Cold, rain, and famine: Three subsistence crises in the Burgundian Low Countries during the fifteenth century

Camenisch, Chantal (2019). Cold, rain, and famine: Three subsistence crises in the Burgundian Low Countries during the fifteenth century. In: Walton, Steven A. (ed.) Fifty years of Medieval technology and social change (pp. 187-197). London: Routledge

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A number of food price increases are documented for coastal area during the fifteenth century. Three of them were particularly significant. The first crisis occurred during the 1430s, the second at the beginning of the 1480s, and the third started at the end of the latter decade and extended into the first years of the 1490s. The price increase in the 1430s is the best-known subsistence crisis in the fifteenth century and the worst crisis of this type since the beginning of the fourteenth century. The number of descriptions of rising grain prices, food scarcity, and famine rose significantly. In comparison with other regions the Burgundian Low Countries benefited from intensive agriculture and high yield ratios in terms of grain production. In 1480, several chroniclers describe rising food prices and scarce grain supplies in the Burgundian Low Countries and the neighboring regions.

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