Precious Metals in the Medieval Mediterranean, Maison méditerranéenne des Sciences de l’Homme (MMSH), Aix-en-Provence, October 6–8, 2016
Silver on one side, gold on the other? The medieval Mediterranean was an area in which precious metals were produced and circulated, intertwining three worlds, both friends and foes: Roman Christianity to the West, byzantine Christianity to the East, and Islam to the South. Precious metals (gold, silver, copper and lead), at the origin of numerous objects of material culture and currencies used by the economies, filled the societies. They were mined, processed, commercialised, controlled and hoarded by a wide variety of stakeholders and institutions, from peasants to emperors.
This colloquium proposes to open up a large-scale survey on these produces, which raised a number of issues for Mediterranean societies.