Value and economic calculation in the early middle ages

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the relation between value and economic calculation in the early medieval societies, with examples from Gaul and Italian Peninsula sources. In order to do so, we intend, first of all, to identify the presence of economic calculation in procedures of evaluation of movable and immovable property, as well as in the definition of food prices. Secondly, we will explore the relationship between value and evaluation. The focus of this article will not be the formation of prices, a problem for which the medieval sources do not provide enough information at least until the thirteenth century, but the comprehension of procedures of valuation of goods and food stuffs in the first centuries of the Middle Ages.