Curriculum Economies of the Ancient and Medieval World
Economies of the Ancient and Medieval World
How people traded, taxed, borrowed and invested before the modern age - Mesopotamian accounts, Egypt's grain, the first coins, Rome's money troubles, Song China's paper money, Islamic finance, Venetian banking, the Hanseatic League, the Aztecs and Incas, Mansa Musa and the Malthusian trap.
- How Pre-Modern Economies Worked The basic features of economies before industrialisation - farming, slow growth, limited trade and powerful elites - and why living standards changed so little for centuries. 📄 Read-aloud
- Mesopotamia: Writing, Accounts and Interest How the world's first writing began as record-keeping for goods and debts in Mesopotamia, and how early laws regulated loans and interest. 📄 Read-aloud
- Ancient Egypt's Grain Economy How the Nile's floods, state granaries and taxation built one of the ancient world's richest economies, and how grain acted almost like money. 📄 Read-aloud
- The First Coins and Greek Trade How coins were invented in Lydia around 600 BCE, spread through Greek cities, and helped trade and markets flourish in places like Athens. 📄 Read-aloud
- Rome's Economy and the Debasement of the Denarius How the Roman Empire's economy worked, from grain handouts to roads, and how emperors debased the currency, causing inflation in the third century. 📄 Read-aloud
- Song China: Paper Money and Innovation How China under the Song dynasty created the world's first government paper money, built a commercial economy, and later suffered inflation. 📄 Read-aloud
- Economies of the Ancient and Medieval World: Checkpoint 1 Quick checkpoint - five questions on pre-modern economies, Mesopotamia, Egypt, the first coins and Rome. 5 questions
- Trade and Finance in the Islamic Golden Age How merchants across the Islamic world from the 8th century used partnerships, cheques and trade networks linking Asia, Africa and Europe. 📄 Read-aloud
- Venice, the Medici and the Birth of Modern Banking How Italian city-states developed banking, bills of exchange and double-entry bookkeeping, laying foundations for modern finance. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Hanseatic League How a network of merchant towns in northern Europe cooperated to protect trade from the 13th to 17th centuries, and what it teaches about institutions for trade. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Aztec and Inca Economies How two great American civilisations organised their economies very differently - Aztec markets with cacao money and an Inca state economy with no money at all. 📄 Read-aloud
- Mansa Musa and West Africa's Golden Trade How the Mali Empire grew rich from gold and trans-Saharan trade, and how Mansa Musa's famous pilgrimage affected gold prices in Cairo. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Malthusian Trap Why, for thousands of years, gains in food production led to more people rather than higher living standards, how the world escaped, and a recap of the module. 📄 Read-aloud