The New Economy
... operated within limited areas and were subject to local regulations. Masters of the workshops paid money wages and hoped to make a profit, but since most prices were fixed, this was unlikely. Very little capital surplus could be built up. And medieval guilds had not yet grasped the idea of the unlimited accumulation or expansion of capital. The new entrepreneurs turned medieval lords into capitalist landowners that lived off his rents. Spirit of commercial enterprise had spread to the countryside. Merchants were becoming landholders and noblemen were also becoming capitalists. There was a separation of commercial dealings from Christian ethics. Their desire for gain differed only in degree from the landlords and rulers of medieval times, although the later could cover their activities under the cloak of feudal and royal rights and customs. Pride, envy, and greed, branded by the Church as cardinal sins, were now regarded as the mainsprings of economic life. The ideals of meditation, prayer and giving were overtaken by the goals of hard work, punctuality, and saving. Money was more flexible than land and the middle class, called the bourgeois, and attained soc...