The Cologne Schreinsbücher as a source for economic history in a late medieval town

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to briefly describe and prove the validity of one of these town books, namely the Schreinsbücher of Cologne, as a basis for research on city economy in the later Middle Ages. In order to do that, the paper has been composed of four chapters that delve into four aspects of the collection of registrations: the way the acts were registered and the categories of legal practices they are part of, how these legal practices are described through the centuries, the role of scabini (city judges) in the productive process and the economic insights that could be gathered by an analysis on the transactions described in the collection. Thus, the potential of the Schreinsbücher from Cologne and of town books in general as a source for later medieval economic history’s research will be made clear.