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Cited by 221Historical Economic and Social StudiesCulture, Economy, and Development StudiesHistorical Economic and Legal Thought

Medieval Universities, Legal Institutions, and the Commercial Revolution *

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Cantoni, Davide, Yuchtman, Noam·2014·The Quarterly Journal of Economics
DOI 10.1093/qje/qju007
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Abstract

We present new data documenting medieval Europe’s Commercial Revolution using information on the establishment of markets in Germany. We use these data to test whether medieval universities played a causal role in expanding economic activity, examining the foundation of Germany’s first universities after 1386 following the papal schism. We find that the trend rate of market establishment breaks upward in 1386 and this break is greatest where the distance to a university shrank most. There is no differential pre-1386 trend associated with the reduction in distance to a university, and there is no break in trend in 1386 where university proximity did not change. These results are robust to estimating a variety of specifications that address concerns about the endogeneity of university location. Universities provided training in newly rediscovered Roman and canon law; students with legal training served in positions that reduced the uncertainty of trade in the Middle Ages. We argue that training in the law, and the consequent development of legal and administrative institutions, was an important channel linking universities and greater economic activity in medieval Germany.

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  • The medieval university's epistemic function was primarily curatorial and interpretive, sustained through tightly bound communities of scholars, while reinforcing ecclesiastical authority and restricting access to knowledge production.

    “Here, the university's epistemic function was primarily curatorial and interpretive, sustained through tightly bound communities of scholars, while also reinforcing ecclesiastical authority and restricting access to knowledge production”

    From Purpose before policy: academic integrity, generative AI, and rhetorical stance (2026) · cites this paper as Cantoni & Yuchtman, 2014

    The discussion of medieval universities says they formed networks of people trained in common subjects using common texts, while Section 3.2 says the Church limited some university training sites and monitored teaching to prevent heresy (page numbers unavailable). These passages support the network and restriction elements, but do not establish that universities were primarily curatorial and interpretive, that scholarly communities were tightly bound, or that their epistemic function reinforced ecclesiastical authority. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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4 of the 111 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. Baltl, Herrmann, "Einfl üsse des r ömischen Rechts in Österreich," in "Ius Romanum Medii Aevi," Vol. 5:7, Milano: Giuffrè, 1962.
  2. Brewer, John, The Sinews of Power, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1988.
  3. Keussen, Hermann, Die Matrikel der Universität Köln, Vol. 1, Bonn: Behrendt, 1892.
  4. Lopez, Robert S., The Commercial Revolution of the Middle Ages, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
  5. Muther, Theodor, "R ömisches und canonisches Recht im deutschen Mittelalter," in Theodor Muther, ed., Zur Geschichte der Rechtswissenschaft und der Universitäten in Deutschland: Gesammelte Aufsätze, Jena: Dufft, 1876, chapter 1, pp. 1-37.
  6. Schuler, Peter-Johannes, "Schwäbischer Städtebund," in "Lexikon des Mittelalters," Vol. VII, Stuttgart: Metzler, 1977-1999, pp. 1608-1609.
  7. Statistisches Reichsamt, ed., Verzeichnis der Märkte und Messen im Deutschen Reich im Jahre 1936 (nebst einer Übersicht über die Märkte und Messen der Freien Stadt Danzig, des Memelgebiets, Hollands, Luxem- burgs und der nördlichen Schweiz), Vol. 64, Berlin: Verlag f ür Sozialpolitik, Wirtschaft und Statistik, 1935.
  8. Toepke, Gustav, Die Matrikel der Universität Heidelberg, Vol. 1, Heidelberg: Gustav Toepke, 1884. [0.127] [0.126] [0.126] [0.133] [0.175] [0.288] [0.126] [0.130] [0.127] Post1386 -1.077 -1.825 -1.103 -1.347 0.762 0.722 -1.036 -1.046 -1.198 [2.234] [2.189] [2.222] [2.262] [3.281] [7.699] [2.210] [2.286] [2.248] Year × Post1386 -0.140 -0.200 -0.129 -0.298 -0.115 -0.489 -0.136 -0.156 -0.129 [0.207] [0.214] [0.206] [0.201] [0.333] [1.291] [0.205] [0.212] [0.208] ∆DistUniv -0.811 -1.422 -0.803 -1.535 -0.762 -0.808 -0.125 -0.807 -0.763 -0.844 [1.048] [0.954] [1.035] [0.965] [1.428] [1.030] [1.828] [1.031] [1.101] [1.069] ∆DistUniv × Year -0.061 -0.092 -0.056 -0.094 -0.037 -0.094 -0.034 -0.058 -0.061 -0.063 [0.062] [0.061] [0.061] [0.061] [0.077] [0.065] [0.091] [0.061] [0.065] [0.063] ∆DistUniv × Post1386 0.004 0.684 0.006 0.440 -0.711 -0.215 -1.597 -0.238 -0.265 0.123 [1.091] [1.062] [1.076] [1.035] [1.401] [1.551] [2.163] [1.030] [1.101] [1.120] ∆DistUniv × Year × Post1386 0.200* 0.252** 0.191* 0.291** 0.189 0.237 0.349 0.201* 0.210* 0.188* [0.111] [0.127] [0.109] [0.119] [0.146] [0.228] [0.230] [0.106] [0.114] [0.113] Constant 3.279 3.950* 3.275 4.332* 3.287 3.277 0.148 3.28 3.341 3.351 [2.322] [2.286] [2.310] [2.422] [3.467] [2.307] [2.161] [2.308] [2.388] [2.337] Window (years) 1386 ± 20 Observations 20680 19200 20760 18600 17480 20880 20880 20800 18120 19920 Number of cities 2220 2036 2100 2025 1759 2256 2256 2249 2084 2033 *: Significant at 10%; **: 5%; ***: 1%. Robust standard errors in brackets, clustered at the lord level. Cf. notes to the equivalent tables in the main paper. The dependent variable is computed as market establishments per year per 1,000 cities in the region considered. [1.420] [1.427] [1.805] [1.444] [4.219] [9.335] [1.417] [1.405] [1.428] Year × Post1386 -0.071 -0.095 -0.111 -0.102 -0.040 -0.384 -0.070 -0.067 -0.060 [0.094] [0.108] [0.131] [0.099] [0.248] [0.703] [0.094] [0.093] [0.100] ∆DistUniv -0.370 -0.612 -0.361 -0.545* -0.954 -0.364 -0.937* -0.364 -0.406 -0.466** [0.257] [0.395] [0.279] [0.292] [0.599] [0.251] [0.547] [0.250] [0.256] [0.224] ∆DistUniv × Year -0.033 -0.057 -0.036 -0.035 -0.051 -0.018 -0.094** -0.030 -0.031 -0.045** [0.023] [0.048] [0.027] [0.030] [0.051] [0.048] [0.045] [0.022] [0.022] [0.022] ∆DistUniv × Post1386 -0.223 0.030 -0.408 -0.119 -0.112 -1.787 -0.916 -0.298 -0.220 -0.132 [0.599] [0.638] [0.759] [0.597] [1.580] [1.691] [1.666] [0.584] [0.591] [0.589] ∆DistUniv × Year × Post1386 0.099* 0.146 0.117* 0.110 0.083 0.142 0.376** 0.095* 0.097* 0.110** [0.052] [0.102] [0.069] [0.073] [0.099] [0.132] [0.160] [0.049] [0.050] [0.051] Constant 1.574*** 1.718*** 1.595*** 1.859*** 3.459** 1.572*** 0.401* 1.574*** 1.508**

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Authors
Cantoni, D., & Yuchtman, N.
Affiliations
  • Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
  • Harvard University (US)
ORCID
Venue
The Quarterly Journal of Economics
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2014-03-12
Volume
129
Issue
2
Pages
823-887
ISSN
  • 0033-5533 (ISSN-L)
  • 1531-4650
DOI
10.1093/qje/qju007
OpenAlex
W2124465692
Cited by
221
References
111
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 4
FWCI
38.76
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The Quarterly Journal of Economics (publishedVersion)
  • London School of Economics and Political Science Theses Online (London School of Economics and Political Science) (acceptedVersion)
  • London School of Economics and Political Science Research Online (London School of Economics and Political Science) (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • Econstor (Econstor) (submittedVersion)
  • Open access LMU (Ludwid Maxmilian's Universitat Munchen) (submittedVersion)
  • Universitätsbibliothek der LMU
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Historical Economic and Social Studies
  • Social Sciences › Demography › Culture, Economy, and Development Studies
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Historical Economic and Legal Thought
Keywords
medieval universities, commercial revolution, market creation, university proximity, legal institutions, canon law, Roman law, legal education, trade uncertainty, economic growth, papal schism, medieval Germany

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