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
1 - Issues and Interpretations
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
In the early nineteenth century, at least four-fifths of Europeans lived in small towns and villages or on individual farmsteads, where the majority engaged, as their ancestors had since Neolithic times, in farming characterized by generally low land and labor productivity. Aristocrats, urban residents, religious institutions, and others not directly involved in agricultural production owned a great deal of land and received much of the agrarian surplus. Artisans who worked in their homes or small shops using hand-powered tools made most manufactured goods.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Transitions to Capitalism in Early Modern EuropeEconomies in the Era of Early Globalization, c. 1450 – c. 1820, pp. 3 - 12Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019