money

Introduction

There is rare but clear evidence that at least some early medieval Slavic communities used pieces of textile during the exchange of goods. The written sources (transcription of the notes of Ibrahim Ibn Yaʻqūb and a short notice made by Helmold of Bosau nearly two hundred years later) entitle us to believe that it was some kind of currency and not a local predominant commodity.

There are many legendary games in the Middle Ages with professed losses of clothes, horses and, what is more, whole estates, and even halves of kingdoms. But was money really the most important part of gambling?...