For example, Lopez (1976) shows that in the age of ‘commercial revolution’ (950-1350AD) trade flowed freely across the then known world, supported by risk sharing methods of finance, which had been developed in Muslim countries consistent with the Shari’ah.
Lopez, Robert S. (1976) The Commercial Revolution of the Middle Ages 950-1350, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Professor Robert Lopez provides an incisive analysis of the economic structure of the Middle Ages. He makes use of modern economic concepts to explain how an underdeveloped economic system gave birth to the commercial revolution through which Europe succeeded in developing itself. The book goes far beyond the familiar picture of medieval European society, with its magnificent cathedrals and imposing castles, to concentrate instead on the walled cities and open countryside, for it was here that the revolution was born. Deftly and concisely, Professor Lopez traces the history of this remarkable economic upheaval which saw the rise of merchants and craftsmen and the decline of agricultural dependence by the society.