Transitions to Capitalism in Early Modern Europe Book contents
- Transitions to Capitalism in Early Modern Europe
- New Approaches to European History
- Transitions to Capitalism in Early Modern Europe
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures, Maps, Tables, and Graph
- Preface
- Maps
- Part I
- 1 Issues and Interpretations
- 2 European Economies on the Eve of Globalization
- Part II Introduction: The Long Sixteenth Century
- Part III Introduction: From Seventeenth-century Crisis to Long Eighteenth Century
- Appendices
- Index
- References
2 - European Economies on the Eve of Globalization
from Part I
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 September 2019
- Transitions to Capitalism in Early Modern Europe
- New Approaches to European History
- Transitions to Capitalism in Early Modern Europe
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures, Maps, Tables, and Graph
- Preface
- Maps
- Part I
- 1 Issues and Interpretations
- 2 European Economies on the Eve of Globalization
- Part II Introduction: The Long Sixteenth Century
- Part III Introduction: From Seventeenth-century Crisis to Long Eighteenth Century
- Appendices
- Index
- References
Summary
The mid-fifteenth century provides a good vantage point from which to locate the salient characteristics of Europe’s economies after a long period of adversity. For nearly two centuries, Europe had suffered repeated harvest failures, famines, and epidemics (including, in 1347–1353, the notorious Black Death); abandoned fields and deserted villages; diminished manufacturing and mining output; disrupted domestic and international trade; destructive wars and rebellions. Conditions had not been uniformly difficult. Epidemic disease spared some areas; elsewhere, post-plague labor shortages boosted many workers’ wages; peasants were able to add vacant land to their holdings; new crops, crafts, and commercial areas developed.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Transitions to Capitalism in Early Modern EuropeEconomies in the Era of Early Globalization, c. 1450 – c. 1820, pp. 13 - 50Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019