Land price trends as markers of economic cycles? Inflation, debasement and exchange rates in the central Middle Ages

Can we write a meaningful history of land prices during the early and central Middle Ages? According to a line of research inspired by economic anthropology, the answer would be no: land primarily served to construct networks of alliance and cannot be regarded as a mere commodity. Nevertheless, several classic studies have used price fluctuations as tools for periodisation – sometimes, in fact, as markers of profound social and economic changes. Yet this raises a further problem: scholars have not always attributed the same importance to monetary dynamics as factors capable of influencing prices. This article reviews the existing historiography on these issues with reference to northern and central Italy; its concluding remarks focus on a specific aspect of price analysis, namely exchange rates.