Geospatial Methods and the Premodern Economy: Mapping the Institutional Landscapes of Northern Europe, 1350–1650

Holterman Bart () and Huang Angela ()
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Holterman Bart: Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum, Hans-Scharoun-Platz 1, D-27568 Bremerhaven Germany
Huang Angela: Europäisches Hansemuseum, An der Untertrave 1, D-23552 Lübeck Germany

Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte / Economic History Yearbook, 2023, vol. 64, issue 1, 179-212

Abstract: The premodern European transport network was accompanied by a number of institutions that affected the transaction costs related to commercial travel, such as fairs, staple markets and toll stations. With digital techniques and big datasets, it is now possible to study these phenomena on a grand scale and to reveal patterns in supraregional economic exchange. Using the Viabundus dataset on premodern transport and mobility in northern Europe (13501650), this article explores the possibilities that such data offer for understanding large-scale economic activity. By employing GIS mapping for visualisation purposes and methods of network analysis such as the calculation of betweenness centrality, the data on fairs, staple markets and toll stations can help us understand the institutional structure of the premodern economy in which merchants operated.

Keywords: Northern Europe; Digital History; Overland Trade; Economic History; Transportation Costs; Nordeuropa; Wirtschaftsgeschichte; Transaktionskosten; Digitale Geschichtswissenschaft; Kartographie; Landhandel (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bpj:jbwige:v:64:y:2023:i:1:p:179-212:n:3

DOI: 10.1515/jbwg-2023-0007

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