In late medieval Marseille, a commercial hub where market forces largely determined labourers’ income, a significant segment of the workforce was paid partly or fully in non-monetized currencies. Hard bargained between employees and employers, these alternative salaries shed light on labour relations in a time of monetary volatility, demographic collapse, and inflationary trends. If apprentices and young workers depended almost exclusively on goods and services for their livelihood, skilled artisans’ earnings, especially after the Black Death, could favourably benefit from non-monetary compensation. Work agreements clearly demonstrate that victuals, clothing, artisanal training, and health care were held by both servants and masters as the most valued, necessary means of cashless payment.
University of Calgary, Canada
Chapter Title
Alternative currencies and quality of life in Late Thirteenth- and Fourteenth-century Marseille: Negotiating labour in times of turmoil
Authors
Francine Michaud
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0347-0.11
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
Mezzi di scambio non monetari. Merci e servizi come monete alternative nelle economie dei secoli XIII-XVIII / Alternative currencies. Commodities and services as exchange currencies in the monetarized economies of the 13th to 18th centuries
Editors
Angela Orlandi
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
592
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0347-0
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0346-3
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0347-0
eISBN (xml)
979-12-215-0348-7
Series Title
Datini Studies in Economic History
Series ISSN
2975-1241
Series E-ISSN
2975-1195