The Life of European Peasants

Paper Summary:

This paper takes a look at 15th and 17th century Europe from the perspective of the peasants. According to the paper, these were socially, politically and economically trying times, and not easy for anyone.

Outline:
Review and Discussion
Fifteenth Century Europe
Seventeenth Century Europe
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Seventeeth Century Europe. By the seventeenth century, an economic transformation was underway in western Europe; however, most eastern European peasants were largely outside the cash economy. One author reports that in eastern Europe, "Townspeople were few, and a relative handful of rich lords did not by themselves create a very large market. . . . In general, the further East one got, the slower new techniques were to spread. Thus there were supply-side reasons for grain exports from preemancipation eastern Europe to stagnate at a level far below what was ecologically possible" (Pomeranz 258). While there were distinct differences involved in these regions, there were some commonalities as well."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Dean, Darron, Andrew Hann, Mark Overton and Jane Whittle. Production and Consumption in English Households, 1600-1750. New York: Routledge, 2004.
• Kheng, Cheah Boon. (1994). "Feudalism in Pre-Colonial Malaya: The Past as a Colonial Discourse." Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 25(2), 243.
• Pomeranz, Kenneth. The Great Divergence: Europe, China, and the Making of the Modern World Economy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000.
• Super, John C. (2002). "Review Essay: Food and History." Journal of Social History, 36(1), 165.
• Woloch, Isser and Jeremy David Popkin. "The abolition of feudalism." Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopaedia Britannica Premium Service. 10 June 2006 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-40400>.

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