"The wealth of the Central European archives, particularly in urban records, has perhaps not been fully realised by western European historians. However, these records are not always straightforward to use and these studies also tackle the methodological problems inherent in gathering and...

The Late Middle Ages (c.1300–c.1500) saw the development of many of the key economic institutions of the modern unitary nation-state in Europe. After the "commercial revolution" of the thirteenth century, taxes on trade became increasingly significant contributors to government finances, and...