________________________________________________________________ 9
Europe at the time of the Roman Empire: ____________________________________________________________ 9
Economic: ______________________________________________________________________________________ 10
The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: ______________________________________________________ 10
Why nations fail - the origins of power, prosperity, and poverty: _____________________________10
Institutions theory: _______________________________________________________________________________ 10
What are institutions?__________________________________________________________________________ 10
Geography theory: _______________________________________________________________________________ 11
Cultural theory: __________________________________________________________________________________ 12
Ignorance theory: ________________________________________________________________________________ 12
The key historical events: _________________________________________________________________________ 12
Spanish Colonisation – Extractive institutions: ___________________________________________________ 12
English Colonisation – Inclusive institutions: _____________________________________________________ 12
Post-Colonial Divergence: ______________________________________________________________________ 13
Economic institutions and innovation: _____________________________________________________________ 13
The eVects we see today: _________________________________________________________________________ 13
Why study history? _______________________________________________________________________13
Quid Panama Canal saga?_________________________________________________________________13
A bit of history: __________________________________________________________________________________ 14
Quid Serbia – Kosovo License plate saga? __________________________________________________14
Key crisis points: _________________________________________________________________________________ 14
2021 Crisis: ___________________________________________________________________________________ 14
2022 Crisis: ___________________________________________________________________________________ 14
Current situation: ________________________________________________________________________________ 14
Classic Antiquity ___________________________________________________________________ 15
Introduction: _____________________________________________________________________________15
Ancient Greece: __________________________________________________________________________16
Greek Economy: _________________________________________________________________________________ 16
Key historical events: _____________________________________________________________________17
Persian wars: ____________________________________________________________________________________ 17
Peloponnesian war: ______________________________________________________________________________ 17
Macedonian conquest: ___________________________________________________________________________ 18
The Macedonian phalanx: ______________________________________________________________________ 18
Alexander the Great: ___________________________________________________________________________ 18
Roman conquest: ________________________________________________________________________________ 19
Corinth: ______________________________________________________________________________________ 19
Carthage: _____________________________________________________________________________________ 19
Ancient Greek – Economics: _______________________________________________________________20
Philosophy: _____________________________________________________________________________________ 20
Socratic dialogue: _____________________________________________________________________________ 20
Plato: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 20
1
, Dialogues: ____________________________________________________________________________________ 20
Aristotle: ________________________________________________________________________________________ 21
Dialogues: ____________________________________________________________________________________ 21
The Romans: _____________________________________________________________________________22
The Roman Kingdom: 753 BC – 509 BC _____________________________________________________________ 22
The Myth: _____________________________________________________________________________________ 22
The Roman Republic: 509 BC – 27 BC ______________________________________________________________ 23
The Punic Wars: (264 BC – 146 BC) ______________________________________________________________ 23
The Roman Classes: ___________________________________________________________________________ 24
Internal struggles within the Republic: ___________________________________________________________ 25
Rome in the 1st century BC: _____________________________________________________________________ 25
The Roman Empire (principate): 27 BC – 395 AD ____________________________________________________ 27
Augustus: 27 BC – 14 AD _______________________________________________________________________ 27
The “High Empire”: 14 AD – 235 AD ______________________________________________________________ 28
The demise of the Roman Empire: _______________________________________________________________ 30
The Roman Economy: ____________________________________________________________________________ 31
The Republic’s economy: _______________________________________________________________________ 31
The Principate’s economy: _____________________________________________________________________ 32
The Middle Ages ____________________________________________________________________ 34
Defining the Middle Ages: _________________________________________________________________34
Finishing the story of the Roman Empire: __________________________________________________34
The Western Roman Empire: ______________________________________________________________________ 34
The sack of Rome by the Visigoths: ______________________________________________________________ 34
The fall of the Western Roman Empire: 476 AD ___________________________________________________ 34
The Eastern Roman Empire – Byzantine Empire: (306 AD – 1453 AD) __________________________________ 35
Justinian I: 527 AD – 565 AD ____________________________________________________________________ 36
Culture: ______________________________________________________________________________________ 36
Feudalism: _______________________________________________________________________________37
Origins: _________________________________________________________________________________________ 37
The system: _____________________________________________________________________________________ 37
Manorial System: ________________________________________________________________________________ 38
Serfs:_________________________________________________________________________________________ 38
Three classes: (fight, pray, and work) _______________________________________________________________ 38
Social mobility:________________________________________________________________________________ 38
Religion and its eZects on society and economy: ___________________________________________38
The Concordat of Worms: ________________________________________________________________________ 39
The Investiture Controversy: ____________________________________________________________________ 39
The “Ban on Usury”: ______________________________________________________________________________ 39
Business in banking: _____________________________________________________________________________ 39
The rise of the “Urban Economy”: _________________________________________________________40
Cities and towns: ________________________________________________________________________________ 40
Guilds: __________________________________________________________________________________________ 40
Trade networks: __________________________________________________________________________________ 41
The Hanseatic League: _________________________________________________________________________ 41
Crises of the 14th century AD: ______________________________________________________________42
The Great Famine: 1315-1317 AD __________________________________________________________________ 42
Societal eVects: _______________________________________________________________________________ 42
The Black Death: 1347-1351 AD ___________________________________________________________________ 42
Societal eVects: _______________________________________________________________________________ 42
Economic eVects: _____________________________________________________________________________ 42
Other eVects: _________________________________________________________________________________ 42
Wars: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 43
Stages: _______________________________________________________________________________________ 43
Societal and economic eVects: _________________________________________________________________ 43
2
, Western Schism: ________________________________________________________________________________ 43
History: _______________________________________________________________________________________ 43
Resolution: ___________________________________________________________________________________ 43
Legacy: _______________________________________________________________________________________ 43
Early modern times to the industrial revolution _______________________________________ 44
The fall of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire): 1453 AD __________________________44
The Conquest of Constantinople: _________________________________________________________________ 44
The siege: _____________________________________________________________________________________ 44
Consequences: _______________________________________________________________________________ 44
The Renaissance: 14th – 17th century _______________________________________________________44
Introduction: ____________________________________________________________________________________ 44
“Dark ages”: __________________________________________________________________________________ 44
“Renaissance”: _______________________________________________________________________________ 45
Rise of (absolute) monarchies: 1450 AD – 1700 AD __________________________________________________ 45
France – Absolute Monarchy: ___________________________________________________________________ 46
England – Constitutional Monarchy: _____________________________________________________________ 46
Spain: ________________________________________________________________________________________ 47
Religion: ________________________________________________________________________________________ 49
The Protestant Reformation: ____________________________________________________________________ 49
The Counter Reformation / the Catholic Reformation: _____________________________________________ 49
The Religious Wars: 16th and 17th century ___________________________________________________________ 50
The Eighty Years’ War: 1568 AD – 1648 AD ________________________________________________________ 50
The Thirty Years’ War: 1618 – 1648 _______________________________________________________________ 50
Economic policies of the middle ages: _____________________________________________________51
Mercantilism: est. 15th century ___________________________________________________________________ 51
Key concept: __________________________________________________________________________________ 51
Causes: ______________________________________________________________________________________ 51
In practice: ___________________________________________________________________________________ 51
Free market ideas: _____________________________________________________________________________ 52
DiVerences France – England: _____________________________________________________________________ 52
France: _______________________________________________________________________________________ 52
England: ______________________________________________________________________________________ 52
Age of Exploration and the rise of commerce: ______________________________________________53
The Commercial Revolution: 11th – 18th Century AD _________________________________________________ 53
Age of Exploration and Colonisation:_______________________________________________________________ 54
Consequences: _______________________________________________________________________________ 55
The Dutch East India Company: 1602____________________________________________________________ 55
Industrial Revolutions to the First World War _________________________________________ 57
The Age of Enlightenment and political revolutions: ________________________________________58
The Age of Enlightenment: ________________________________________________________________________ 58
Great thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment: ________________________________________________________ 59
Montesquieu: 1689 – 1755 AD __________________________________________________________________ 59
Adam Smith: 1723 – 1790 AD ___________________________________________________________________ 59
Political Revolutions: _____________________________________________________________________________ 60
The Glorious Revolution: 1688 - 1689 ____________________________________________________________ 60
The American Revolution: 1765 – 1783 AD _______________________________________________________ 60
French Revolution: 1789 – 1799 _________________________________________________________________ 62
Industrial Revolutions: ____________________________________________________________________67
Waves of industrialisation: ________________________________________________________________________ 67
Origins: _______________________________________________________________________________________ 68
Consequences: _______________________________________________________________________________ 68
Ownership: ______________________________________________________________________________________ 68
The Factory system: ______________________________________________________________________________ 68
Centralisation: ________________________________________________________________________________ 68
3
EUROPEAN ECOMOMIC HISTORY
EXAM SUMMARY
KOEN HANEGREEFS
,Table of Contents:
Table of Contents: ___________________________________________________________________ 1
Foreword: ___________________________________________________________________________ 6
Setting the Scene ____________________________________________________________________ 7
Setting the scene: ‘European’ ‘Economic’ ‘History’ __________________________________________ 7
Defining ‘European’: ______________________________________________________________________________ 7
Growth of the EU: _________________________________________________________________________________ 7
‘European’ in the context of the European Union: ____________________________________________________ 8
Quid Canada: __________________________________________________________________________________ 8
The Council of Europe: ____________________________________________________________________________ 9
Europe at the time of the Roman Empire: ____________________________________________________________ 9
Economic: ______________________________________________________________________________________ 10
The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: ______________________________________________________ 10
Why nations fail - the origins of power, prosperity, and poverty: _____________________________10
Institutions theory: _______________________________________________________________________________ 10
What are institutions?__________________________________________________________________________ 10
Geography theory: _______________________________________________________________________________ 11
Cultural theory: __________________________________________________________________________________ 12
Ignorance theory: ________________________________________________________________________________ 12
The key historical events: _________________________________________________________________________ 12
Spanish Colonisation – Extractive institutions: ___________________________________________________ 12
English Colonisation – Inclusive institutions: _____________________________________________________ 12
Post-Colonial Divergence: ______________________________________________________________________ 13
Economic institutions and innovation: _____________________________________________________________ 13
The eVects we see today: _________________________________________________________________________ 13
Why study history? _______________________________________________________________________13
Quid Panama Canal saga?_________________________________________________________________13
A bit of history: __________________________________________________________________________________ 14
Quid Serbia – Kosovo License plate saga? __________________________________________________14
Key crisis points: _________________________________________________________________________________ 14
2021 Crisis: ___________________________________________________________________________________ 14
2022 Crisis: ___________________________________________________________________________________ 14
Current situation: ________________________________________________________________________________ 14
Classic Antiquity ___________________________________________________________________ 15
Introduction: _____________________________________________________________________________15
Ancient Greece: __________________________________________________________________________16
Greek Economy: _________________________________________________________________________________ 16
Key historical events: _____________________________________________________________________17
Persian wars: ____________________________________________________________________________________ 17
Peloponnesian war: ______________________________________________________________________________ 17
Macedonian conquest: ___________________________________________________________________________ 18
The Macedonian phalanx: ______________________________________________________________________ 18
Alexander the Great: ___________________________________________________________________________ 18
Roman conquest: ________________________________________________________________________________ 19
Corinth: ______________________________________________________________________________________ 19
Carthage: _____________________________________________________________________________________ 19
Ancient Greek – Economics: _______________________________________________________________20
Philosophy: _____________________________________________________________________________________ 20
Socratic dialogue: _____________________________________________________________________________ 20
Plato: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 20
1
, Dialogues: ____________________________________________________________________________________ 20
Aristotle: ________________________________________________________________________________________ 21
Dialogues: ____________________________________________________________________________________ 21
The Romans: _____________________________________________________________________________22
The Roman Kingdom: 753 BC – 509 BC _____________________________________________________________ 22
The Myth: _____________________________________________________________________________________ 22
The Roman Republic: 509 BC – 27 BC ______________________________________________________________ 23
The Punic Wars: (264 BC – 146 BC) ______________________________________________________________ 23
The Roman Classes: ___________________________________________________________________________ 24
Internal struggles within the Republic: ___________________________________________________________ 25
Rome in the 1st century BC: _____________________________________________________________________ 25
The Roman Empire (principate): 27 BC – 395 AD ____________________________________________________ 27
Augustus: 27 BC – 14 AD _______________________________________________________________________ 27
The “High Empire”: 14 AD – 235 AD ______________________________________________________________ 28
The demise of the Roman Empire: _______________________________________________________________ 30
The Roman Economy: ____________________________________________________________________________ 31
The Republic’s economy: _______________________________________________________________________ 31
The Principate’s economy: _____________________________________________________________________ 32
The Middle Ages ____________________________________________________________________ 34
Defining the Middle Ages: _________________________________________________________________34
Finishing the story of the Roman Empire: __________________________________________________34
The Western Roman Empire: ______________________________________________________________________ 34
The sack of Rome by the Visigoths: ______________________________________________________________ 34
The fall of the Western Roman Empire: 476 AD ___________________________________________________ 34
The Eastern Roman Empire – Byzantine Empire: (306 AD – 1453 AD) __________________________________ 35
Justinian I: 527 AD – 565 AD ____________________________________________________________________ 36
Culture: ______________________________________________________________________________________ 36
Feudalism: _______________________________________________________________________________37
Origins: _________________________________________________________________________________________ 37
The system: _____________________________________________________________________________________ 37
Manorial System: ________________________________________________________________________________ 38
Serfs:_________________________________________________________________________________________ 38
Three classes: (fight, pray, and work) _______________________________________________________________ 38
Social mobility:________________________________________________________________________________ 38
Religion and its eZects on society and economy: ___________________________________________38
The Concordat of Worms: ________________________________________________________________________ 39
The Investiture Controversy: ____________________________________________________________________ 39
The “Ban on Usury”: ______________________________________________________________________________ 39
Business in banking: _____________________________________________________________________________ 39
The rise of the “Urban Economy”: _________________________________________________________40
Cities and towns: ________________________________________________________________________________ 40
Guilds: __________________________________________________________________________________________ 40
Trade networks: __________________________________________________________________________________ 41
The Hanseatic League: _________________________________________________________________________ 41
Crises of the 14th century AD: ______________________________________________________________42
The Great Famine: 1315-1317 AD __________________________________________________________________ 42
Societal eVects: _______________________________________________________________________________ 42
The Black Death: 1347-1351 AD ___________________________________________________________________ 42
Societal eVects: _______________________________________________________________________________ 42
Economic eVects: _____________________________________________________________________________ 42
Other eVects: _________________________________________________________________________________ 42
Wars: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 43
Stages: _______________________________________________________________________________________ 43
Societal and economic eVects: _________________________________________________________________ 43
2
, Western Schism: ________________________________________________________________________________ 43
History: _______________________________________________________________________________________ 43
Resolution: ___________________________________________________________________________________ 43
Legacy: _______________________________________________________________________________________ 43
Early modern times to the industrial revolution _______________________________________ 44
The fall of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire): 1453 AD __________________________44
The Conquest of Constantinople: _________________________________________________________________ 44
The siege: _____________________________________________________________________________________ 44
Consequences: _______________________________________________________________________________ 44
The Renaissance: 14th – 17th century _______________________________________________________44
Introduction: ____________________________________________________________________________________ 44
“Dark ages”: __________________________________________________________________________________ 44
“Renaissance”: _______________________________________________________________________________ 45
Rise of (absolute) monarchies: 1450 AD – 1700 AD __________________________________________________ 45
France – Absolute Monarchy: ___________________________________________________________________ 46
England – Constitutional Monarchy: _____________________________________________________________ 46
Spain: ________________________________________________________________________________________ 47
Religion: ________________________________________________________________________________________ 49
The Protestant Reformation: ____________________________________________________________________ 49
The Counter Reformation / the Catholic Reformation: _____________________________________________ 49
The Religious Wars: 16th and 17th century ___________________________________________________________ 50
The Eighty Years’ War: 1568 AD – 1648 AD ________________________________________________________ 50
The Thirty Years’ War: 1618 – 1648 _______________________________________________________________ 50
Economic policies of the middle ages: _____________________________________________________51
Mercantilism: est. 15th century ___________________________________________________________________ 51
Key concept: __________________________________________________________________________________ 51
Causes: ______________________________________________________________________________________ 51
In practice: ___________________________________________________________________________________ 51
Free market ideas: _____________________________________________________________________________ 52
DiVerences France – England: _____________________________________________________________________ 52
France: _______________________________________________________________________________________ 52
England: ______________________________________________________________________________________ 52
Age of Exploration and the rise of commerce: ______________________________________________53
The Commercial Revolution: 11th – 18th Century AD _________________________________________________ 53
Age of Exploration and Colonisation:_______________________________________________________________ 54
Consequences: _______________________________________________________________________________ 55
The Dutch East India Company: 1602____________________________________________________________ 55
Industrial Revolutions to the First World War _________________________________________ 57
The Age of Enlightenment and political revolutions: ________________________________________58
The Age of Enlightenment: ________________________________________________________________________ 58
Great thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment: ________________________________________________________ 59
Montesquieu: 1689 – 1755 AD __________________________________________________________________ 59
Adam Smith: 1723 – 1790 AD ___________________________________________________________________ 59
Political Revolutions: _____________________________________________________________________________ 60
The Glorious Revolution: 1688 - 1689 ____________________________________________________________ 60
The American Revolution: 1765 – 1783 AD _______________________________________________________ 60
French Revolution: 1789 – 1799 _________________________________________________________________ 62
Industrial Revolutions: ____________________________________________________________________67
Waves of industrialisation: ________________________________________________________________________ 67
Origins: _______________________________________________________________________________________ 68
Consequences: _______________________________________________________________________________ 68
Ownership: ______________________________________________________________________________________ 68
The Factory system: ______________________________________________________________________________ 68
Centralisation: ________________________________________________________________________________ 68
3
