European Peasants and Their Markets: Essays in Agrarian Economic History (Princeton Legacy Library, 1371)

These essays discuss principal and much-debated issues in European agrarian history within the context of the general economic history of northwestern Europe. The authors endeavor to explain the phenomena with explicit use of economic reasoning, and several of the papers draw on fresh historical source materials. The use of economics provides a relevance beyond the specific historical context, at the same time making possible a broader understanding of the reasons for the persistence, spread, and variation of certain peasant practices and forms of organization. The topics discussed include: the origin, persistence, and demise of the famous open or common field system of village agricultural organization; the development of peasant and rural industry preceding and during the Industrial Revolution; and the nineteenth-century adjustments of agriculture on the continent to world competition. A foreword by William N. Parker describes the economic and social setting to which the essays are relevant and an afterword by Eric L. Jones relates the papers not only to traditional concerns of economic development and European economic history, but also to the history of the European physical and biological environment in the past several centuries. Originally published in 1976. The **Princeton Legacy Library** uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905. European Peasants and Their Markets: Essays in Agrarian Economic History 4 Acknowledgments 6 Contents 8 Part I: Communal Agriculture in the Village 10 William N. Parker: Introduction 12 Some necessary simplifications 13 Reflections of socio-economic history 17 The interrelation with political history 21 A concluding cautionary word 28 1 Richard C. Hoffmann: Medieval Origins oi the Common Fields 32 Common field, agriculture: characteristics and, location 32 The Common Fields and Peasant Economics 36 Agriculture before the common fields: traditional individualistic subsistence 42 The appearance of the common fields 50 Maturation and diffusion of common field agriculture 54 Population growth, peasant priorities, and communal control 61 Appendix 1.1: Causal Model for the Medieval Origins of the Common Fields 75 Appendix 1.2 Additional Sources for Map: Agricultural "Systems" in Northwestern Europe ca. 1300 76 2 Donald N. McCloskey: The Persistence of English Common Fields 82 Equity and Efficiency 82 The Goths and Vandals of Open-Field Farmers 84 The Shrine of Equality 97 Scattering as Behavior toward Risk 122 Part II: Private Property and Enclosure 130 3 Donald N. McCloskey: The Economics of Enclosure: A Market Analysis 132 The Great Metamorphosis and Its Historians 132 Cutting the Gordian Knot: The Costs of Enclosure 136 A Plain Enough Case of Class Robbery 151 The Benefits of Enclosure 160 The Benefits Net of Costs 167 4 Jon S. Cohen & L. Weitzman: Enclosures and Depopulation: A Marxian Analysis 170 The Model 172 Enclosures and Depopulation 179 Enclosures and the Wool Trade 182 Part III: Peasants and Industrialization 186 5 Franklin F. Mendels: Agriculture and Peasant Industry in Eighteenth-Century Flanders 188 Industry 189 Land and Labor in Maritime Flanders 198 Land and Labor in the Interior 201 Summary and Conclusion 212 Appendix 5.1 Estimated Food Surplus in 1804 213 6 Jan deVries: Peasant Demand Patterns and Economic Development: Friesland, 1550-1750 214 A Case Study 218 The Findings 222 Farm equipment 222 Farm buildings 225 Household possessions: textiles and clothing 227 Furnishingd and Luxury Goods 229 Total value of movable property 233 Long-Term Trends 233 Demand Pattern and Occupational Structure 236 A Comparison 239 Conclusions 243 Appendix 6.1 Z-Goods Model 246 Appendix 6.2 Accounts of a Dairy Farm in Holland 248 Appendix 6.3 Tables 249 Part IV: Agriculture in the World Economy 276 7 Robert A. Dickler: Organization and Change in Productivity in Eastern Prussia 278 Investment Opportunities and Innovation 278 Agrarian Reform and the Land Market 285 Agrarian Reform and the Supply of Labor 289 Productivity Change and Consumption 294 8 George W. Grantham: Scale and Organization in French Farming, 1840-1880 302 Peasant Property and Peasant Farms 302 Technological Factors in the Agrarian Structure 308 Social Influences on the Agrarian Structure 317 The Evolution of Farm Organization 322 Product demand 323 Labor market 326 The Response to Rising Wages 330 Conclusions 334 Eric L. Jones: Afterword 336 The Concerns of Agrarian History 336 Spatial divisions and differences 339 Enclosures 343 Rural Domestic Industry 346 Agricultural Pests and Diseases 353 Plant and Anitnal Breeding 358 Human Nutrition 361 The Future of Agrarian History 366 Index 370