Chapter 7 : European Economy in the Sixteenth Century

European Economy in the Sixteenth Century

The sixteenth century in Europe is characterized as an age of expansion, lasting until the economic contraction and demographic decline of the early seventeenth century.

• Shift in Economic Centre: Long-distance trade with Asia, Africa, and the New World shifted the economic centre from the Mediterranean cities to the Atlantic coast of north-west Europe.
• Phases of Economy:
• c. AD 1000 to early 14th century → Economic expansion (population, cultivation, towns).
• 14th century → Reversal and misery due to the Black Death.
• Last quarter of 15th century → Burgeoning economy.
• 16th century → Advancement, prosperity, demographic growth, and emergence of colonial empires (introducing sugar, silver, and mass consumption goods).

Rural Economy

Over four-fifths of the population depended on land. The rural population included craftsmen, traders, rentiers, nobles, and churchmen.

• Appropriation of Surplus: Peasant agricultural surplus was almost entirely appropriated through taxes and feudal dues by seigneurs (lay and ecclesiastical lords) and newly emerging absolute rulers.
• Land Reclamation: The Low Countries were the exception where commercially inclined populations invested in drainage and dyke-building along the North Sea.
• Wilhelm Abel notes: 44,000 hectares reclaimed in the Netherlands (1565–1615); arable land increased eightfold in eastern Germany (1590–1650).

Agricultural Patterns and Crops

European agriculture remained largely unprogressive, changing little from the 14th century, despite total production increases.

• Cereals:
• Wheat: Best bread crop, meant for a small segment. Cultivated in the Rhineland, the Limagne, central Europe, and parts of Spain.
• Spelt/Dinkel: Wheat substitute cultivated in southern Europe and the Low Countries.
• Rye: The basic food crop for the majority. Cultivated in western, central, and eastern Europe (Poland was the chief centre).
• Oats: Cultivated in higher altitudes of the north and the Alpine region.
• Pastoralism and Animal Rearing:
• Main occupation in the Alps, Pyrenees, higher mountains of eastern Europe, Scandinavia, eastern European plains, Spain, and Balkan grasslands.
• Sheep and cattle farming became more organized in England, the French Alps, some parts of Italy, and Spain.
• Spain: Seasonal migration of stock was highly organized. Grasslands of Castile turned into sheep pastures; wool sold…