Religion and the Rise of Capitalism Author:R. H. Tawney He became a lecturer at the London School of Economics in 1917 where he remained for the rest of his career becoming professor of economic history in 1931. In 1926 he helped found The Economic History Society with Sir William Ashley, amongst others. He retired in 1949. — Tawney's historical works reflected his ethical concerns and preoccupations ... more »in economic history. He was profoundly interested in the issue of the enclosure of land in the English countryside in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (although this was later shown to have occurred on a larger scale and with more important consequences in the fifteenth century) and in Weber's thesis on the connection between the appearance of Protestantism and the rise of capitalism. His belief in the rise of the gentry in the century before the outbreak of the Civil War in England provoked the 'Storm over the Gentry' in which his methods were subjected to severe criticisms by Hugh Trevor-Roper and John Cooper. His best book, ironically, was on Lionel Cranfield, the merchant who became Lord Tresaurer.
A leading socialist, Tawney helped to formulate the economic and ethical views of the British Labour party through his many essays and books, and he participated in numerous government bodies concerned with education, trade, and industry. He was a member of the Fabian Society from 1906. Tawney supported the Republic during the Spanish Civil War, among many other political causes.« less