Alternative currencies and quality of life in Late Thirteenth- and Fourteenth-century Marseille: Negotiating labour in times of turmoil

Abstract

In late medieval Marseille, a commercial hub where market forces largely determined labourers’ income, a significant segment of the workforce was paid partly or fully in non-monetized currencies. Hard bargained between employees and employers, these alternative salaries shed light on labour relations in a time of monetary volatility, demographic collapse, and inflationary trends. If apprentices and young workers depended almost exclusively on goods and services for their livelihood, skilled artisans’ earnings, especially after the Black Death, could favourably benefit from non-monetary compensation. Work agreements clearly demonstrate that victuals, clothing, artisanal training, and health care were held by both servants and masters as the most valued, necessary means of cashless payment.