France

The agricultural history of late medieval France was shaped by a succession of shocks beginning in the second decade of the fourteenth century which arrested and subsequently reversed two and a half centuries of growth in population, output, and productivity. Shortly after 1300 cooler and wetter weather set in, announcing the onset of a ‘little ice age’ that caused yields to decline on agriculturally marginal uplands, and in 1348 the first of a series of deadly pestilences descended on the subcontinent. But while the ecological shocks were common to all Europe, a third catastrophe fell disproportionately on the Kingdom of France. For two centuries French monarchy had to defend itself against the pretentions of “over mighty subjects” of whom the king of England was one. ¹ Although the misnamed Hundred Years War experienced few ranged battles, the sieges and endemic guerrilla warfare that in intervals of truce were succeeded by the depredations of disbanded soldiers left large parts of the country economically devastated. ² The chronic civil disturbances and declining population caused markets for farm produce to contract and farming to become less specialized than before the onset of the crisis. Labor became scarce, or more aptly, land became more abundant, and farming became less labor-intensive and less productive. The crisis also altered the distribution of rural income, as falling population led to increased wages and reduced rents, and abandoned holdings reduced the ancient seigniorial dues. Finally, the cost of prolonged warfare to the French monarchy led to the establishment of royal taxation, diverting seigniorial revenue to a rising elite whose income and status derived from service to the state. ³