Book Chapter

Wax, cash and the mass. Making candles affordable in late medieval economies

  • Alexandra Sapoznik
  • Lluís Sales i Favà

By the later middle ages wax had become an indispensable element in Christian religious observance, used throughout churches, liturgical services and lifecycle events. Wax was therefore both essential and ubiquitous. It was also valuable and easily re-cycled. This paper analyses the use, reuse and barter of wax in circular economies within cathedrals, monasteries and professional guilds in England and Italy. It further considers how the circulation of wax within and outside these institutions could act as a mechanism to cut expenses and potentially increase profits or provide opportunities for religious participation among even the very poor.

  • Keywords:
  • Wax,
  • Candles,
  • Recycling,
  • Florence,
  • England,
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Alexandra Sapoznik

King’s College London, United Kingdom

Lluís Sales i Favà

King’s College London, United Kingdom - ORCID: 0000-0002-0824-0135

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  • Publication Year: 2024
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  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
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Chapter Information

Chapter Title

Wax, cash and the mass. Making candles affordable in late medieval economies

Authors

Alexandra Sapoznik, Lluís Sales i Favà

Language

English

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0347-0.27

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2024

Copyright Information

© 2024 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

Mezzi di scambio non monetari. Merci e servizi come monete alternative nelle economie dei secoli XIII-XVIII / Alternative currencies. Commodities and services as exchange currencies in the monetarized economies of the 13th to 18th centuries

Editors

Angela Orlandi

Peer Reviewed

Number of Pages

592

Publication Year

2024

Copyright Information

© 2024 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Publisher Name

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0347-0

ISBN Print

979-12-215-0346-3

eISBN (pdf)

979-12-215-0347-0

eISBN (xml)

979-12-215-0348-7

Series Title

Datini Studies in Economic History

Series ISSN

2975-1241

Series E-ISSN

2975-1195

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