Prices and Crises

Contents

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 

LIST OF FIGURES 

LIST OF TABLES 

MEASUREMENTS 

PART I — GENERAL INTRODUCTION

The late medieval Flemish context 

Famines and medieval economic development : theoretical perspectives 

The large ecclesiastical landlords as protagonists 

Central aim and structure 

PART II — THE PRICE OF GRAIN IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 

CHAPTER 1 — THE EVOLUTION OF GRAIN PRICES: AN OVERVIEW 

1.1. A powerful parallel movement: long-term evolution 

1.2. A focus on price peaks 

1.3. Diving deeper: seasonal movement of prices 

1.4. The influence of quantity: price changes over the very short term 

1.5. In conclusion: new price series and new insights 

CHAPTER 2 — PRICE INTEGRATION ON THE GRAIN MARKET 

2.1. Premodern market integration and the case of Flanders 

2.2. Measuring price integration: methodology 

2.3. Flanders and its price integration in the late Middle Ages 

2.4. Concluding remarks: a performing market in times of crisis 

CHAPTER 3 — PRICES AND PLAGUE. EPIDEMIC-INDUCED CHANGES IN HOUSEHOLD PURCHASING POWER 

3.1. Inequalities in access to food 

3.2. Assessing the short-term purchasing power : nutritional shortage 

3.3. Diseases and price increases: the short-term economic impact 

3.4. Conclusion: the importance of grain markets during plague waves 

PART III — LARGE LANDLORDS AND THE GRAIN TRADE 

CHAPTER 4 — MARKET TRENDS AND RENT PRICE CONVERSIONS : PATTERNS, PRACTICES, AND IMPLICATIONS

4.1. In-kind payments and their conversion to money 

4.2. Rent prices and their relationship with market prices 

4.3. Concluding remarks: the important role of rent prices 

CHAPTER 5 — B ALANCING M ARKETS A ND MORALS : GRAIN TRADE PRACTICES AND STRATEGIES 

5.1. Balancing budgets: the financial significance of wheat sales 

5.2. Volume over value: grain sales, price trends and market behaviour 

5.3. An 'open' grain market: quantities and customers 

5.4. Conclusion: large landlords and their strategies on the grain market 

PART IV — LARGE LANDLORDS AS GRAIN PRODUCERS 

CHAPTER 6 — DEMESNE OR LEASEHOLD? ESTATE MANAGEMENT IN SOUTHERN FLANDERS 

6.1. From demesne to leasehold farming 

6.2. The exploitation of the domain of large ecclesiastical landlords 

6.3. Finding the balance: the ratio between consumption and commercialisation 

6.4. Conclusion: decision-making in the interest of self-sufficiency

CHAPTER 7 — LANDLORDS AND TENANTS : THE DYNAMICS OF SHORT-TERM LEASEHOLD 

7.1. Social agrosystems in the Low Countries: a short note 

7.2. Affluent tenants versus smallholders : the size of leased-out plots 

7.3. The pressure on tenants: evolution of the in-kind lease prices 

7.4. Conclusion: distinctions in leasehold in an agrosystemic approach 

PART V — A FINAL REVIEW 

The importance of the price data frequency 

Chronology of the fourteenth-century price shocks 

Preventing or breaking absolute price peaks 

Landlords and the grain market 

Institutional constraints on the grain trade 

Social agrosystems and the management of cereal production 

The grain market in an Age of Shocks 

APPENDICES 

SOURCES & BIBLIOGRAPHY 

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