Odd Langholm, Economics in the Medieval Schools.

Langholm, Odd. Economics in the Medieval Schools. New York, NY: Brill, 1992. Print.

Langholm's text considers the shift in medieval economic thought as expressed among scholastics at the University of Paris in, roughly, the thirteenth century. Taken a somewhat unpopular perspective that views "history as anticipation" (5), Langholm argues that this period of scholastic writing represents an evolution in economic thought that sets up the economic developments that would follow in the fourteenth century. The majority of Langholm's text is thus a survey of individuals in this period at the University of Paris, or closely connected thereto, who write on what would be, in a modern context, called economics. Langholm focuses on five genres for this survey, namely the confessional manual, the quodlibet, the summa, the commentary and the economic treatise.

Langholm's "anticipatory" perspective is somewhat problematic given contemporary perspectives on scholarship as the argument of an evolutionary economic perspective falls rather fully in the construction of grand historical narratives that John Watt castigates. However, the depth of Langholm's consideration of these texts, especially several that are otherwise unconsidered in scholarship, are invaluable for studies in medieval economic thought. Much of what Langholm's overall narrative plots out follows some of what Diana Wood sets up as the changing perception to economics in late medieval Europe, but the focus on the University of Paris is both a positive and negative aspect, as it allows for in depth consideration but possibly runs the risk of being intellectually isolated from other possible influences.

As a final note, the "scholastic frame of literary reference" that Langholm constructs as a triangle is instructive. (25). Langholm sets the corners of the triangles as the Bible/Church Fathers, Aristotle (the Ethics and Poetics), and Roman law. Diana Wood makes much of the necessity to consider the theological alongside the Aristotelian when considering medieval economic thought, but Langholm's point about Roman law are also vital, especially in a setting where Roman law was often seen as a necessary source of precedence. Some of Langholm's larger points may be slightly problematic, but the research is impeccable and vital.