Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250-1350

Cover
Preface
Contents
Introduction - Chapter 1. Studying a System in Formation
	The Thirteenth Century: A World System?
	European Exemplars of the Thirteenth and Sixteenth Centuries
	Some Historiographic Methodological Problems
	Plan of the Book
	Notes
Part I: The European Subsystem
	Emergence from Old Empires
	Chapter 2. The Cities of the Champagne Fairs
		Fairs as Economic Exchange
		The Fairs of Champagne and Their Towns
		Lessons from the Champagne Fairs
		Notes
	Chapter 3. Bruges and Ghent: Commercial and Industrial Cities of Flanders
		The Origins of Ghent and Bruges
		The Origins of the Flemish Textile Industry
		The Height of Textiles (Ghent) and the Shift to Commerce (Bruges)
		Bruges and the Foreign Financiers
		The Black Death
		Lessons from the Case of Flanders
		Notes
	Chapter 4. The Merchant Mariners of Genoa and Venice
		Origins of the Two Port Cities
		The Impact of the Crusades on Venice and Genoa
		The Alliance between the State and Private Capitalism
		Changes in the System of Trade, 1260 to 1350
		The Mid-Century Depression
		Lessons from Genoa and Venice
		Notes
Part II: The Mideast Heartland
	The Three Routes to the East
		Notes
	Chapter 5. The Mongols and the Northeast Passage
		The Physical and Social Environment of the Central Asian Steppes
		Reducing Europe’s Ignorance of the Mongols
		The Unintended Consequences of Mongol Success
		Samarkand and Other Caravan Centers
		Lessons from the Mongol Case
		Notes
	Chapter 6. Sindbad’s Way: Baghdad and the Persian Gulf
		Muslim/Christian Trade
		Baghdad
		The Gulf Route to the East
		The Decline (for Whom?) of the Middle Route
		Lessons from the Baghdad—Persian Gulf Case
		Notes
	Chapter 7. Cairo’s Monopoly under the Slave Sultanate
		Islam and Business
		Fustat—Cairo and the Processes of Production and Trade
		The Impact of the Black Death on Egypt and Syria
		Relations between the Mamluk Regime and the Italian Traders
		The Red Sea and Aden: Gateway to the East
		Lessons from Egypt
		Notes
Part III: Asia
	The Indian Ocean System: Divided into Three Parts
	Chapter 8. The Indian Subcontinent: On the Way to Everywhere
		Early Links Westward to the Mediterranean
		Early Links Eastward to Southeast Asia
		The Western Coast of India: Gujarat and Malabar in Medieval Times
		The Organization of Southeast Indian Societies in the Middle Ages
		Lessons from the Indian Case
		Notes
	Chapter 9. The Strait and Narrow
		Palembang and Malacca Today
		The Links to Outside
		The Problem of Sources Revisited
		The Indian Influence on the Straits Region
		China and the Strait
		The Arab Connections to Malacca, Palembang, and Beyond
		Lessons from the Straits
		Notes
	Chapter 10. All the Silks of China
		China’s Participation in International Trade
		Technological Sophistication
		Business Practices and Institutions
		Hangchow in the Thirteenth Century
		Why China Withdrew
		China’s Economic Collapse
		Lessons from the Chinese Case
		Notes
Conclusion - Chapter 11. Restructuring the Thirteenth-Century World System
	The Thirteenth-Century World System Synthesized
	The Restructuring of Systems
	Theory of Systemic Change
	Future World Systems
	Notes
Bibliography
	A Guide to the Bibliographic Guide
	General and Europe
	Middle East
	Asia
Index