the population and economy in

the population and economy in
The population and economy in sixteenth-century Europe Over the course of the sixteenth century, the European population increased by about a third. The rise in population dramatically affected the lives of ordinary Europeans. In the early part of the century, the first phase of growth brought prosperity. The land was still not farmed to capacity, and extra hand meant increased productivity, as there was uncultivated land that could be plowed, convenient room for new housing, and enough public pastures and woodlands to be shared. The population increase was a welcome development. Even when rural communities began to reach their natural limits as people’s needs pressed against nature’s resources, opportunity still existed in the burgeoning towns and cities. At first the cycle was beneficial, surplus on the farms led to economic growth in the towns. Growth in the towns meant more opportunities for those on the farms. More food supported more workers, and more workers produce more goods and services, which were exchanged for more food.
The first waves of migrants to towns found opportunity everywhere. Even the most lucrative textile and provisioning trades were recruiting new members, and apprenticeships were easy to find. A shortage of casual labor kept wages at a decent rate. Successful migrants encouraged kin from their villages to move to the towns and sponsored
their state in trade or service. For a while, rural families did not have to make elaborate preparations to provide for their younger sons and daughters, they could be sent to the towns. Instead of saving every extra penny to give their children a start in life, farmers could purchase some luxury goods or expand their landholdings.
Such an opportunity could not last. With more mouths to feed, more crops had to be planted. Since the most productive land was already under plow, new fields were carved from less fertile areas. In some villages, land was taken from shared waste areas, the woodlands, or scrub lands that were used for animal forage and domestic fuel. The land was less suitable for crops, and became unavailable for other important uses.
As workers continued to flood into the towns, real wages began to fall, not only among the unskilled but throughout the workforce. A black market in labor developed to take advantage of the surplus population. In terms of purchasing power, the wages of a craftsperson in the building trade in England fell by one-half during the sixteenth century. A French stonemason, a highly skilled laborer, could buy fewer than ten pounds of bread with his daily wages. Peasants in the French region of Langue who were hired for farm labor lost 56 percent of their purchasing power during the century. Only reapers, who were the physically strongest agricultural laborers, appear to have kept pace with inflation, grape
pickers, among the least skilled, endured declines of up to 30 or 40 percent.
The fall in real wages took place against a backdrop that has come to be called the Price Revolution. Between 1500 and 1650, cereal prices increased between five- and six-fold; manufactured goods between two- and three-fold. Most of the rapid increase came in the second half of the sixteenth century, a result of both population growth and the import of precious metals from the New World. Sixteenth-century governments understood little about the relationship between money supply and prices. Gold, silver from American flooded the international economy, raising commodity prices. As prices rose, so did the deficits (debts) of the state, which was the largest purchaser of both agricultural and manufactured goods. With huge deficits, states began to devalue their coins in the mistaken belief that this would lower their debt. But debased, or devalued, coinage resulted in still higher prices and higher prices resulting in greater debt. The price revolution was felt throughout the Continent and played havoc with government finances, international trade, and the lives of ordinary people.
A 500 percent inflation in agricultural products over a century is not much by modern standards. Compounded, the rate averages less than 2 percent a year. But the price revolution did not take place in a modern
society or with a modern economy. In the sixteenth century, that level of rising prices disrupted everything.。