Call for Papers for a workshop at the Freie Universität Berlin on urban property prices in the Middle Ages (February 19-20, 2026)
Conveners: Colin Arnaud and Thomas Ertl

How much was a house in a good urban location in the Middle Ages? Who could afford which type of house? How much did prices vary between different cities? ChatGPT suggests the following: In Regensburg, a house in a good location cost around 100–300 pounds of Regensburg pfennigs in the 14th century. In Cologne (one of the largest cities of the Roman Empire), prices for centrally located houses could be significantly higher — sometimes exceeding 1,000 gulden in the late Middle Ages. In Paris or Florence, prices were especially high — Florence, for example, was a major center of trade and banking. At the workshop, we aim to bring this AI-generated estimate to life with empirical substance and to place it on solid and comprehensive foundations.

There are numerous Late Medieval sources, particularly land registers, deeds, tax records, and other registries, that provide detailed information about property transactions and values. However, despite the impressive amount of data, comprehensive analyses remain scarce. The reason lies in the complexity of the subject: Price developments must always be considered in the context of inflation, mortgage debts, real wages, currencies, house sizes, plot sizes, and furnishing. These factors complicate the ability to make comparable statements and reliably categorize price levels. On the other hand, thanks to digital methods, new possibilities are emerging. Large amounts of data can now be systematically collected and analyzed. However, comparing different data sets to each other remains a challenge. At the conference, we aim to explore and discuss critical questions concerning the development of prices over time in single locations and the varying price levels across European cities during the late Middle Ages (up to the 16th century), seeking to identify patterns, causes, and broader implications.

We invite scholars from various disciplines, including economic history, urban history, social history, historical geography, and digital humanities, to contribute to this workshop. We welcome papers focusing on:

– Comparative studies between different cities or regions
– The evolution of property prices in one or more cities
– The influence of economic, political, social or spatial factors on property prices
– Methodological challenges in analyzing historical property prices
– Digital tools and techniques for processing historical data
– Interdisciplinary approaches to understanding the medieval property market

Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words along with a short CV to arnaud@uni-muenster.de by May 31. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by July 1. We are confident that we will be able to cover the costs for travel and accommodation. We look forward to receiving your contributions and engaging in stimulating discussions.

Kontakt : arnaud@uni-muenster.de

Source : H-Soz-Kult