Luigino Bruni is Full Professor in Political Economy, Department of Law, Economics, Politics and Modern languages, University LUMSA, Rome, Italy.

Drawing on debates about the religious nature and origins of contemporary European capitalism, this book argues for a distinction between a Northern/Protestant and a Southern/Catholic spirit of capitalism. This book will be of interest to readers in history of economic thought, history of capitalism, economic ethics and religious history.

Chapter 1. Introduction. At the beginning ... Chapter 2. The Economy and the Civilization of Monasticism Chapter 3. Francesco's Economy Chapter 4. Some MiddleAge issues Chapter 5. Luther, the Reformation and the Modern Spirit of Capitalism Chapter 6. Jansenism and anthropological pessimism in the birth of Political Economy Chapter 7. The Economic Spirit of the North Chapter 8. The Spirit of the South: Civil Economy Chapter 9. The Economics of anti-modernity: the case of Giuseppe Toniolo Conclusion