Universität Wien, Institut für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung, Universitätsring
15.04.2027 – 16.04.2027

Wars and their economic effects unfortunately have once again become a matter of public interest. Although the Datini Society already in 1984 dedicated a conference to economies and warfare in the premodern period (with papers never published in print, Cavaciocchi 2000), research on the topic in the Middle Ages remains limited. This is also reflected in the scarcity of comprehensive overviews (Hale 1985, Caferro 2008, Clauss 2011; on the arms business Gaier 2010, on logistics Haldon 2006, and Marvin 2010, Moore/Bell 2019 as one more recent study on war finance).

Although scholars generally agree that rising military expenditure from the late Middle Ages contributed to fiscal and state formation—from the Schumpeterian domain state to the tax state or from Tilly’s patrimonialism to brokerage — the empirical basis for assessing the scale and development of these costs remains limited. Larger infantry armies, mercenary wages, and the acquisition of artillery are commonly cited as key drivers, yet systematic data on troop numbers, pay, equipment costs, and armament prices are rare. It remains open to discussion whether warfare initiated economic change or merely intensified existing trends. Economic warfare, especially embargoes and protectionism, has received increasing scholarly attention, but its effects on specific trade flows are still largely unknown. Likewise, research on mercenaries has focused on leading military entrepreneurs, while little is known about second-tier actors and the fighting workforce. Arms, armour, and military provisions occupy a marginal place in the history of trade and logistics. Studies combining arms production and trade are rare. Apart from Francesco Datini, few medieval arms merchants have been studied. Booty, plunder, and ransom have been examined from legal and cultural, but less from economic perspectives. Although war’s destructive effects are self-evident, their extent is seldom estimated or weighed against the profits generated by warfare. Broader questions, like the overall costs of warfare regarding people’s access to resources and the economic disruptions connected have been examined more recently, yet they invite further analysis as well.
This conference aims at the analysis of the economy of warfare from a multifaceted perspective, including actors, institutions, networks, flows of commodities and money – using quantitative as well as qualitative methods. It offers researchers the opportunity to present their work, develop new collaborations and engage with other scholars of medieval warfare, economic and social history. We invite papers exploring the intersection of warfare and medieval economies in the broadest sense. Contributions may address topics such as war finance, costs and yields of warfare, the procurement and trade of arms, supplies, horses, ships and other resources for warfare, logistics, military entrepreneurship, service, and mercenaryism, destructions, compensation and reparations, booty and ransom, or any other economic and social aspect of medieval warfare. We particularly encourage submissions from doctoral and postdoctoral researchers.

The conference will take place over two days at the University of Vienna. Papers will be 20 minutes in length with time for discussion. Travel and accommodation costs are covered by the organisers.

Please submit a short CV and a proposal of about 300 words to Lienhard Thaler (lienhard.thaler@univie.ac.at) by 30 November 2026. Until 15 December 2026, successful applicants will receive their invitation to the conference on 15 and 16 April 2027.

Works cited:
Caferro, William, Warfare and economy in Renaissance Italy, 1350–1450, in: The Journal of Interdisciplinary History 39 (2008), 167–210.
Cavaciocchi, Simonetta (ed.), Gli aspetti economici della guerra in Europa. Secc. XIV–XVIII, CD-ROM, Prato 2000.
Clauss, Martin, Wirtschaftskriege? Zu den wirtschaftlichen Aspekten spätmittelalterlicher Kriege, in: Thomas Jäger/Rasmus Beckmann (eds.), Handbuch Kriegstheorien, Wiesbaden 2011, 325–334.
Gaier, Claude, Arms industry and trade, in: Clifford J. Rogers (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Oxford 2010, 75–77.
Haldon, John F. (ed.), General issues in the study of medieval logistics, Leiden/Boston 2006.
Hale, John R., War and Society in Renaissance Europe 1450–1620, New York 1985.
Marvin, Laurence W., Logistics and transportation, Clifford J. Rogers (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Oxford 2010, 513–517.
Moore, Tony/Bell, Adrian, Financing the Hundred Years War, in: Anne Curry (ed.), The Hundred Years War revisited, London 2019, 57–84.

Source : H-Soz-Kult